Anyone who’s ever watched the show Parks and Recreation knows the refrain “treat yo’self!” It’s something of a catchphrase from some of the show’s characters, and it’s become something that you can hear in stores and shopping malls all over the world now! And, you know what, it’s great advice! If you don’t take the time to treat yourself every once in a while, then you’re going to end up feeling bored and miserable. However, it’s entirely possible to go too far with it. If you’re treating yourself too much, then you could end up in some pretty hot financial water. Here are some ways that you can avoid going too far when you treat yo’self.
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Beware of credit cards!
Credit cards can sometimes seem like the best thing ever. The temptation to treat them like unlimited free money is incredibly strong, but you need to make sure that you don’t fall into that trap. The reality of credit cards is that there will always be a price to pay and if it’s more than you can handle, then that’s a big problem. Luckily, if you do find yourself in that kind of situation, there are plenty of debt management programs online that you can use. As scary as debt can be, there are always ways around it.
Use cash when you can
Even having your debit card immediately accessible can lead you to make some less than sensible purchasing decisions. Even more so now thanks to contactless payments where you can just flash your card and buy whatever you like. If you want to avoid this, then the best thing to do is just to use cash wherever possible. That way, once you run out of cash, you know that it’s time to stop spending.
Set yourself a budget whenever you go out
Similarly, if you have a clear budget that you’re sure you can stick to in place before you go out to do any shopping, that’s going to make it much harder to overspend. Sure, you could still end up spending more than your budget says, but the simple act of telling yourself that you’re not going to spend above a certain threshold can have an incredibly powerful psychological effect on you. Combine that with only taking cash with you, and you’re going to be able to get out there and treat yourself without falling into the trap of spending more money that you actually have. Sure, this takes at least some discipline, but the truth is that most things in life aren’t going to be easy and neither is this!
Again, this is not trying to tell you that spending money on yourself is inherently a bad thing because it most definitely isn’t You just need to be conscious of the fact that every purchase that you make is going to have a serious and potentially lasting impact on your overall financial situation. As long as you keep a close eye on your finances and don’t let your impulses get the better of you, you should be just fine.
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