Money is made for spending and saving.

Many people fall too hard on either side of the spectrum, and feel guilty for going to the opposite side. Natural spenders can feel bad about saving and natural savers can feel bad about spending.

Money is not an all or nothing proposition.

The ideal is for you to find the right mix of spending AND savings from your money.

Spending enough to satisfy your wants and needs today whilst also satisfying your wants and needs for the future.

It is a constant juggling act, as our present and future wants and needs are constantly changing. 30 year old me wanted significantly different things from my money than 40 year old me.

Money is there to be spent. Some on the present and some on the future. The key is in prioritising what is most important to you.

Many spenders spend in the present without much thought for the future.

Many savers delay to the future without much thought for the present.

But we need to look after both versions of ourselves.

As an example, our spending decisions for today are based around good food, a warm and healthy home, and good experiences for our kids. As a result of our priorities, we spend quite highly on food, home comfort (heating, windows, etc), plenty of activities for the kids (swimming, ballet, gymnastics, etc). For others, their priorities may be cars, travel or anything else.

Conversely we have a very strong non spending goal of achieving better work/life balance or time freedom. To do this we need to save a lot of money for an imminent reduction in work hours.

These strong spending AND savings focus allow us to give the necessary attention to all of our priorities.

For if we spent today on things that we don’t prioritise, then that cuts into our future goals that are a priority, missing out on future satisfaction. Or if we save too much on our future priorities, we spend too little on our present priorities, missing out on present satisfaction.

The best chance to not spend or save willy nilly is to have strong present and future priorities that you want to achieve.

You may go through seasons of life where your present priorities are much higher. For example, an unexpected job loss, a newborn child, etc. Of course that is fine. You don’t have to remain consistent at all times. Your life dictates your spending. It is constantly evolving and the worst thing you can do is stay stuck to a predetermined mix of spending and saving. Adjust as necessary.

Just never lose focus of what you are trying to achieve in life, and spend there. Everything else is just fluff.

*** Speaking of which, I’m taking a few weeks off blogging to focus on a few things that need more of my time. I’ll re post some of my favourite older posts instead, before returning with some new articles. Friday faves will continue as normal. Enjoy the Easter holidays

The information contained on this site is the opinion of the individual author(s) based on their personal opinions, observation, research, and years of experience. The information offered by this website is general education only and is not meant to be taken as individualised financial advice, legal advice, tax advice, or any other kind of advice. You can read more of my disclaimer here