Overheard my neighbor say 'free money makes you lazy with a budget' and it hit hard

My neighbor was talking to his buddy about how they stopped budgeting 'fun money' because they just kept spending it on stupid stuff. He said that when you have a set amount to blow, you start looking for ways to use it even if you don't want anything. I realized I did the same thing with my $50 weekly allowance for fast food or games. Now I only budget for bills and savings, and let the leftover sit until I really want something. Has anyone else found that having too much 'free' money in their budget just leads to waste?

2 comments

2 Comments

kelly611d ago

Totally get what you're saying but I think having a little fun money is actually a good thing. It's more about learning to spend it mindfully instead of just blowing it because it's there.

miles_perez1d ago

Is it really "mindful spending" though when you're just deciding which fun thing to buy instead of not buying it at all? I mean, I've been there too I had a "fun money" budget once and it just turned into me finding new ways to blow through it every month. Like yeah you can be mindful about choosing a fancy dinner over a new video game but at the end of the day you're still spending money you probably could have saved or put toward bills. It feels like a loophole we tell ourselves to feel better about spending. Not saying you gotta be a monk but maybe the real lesson is learning to sit with the urge to spend and not act on it.