By Wendy Mihm | Tuesday December 14, 2010
You can’t go around spending like Paris Hilton every day or your family will wind up sleeping under a freeway overpass. But everyone deserves to splurge now and then, you just have to learn how to manage that urge to splurge in a way that’s both productive and fun. We here at FinancialRx believe that if you don’t splurge once in awhile, you won’t be able to exercise discipline on a regular basis. Besides, splurging on yourself or your kids now and then can be a lot of fun.
One solution to manage the urge to splurge is to invent your own Spending Day. Maybe it’s the third Saturday of the month. Or maybe it’s every other Wednesday. Put some thought into what you think you can reasonably afford, and what you truly believe you think you can stick to. If you wait too long between Spending Days, you could go overboard and spend too much.
Once you have decided on which regular day will be your official, planned Spending Day, you save your fun purchase(s) for that day. You should also set a dollar amount for that day as well, so you don’t go overboard. Remember the freeway overpass? Yeah.
What I have found is that when my Spending Day finally rolls around, I often no longer really want most of what I thought I wanted so badly just a few days or weeks earlier. The rush has worn off.
With a little time and distance, my practical side takes over and I can see the item for what it really is – just another thing to crowd my closet or my kid’s drawers. But then when I do make a purchase or two on spending day, it tends to be something pretty special.
So go ahead and take advantage of today’s saving money tip. Invent your own Spending Day and learn to manage your urge to splurge.
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