Painfully Debt Free

[Ambitious_Andrea]

A couple of months ago I vowed to be debt free and I changed my lifestyle. I started working 7 days a week, didnt go out, didnt buy anything, NOTHING!

Now that my visa is officially paid off and I am making more money than I did before.. I feel like im starting to have an unhealthy relationship with money.

I realised I had an issue when I needed to make a hair appointment. I havent gotten my haircut in two years and I really need one but I havent built up the courage to call and make an appointment becuase I dont want to pay the 40 dollars for the hair cut!

This is coming from the girl that used to go out all the time, spend tons of money on clothes, buy stuff for my friends etc. Now I dont even want to spend 40 dollars on a much needed hair cut and that I can easily afford?

I feel like Ive gotten so used to asking myself " do i really need it" that everything has turned into a WANT instead of a NEED.

I lost my sense of balance! And dont know whats appropriate to spend anymore! Please help!

[DebtFree&Broke]

Way to go!!! Now that you are debt free you need some spending money. If you give yourself $50 a week to spend on anything you want you'll be just fine. Are you using a budget every month?

[snshijuptr]

I definitely understand. I recommend using a 50/30/20 budget where 50% of your expenses go to Needs, 30% to savings, and 20% to Wants. This helped DH and I not feel bad going out to eat or buying things for ourselves. We always know how much money is there to spend. When you can see how much money you can spend on Wants it frees you up to be a little more flexible.

[disneysteve]

I feel like Ive gotten so used to asking myself " do i really need it" that everything has turned into a WANT instead of a NEED.

That's because so much of what we do is WANT and not NEED. Once you realize that, it is so much easier to save and live below your means.

I agree with the others. Give yourself a spending budget. Choose an amount appropriate to your circumstances and give yourself the freedom to spend it each and every month.

[kork13]

I definitely understand. I recommend using a 50/30/20 budget where 50% of your expenses go to Needs, 30% to savings, and 20% to Wants. This helped DH and I not feel bad going out to eat or buying things for ourselves. We always know how much money is there to spend. When you can see how much money you can spend on Wants it frees you up to be a little more flexible.

This is exactly what I do. I'm much the same way, where I really don't spend alot, and every expense that isn't housing, food, or utilities is basically a "want". So as others have said, I've begun budgeting my spending. I set up a percentage of my monthly income that is 100% guilt-free spending money that I can use as desired. For me, 15% is plenty. Often, I save a chunk of that for future spending on larger stuff, like electronics, snowboarding trips, clothes shopping sprees (I hate clothes shopping... so I don't do it often, and when I do, I buy alot of clothes all at once to cover me for a year or so), or whatever else. Otherwise, I spend alot of my spending money on going out for dinner, day trips, or random other events.

Bottom line: knowing that I've got a slice of my monthly income that is reserved for spending has made it alot easier for me to spend money for enjoyment. Money is a tool to enhance life. As long as you're responsible about it, there's no reason to pathologically deprive yourself. You have to enjoy life while you're living it.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

50% Needs, 20% savings, and 30% wants? i thought that was the budget. Is taxes in the 50% needs, or is it 50% of after SS, Medicare, and taxes? And the health insurance, etc is in the Needs?

[kork13]

50% Needs, 20% savings, and 30% wants? i thought that was the budget. Is taxes in the 50% needs, or is it 50% of after SS, Medicare, and taxes? And the health insurance, etc is in the Needs?

Depends on how each person runs with it.

Personally, since I'm not a big spender, I do switch it around to use 50% Needs/30% Savings/20% Wants. Minor change, but if your "wants" are small and you want higher savings, it's more realistic to go that way.

Also, I operate off of gross income, so yes, SS/Med/Taxes are all needs (keeps me out of jail), as is insurance of all types (protects your home/auto/health/property). But for someone who operates off of net income, SS/Med/Tax and some insurance is taken out of your paycheck, so it doesn't even enter into the equation. Personally I think that's silly (you basically ignore the fact that you're spending money on those things), but to each his own.