I Want My Fun To Be Fun - So I Budget
Once upon a time, I believed in treating myself. But what I didn’t understand is why my treating myself was always accompanied by a small (or large) sense of guilt. I’m a reasonably good person, and I deserved to have a little fun in life or a few treats now and then, right? So why did doing so always make me feel so crummy?
The answer was obvious and yet surprised me at the same time. My fun wasn’t fun because I didn’t plan for it, didn’t budget or save for it, and therefore worried the whole time that I was doing something “wrong” in regards to our financial stability. Spending money was scary, because I really had no clear idea if we could afford it.
Enter the budget. Not my half-hearted attempts at remembering to pay my bills on time by making lists of my bills each month, but a real and true budget that broke my income and spending up into all the different things we spend money on. Not just bills, but groceries, gas, annual expenses, and other things I never really gave a lot of thought to. And in doing that, I realized that hey, I could actually budget for things that weren’t necessities, and then I would know that we could afford them. Not that everything in our budget should be non-essentials, but planning for fun as well as for need made fun become actually fun.
So no more do I feel guilty over our annual zoo membership, or if I decide that we need to do something fun as a family. I plan for it, I budget for it, and then when we have the money, we do it. Without that guilt or regret that accompanied my past blind spending. it isn’t much, but it is enough, and it is all the better because it fits within our means without significantly altering our financial goals. And we’re all a little saner in the process.
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September 16th, 2008 at 12:30 pm
This is a great point. When I first started creating our budget I never included fun money, or eat-out money because I thought we “wouldn’t afford it”. But, guess what happened? LOL. We spent it anyway, and it blew the budget.
I did get wise to it eventually, and we do the same thing now. It really does make life better to know that it’s ok to spend that money on fun things because you made a budget, and there is no guilt.
That’s a huge change from how we used to live, and I think it’s really key to the entire budgeting process. Being able to feel good about what you are doing, and not feel poor because everything is planned for, even the fun money. It just makes life better.
September 16th, 2008 at 1:31 pm
this is such a great idea, and one i have not fully considered. for some reason, the way you explained it makes so much sense to me. a light bulb went on - thanks!
September 16th, 2008 at 5:06 pm
It does make the “fun” stuff that much more fun when you know it’s in the budget. I’ve also gotten much more careful about what I buy with the “fun” money. For me, now that it’s real money rather than credit, I want to make the most of it!
September 16th, 2008 at 10:02 pm
I am a firm believer in budgeting all the monies that come into your hands, especially the one for fun. Like you, I never like feeling guilty for expenses for fun that I want. It’s but normal to want a lot of things in life, but when you budget for them, it makes it easier for you to appreciate them.
September 18th, 2008 at 12:53 am
i think this is a very healthy approach! it ensures you aren’t stressed and guilty for having fun
September 19th, 2008 at 10:25 pm
Amen! Even sensible spending that I mentally planned for is scary if I don’t have a budget to tell me “yes, that’s fine go ahead.” It’s probably good that I care about not overspending, I just had to learn what made me feel most comfortable.
September 24th, 2008 at 12:28 pm
We started budgeting back in Feb of this year while taking a Dave Ramsey course with a few friends. Last week my family hit the road for our summer vacation. On the drive home I realized that I had very little stress about the money we had spent on our trip. I took nothing from any other budget item. It was used for what it was intended for. There was no guilt and we had a great time.
October 1st, 2008 at 12:33 pm
This is such a good point. Budgeting and planning for some fun time and money can take so much of the guilt out of the equation and allow the analyzing side of your brain to relax because it is in the plan. We have started this at home as well.
Thanks!