If You Have a Good Budget, You Don’t Need to Feel Guilty About Every Purchase.
Planning your money is a good, healthy habit, and it creates a terrible sense of guilt. However, if you’ve gotten to the point where you save money, spend wisely, and have a plan, you don’t need to feel guilty about every purchase.
The Money Ning personal finance blog shows how this concept applies to a food budget. Despite the fact that most of the food is cooked at home, eating healthy and spending very little food, guilt still lingers if the family eats outside the home or purchases more expensive meat. The problem is that feeling guilty about the price tag doesn’t help anyone. In fact, it may prompt you to make less healthy or nutritious choices:
After years of writing on how to save money on groceries and tips to friends and family, I’ll give you a little secret. I’m not too worried about what I spend at the grocery store. Obviously, I don’t go crazy with what I buy, I just get what is convenient for our family. I may spend an extra $ 100-200 in some months if there are great gaps for meat (usually organic meat). In other months, I may spend $ 100-200 less because I am completely frozen. When I had a tight grocery budget, I would miss out on big sales, often feel left out, and be tempted to eat out several times a month. If I have a full freezer and have fresh, fresh food on hand, I am not tempted to eat out. I can quickly prepare healthy meals faster than my husband and I decide where to eat.
Of course, this concept doesn’t just apply to your food budget (although that’s a good area to be aware of). If you have a reliable savings plan, invest in your future, pay your bills on time, and either have no debt or plan to pay them off, feeling guilty about your purchase won’t help your finances.
As much as we want to deny it, there are certain things we enjoy spending money on. Experiences, food, or just casual pleasures. Constantly depriving yourself is a quick way to compromise your budget. Instead, give yourself the opportunity to be a real person, not a calculator, to avoid feeling guilty.