Rewards?

[geojen]

I'm just wondering who here, who are currently working on reducing their debt, give themselves rewards or buy themselves something every once in awhile? DH and I don't, but we do save a good chunk of money for christmas. We were going to buy a flat screen for the living room this year, until we had some car emergencies that I wrote about on another post. So, we decided to put our Christmas money towards those obligations instead. Sometimes it really sucks being a grown-up

Anyways, what do you do to reward yourselves for staying on track?

[Broken Arrow]

Er... my answer probably won't help, but I don't have a set rule of rewarding myself. Normally, my peace of mind is reward enough.

However, if I really want something bad enough, if my budget can afford it, and it fits within a certain tolerable percentage of my overall gross (no more than 5% each year), then I will usually pick it up.

I think you guys are good, responsible people, and I hope that you'll still have a little bit of something for yourselves to celebrate this holiday.

[GREENBACK]

I'm generally not to big on rewarding myself for things I should be doing anyway. Hopefully my reward will be a comfortable retirement in 10 or 15 yrs..

[kork13]

I'm sort of similar to BA on this.... I don't really PLAN for my wants/"rewards", but if there is something I know I want/need to get, if I can afford it, I'll do it.

In physical terms, this tends to be either camera/photography type stuff, or traveling. But I agree, the biggest actual "reward for staying on track" for me is simply not having to worry about money. It's really easy for me to stress out about things sometimes, so that peace of mind is important for me.

For me, being able to save another $50/mo is a reward in itself. (I know... kinda weird, but I mentioned it elsewhere a while ago.... saving is almost obsessive for me. "Hello, my name is kork, and I have a problem").

[geojen]

Er... my answer probably won't help, but I don't have a set rule of rewarding myself. Normally, my peace of mind is reward enough.

However, if I really want something bad enough, if my budget can afford it, and it fits within a certain tolerable percentage of my overall gross (no more than 5% each year), then I will usually pick it up.

I think you guys are good, responsible people, and I hope that you'll still have a little bit of something for yourselves to celebrate this holiday.

I agree that normally it just feels good to know that you are working towards a goal. I guess I didn't state what I meant well in my post. Do you guys budget towards wants when you are still working on repaying debt like car loans and student loans. Like for us, it was the flat screen. We budgeted a set amount every month to pay for that this Christmas.

Thanks BA, I hope we do too. It won't be a flat screen, but maybe a little something for each of us would suffice til next Christmas!

[maat55]

When I became intensely focused on getting out of debt, rewards or nonessential items had a bitter taste to them. We have been debtfree for sometime now, but I still am more intense about saving than spending. We go out to eat now and then, but I would rather save and invest than have stuff.

[GREENBACK]

I think when you break the cycle of debt splurges and fun things lose some of their appeal. I don't budget for all fun things but generally do for a big ticket item unless it's a deal that's not going to last for long. I've been known to get out the plastic in some cases but with a definite plan to pay it back quickly.

I think problems start for people when this becomes a frequent cycle.

[MYOM]

Dinner out and a dozen roses and my wife can be nice to me for up to two months.

Dan Clemons