*Note: This was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Do you have a personal finance story that you'd like to share? Sign up with the Yahoo! Contributor Network to start publishing your own finance articles.
I'm pretty good at convincing myself to spend money. Without a budget or spending plan, I never really knew when I crossed the line between spending and overspending. I'd use a credit card with every intention of paying off the balance at the end of the month.
To get out of debt I created a spending diary. I started to listen to my internal dialogue when I was at the mall, the grocery store or restaurant. Now when I hear myself or my husband using various excuses for spending more, I can do a quick intervention. I call myself on my own baloney.
It's for my health
My No. 1 excuse for spending more money is that it's for my health. Throughout the years I spent thousands of dollars on exercise equipment and gym memberships "for my health." Then I started walking the dog and running. I started growing my own produce for better health instead of using health as an excuse for shopping the expensive health food store.
It's family time
When I would go out to eat with family, I would disregard the cost of the menu items. I rationalized that I was having some quality time with my husband, children, mom or sisters. Now we play free board games at home or work on a project together to bond.
I deserve it
I used to spend money I did not have on designer clothes and pocketbooks because I felt like I deserved the reward right away. Now I tell myself that what I most deserve is to live a debt-free life. Now I shop the sales and use coupons. I limit myself to one quality pocket book about every two or three years after I've saved the cash not because "I'm worth it."
I haven't been there in a long time
When my sister invited me to go with her to an expensive restaurant, I rationalized it by telling myself we had not been there in a long time. I realized I use that as an excuse a lot. In fact, at least once a week I'd dine or shop at an expensive venue because it had been a while since I had been to that particular place. Problem was I was spending too much money going out period.
It's for my future
I spent a lot of money on "fun" college classes that never led to a career. I would tell myself it was fine to study feminist theology because it was an investment in my future. Now that I have sons in college, I try to get them to zero in on a specific field of study so they aren't spending thousands of dollars on liberal arts classes unrelated to their future careers.
3 comments