Mindful Spending

Defining Necessity

I remember talking to my grandmother once about her childhood and what life was like. At one point she made the observation that if a family lived today the way her family did, they would probably be considered poor. They did not have television or computers. They didn't eat out, have cell phones or go on elaborate vacations. Yet they certainly didn't consider themselves poor.

We have to consider how much our definition of necessity has changed. The average family budget has a lot more line items than it did even just 25 years ago. Yet it seems that most of us never stop to think about these additions and what really improves our lives. Instead, we just sign up because that’s the status quo.

Homework time!

I want you to write up a quick list of all of your discretionary expenses. These are those items which are not necessities but are paid on a regular monthly basis. We’re looking for items like cable, internet, cell phones, gaming subscriptions, gym subscriptions, club fees, memberships, etc.  Don’t worry about coming up with exact figures for how much you spend on each, just a rough number is fine.

Now think about something that you have wanted to buy or do. Take a look at that list. Do you really want those things as much as you want whatever it is you think you have not been able to afford?

This is all about mindful spending. We spend hundreds of dollars a month on services and subscriptions that may not even be that meaningful to us. Are people going to laugh at you because you downgraded from a smart phone to a flip-phone or dump cable? From experience I can tell you that yes, they probably will. But, if you’re finally are able to budget in that yoga class, you’ll have the last laugh!

The bottom line is, when we start appropriating our money to the things and experiences we actually want we often find we are better off then we may have realized. We were just nickel and diming ourselves in all the wrong places!