n 2015, there was 3 months that I overspend by about RM150 each (That’s 35USD).
It wasn’t that I am not carefully tracking, nor did I spent on anything special during that particular months. It was just lack of sense of life purpose and I used spending to fill the void.
When is the last time you spend money just because you feel like it? I had many, I would splurge on a RM300-500 dress when my heart got ‘crushed.’ Or dine over a RM480 meal to ‘celebrate’ life when there’s nothing to celebrate about. Sometimes I got away happily, sometimes I feel guilty – so awfully guilty about the spending. That four pairs of shoe that is still in the box… It was fear of debt that kept me away from racking up credit card debt. Thank God for the self-control.
Our spending habits could be very much affected by emotions and what we want in life. When we aren’t clear about our life purpose, we to buy into our ideal self instead of working towards the better version of ourselves.
Many of us do not know where we are going in life. We are not alone, even the universe don’t know and are expanding without direction. [It’s a fact] I have yet to find me either, but in my rebellion I choose to nail for freedom in personal finance. This is my advice – build up wealth instead of debt while waiting for your life calling. Set some rules that reflect the vales you uphold.
BUILD UP WEALTH INSTEAD OF DEBT WHILE WAITING FOR YOUR LIFE CALLING.
IF you are clueless you can try this structure. Take a piece of paper or open a word file – list up to 3 things that you feel towards or think – On Life, On Savings, On Spending. I suggest 3 because we all only have enough willpower and time to do a few things, not everything under the sun. If you are feeling inspired and motivated, by all means list up the 1000 items you would not spend on. Or the 101 reasons you need to save money.
Here is mine.
On life
Make a difference to the life of people that I could reach.
On savings
Save for a 650sqft home – RM292k
Early retirement fund [how does 38 sounds?] – 500k
On spending
A good minimalist wardrobe, eat well.
Things that doesn’t matter to me – number of stuff.
Things that doesn’t reflect my lifestyle – any overpriced or sugared drinks.
Thinking and relating my life values with where I spend my money makes me mindfully happy and not feeling guilty about what I spend on. I have always uphold the spending rule of not having accessories or buy overpriced drinks. I go all out to getting nice dresses from Zara or Topshop. Yet, I hardly spend more than the average ladies in KL. The reason I am affording these is because I don’t spend on other stuff that didn’t matter to me.
Life and saving goals are a rather new frontier to me. Yes I had been a “selfish” spender. I have no idea how could I made a difference to people but I guess writing this is part of it.
Honestly, life is not that stressful when I ignore the fact that I need to save up at least 500k before firing my company from my life. And another 300k for a place that could keep me warm at night.