There is often a lot of misguided guilt around budgeting. We spend on things that we probably shouldn’t and feel bad for it once we get home with all the bags of stuff we just bought. And although unintentional spending is an issue, we need to allow ourselves the permission to spend on things that add value to our lives in our budget.
I remember back when I was 15 I had a very strong ‘saving mindset’. So much so that I deprived myself of things I could afford, that would add significant value to my life. This wasn’t entirely my fault.
I was a natural-born saver, and after my parents divorced when I was 14, I was now responsible for a lot of my expenses. Even if I had $5k saved, I knew that that money had to cover my car expenses, insurance and repairs, any clothes or additional beauty products I wanted, my mobile phone bill, entertainment and so on.
One particular example was that I have saved up more than enough money to spend $500 on a guitar that I needed for my HSC as I was studying Music. But once I had the money saved, I couldn’t spend it. I just couldn’t part with all that money so I put it off and off and made excuses for why buying it was a bad idea.
In the end, a close friend eventually convinced me that I needed to upgrade my guitar in order to improve my playing and I ended up buying the new guitar mere weeks out from my HSC music exams.
I realised at that moment that I should have just bought the guitar earlier in the year when I had the money to truly get the value out of it and have more time to get used to it. But I was stuck in a savings mindset and hadn’t learned that it was okay to spend my money if it was intentional.
Of course, if you are paying off Consumer Debt currently, your spending budget might need to be a lot tighter and you might need to lean into your ‘saving mindset’ for a bit longer, but I just wanted to share 5 Things I Spend Money On Guilt-Free to hopefully help your change your mindset around money. Particularly for those natural savers out there like I was all that time ago, that might need help parting with their cash, even on things they really need or want.
5 Things I Spend Money On Guilt-Free
1. Netflix Subscription
I watch Netflix every day. It only cost me $11 a month but saves me so much money on things like going out to the movies. And gives me access to things I enjoy watching like documentaries and comedy specials. This is work $2.50 a week to me in my budget.
Of course if Netflix stops adding value to my life, I will cancel it.
2. Spotify Premium
This cost $18 a month for a family pack. So my husband and I both get access to ad free Spotify.
I listen to Spotify every day for my favourite podcasts which helps me learn and grow everyday and listen to music. This saves us having to buy CDs and store physical copies of music in our home
And means that we can access the majority of material ad free.
3. Dining Out
One of my favourite things to do is dine out. I love going out for a nice meal to a new or favourite restaurant.
It’s something that brings me a lot of joy. And it’s time I can enjoy with my husband, family or close friends.
4. My Audible Subscription
Another subscription I utilise is Audible. This costs $16.50 a month and gives me access to one audible book a month.
I have always found it hard to make time to read when I work FT and run a blog so utilising time on my 50 min commute to work to listen to an audiobook is a no brainer for me.
I can always go back and re-listen to the book in my library and avoid holding onto hundreds of books. And to further make it a guilt-free spend, I know I can always pause or cancel my membership if I am not utilising it.
5. Travel
I have travelled extensively over the past 10 years of my life. When I was younger, I didn’t get to leave my State of NSW until I was 16.
And then I didn’t get to leave Australia until I was 24.
At 25 I was making up for lost time and thankfully I did now that overseas travel is not an option.
It’s an area of my budget where I spend guilt-free because travel has added so much value to my life. And it’s something I hope to continue to do once it is safe to do so.
Do You Want to Learn How to Spend Your Money With Intention?
If you want to take control of your financial future, stop stressing about money and learn how to spend your money with intention, book in for your free Q&A call to see how Minimise With Me Financial Coaching can help you gain clarity around your finances!
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What is one thing you spend on guilt-free in your budget that adds value to your life? Let me know in the comments! 🙂
