I Deserve Stuff

We have a lot of things we tell ourselves that sabotage our saving and prevent us from getting ahead financially. We say these things without thinking deeply about them, a superficial refrain, an unexamined mantra.

We think things like “You only live once” and “life's too short” to justify and rationalize our spending. Because I could save and “I might die tomorrow” and “after all you can't take it with you.”

So you spend all your money “because you work hard and you deserve it” not really thinking that since you work so hard you deserve to keep some of your money. That you deserve to have some in the bank working for you, instead of you working hard in order to be penniless.

Most people are going to spend a huge amount of their short, hard working lives working in jobs they don't enjoy, and would rather be doing something else. If “life is short” is really a genuine reason for doing things, why don't people save more in order to work less hours and have more time for themselves?

Why is this? Partly through most people not being self aware in this area or deeply thinking about it, and partly because of the media environment we grow up with constantly trying to get us to buy.

Permeating western culture, particularly in the U.S is the link between fun, enjoyment, and even happiness, with stuff. Therefore when you save you're depriving yourself of enjoyment. Couple this with a short term view and need for instant gratification, and you get a culture where you want and you buy. A culture where frugal is boring, saving is boring. Where by if you accumulate money that brings you options and freedoms you're actually depriving yourself. Save money? But you could have more stuff instead.

With most peoples money it's often a case of “hard come, easy go.” You can turn that around with a budget, tracking off your spending and a bit of planning. You don't have to be a miser, you can save and have fun.