Have you ever opened an envelope with your credit card bill, sighed, and said “Damn, I overspent again this month…”😉
Have you ever felt guilty about buying something… but have done it anyway?🙃
If you have, congratulation… you’re human! 😀
Most “common” people – like you and me – have had such experiences.
Many people who have a “money saver” archetype believe that the only way to manage money well is to deprive yourself for the sake of Saving More Money for the Future!
This attitude often leads to feeling guilty or even ashamed when you Buy / Invest or Spend money on something you LOVE or feel is really IMPORTANT to you!
But Guilt… and Shame are emotions that cause self-sabotage and self-hatred…
So, you’ve got to reframe your money experience!!
You want to know how I grew my money?…
I’ve used INTENTIONAL SPENDING.
Intentional spending is NOT about being thrifty!!
It’s NOT about using coupons when you buy groceries…
It’s NOT about counting cost of everything and being afraid to spend YOUR money on things that are IMPORTANT to YOU!
NOT AT ALL!
Intentional Spending is about knowing your VALUES AND PRIORITIES and CHOOSING the things you love and want so much, that you’re willing to spend money generously on these things, while relentlessly cutting costs on the things you can get without, because they are less important to you.
As you can see, to be an intentional spender, you’ve got to be clear about your MUST HAVE vs NICE to HAVE.
For example:
- One of my clients, who was VERY vigilant with her spending, loved beautiful shoes! So, she was choosing to pay a lot of money for a nice pair of designer shoes BUT was willing to cut cost on other things (e.g. dining out.)
- My coach recently invested $10,000 into a great mattress… because good sleep is very important for her!
- I bought a used 2006 BMW model and now have it for over 14 years… I could buy a new car… but it’s not my priority right now.
However, investing in myself – investing in coaches and mentors, who help me continue expanding and achieving my goals – is more important to me right now than buying another car! …
I invested over $80K in MYSELF just in the past couple of years and think it was a good investment.
Sure, I could buy a Porsche instead… 😉
But it won’t add as much Value to my life as the Value I received from working with great coaches and having a supportive community.
- In the book “The Millionaire next door”, Thomas Stanley discovered that 50% of the 1000 millionaires who he interviewed, never paid more than $400 for a suit, more than $140 for a pair of shoes, and more than $235 for a watch…
And these millionaires could afford “expensive stuff!”
Just because you CAN spend money on something, doesn’t mean you should… if it’s not THAT important to you!
Here’s the FACT:
What you CHOOSE to spend money on reflects your VALUES!
Being intentional with your spending is NOT the same as being cheap!
- Cheap people care about the COST of EVERYTHING
vs Intentional spenders care about the VALUE for them.
- Cheap people try to get the lowest price on EVERYTHING
vs Intentional spenders try to get the lowest price on many things but are willing to spend lavishly on items they really care about.
- Cheap people think Short-Term
vs Intentional spenders think Long-term.
I had a client who for years was avoiding working with a financial coach… because she believed it was expensive for her.
In a meantime, she sold her annuity to support her new husband’s business…
Then she cashed out her 401K to pay off their Credit cards…
Then… they divorced.
So, she was thinking “Short-term” and ultimately, lost much more money than investing in a financial mentor.
Another client’s story.…
A woman in her late forties lost money in 2008 market crash and was sooo afraid of losing money while investing that she never came back to the stock market, which had an incredible run from 2009 to 2021…
So, she made some bad financial decisions because she was thinking SHORT TERM – and lost a lot of money growth opportunities Long-term.
So, I how can you spend money without guilt?
By practicing INTENTIONAL SPENDING!
Once you become an intentional spender, you’ll be able to pause and consciously decide what you’re going to spend your money on (because it’s TRULY important to you) and what you will consciously say NO to!
Here’s the FACT:
the skillset of intentional spending is the key to creating your best Rich Life.
To your Health, Wealth and Freedom!
