I spend a lot of time talking about how to cut back, save more money, make do with what you have, etc. That is a large portion of my life. That’s a large portion of any frugal person’s life.
But what about splurging? Is that allowed? I mean, isn’t “splurge” a dirty word? Aren’t we suppose to be cutting out all unnecessary things to stretch the budget?
Yes. And no.
Small splurges
Yes, we should be doing whatever we can to stretch the budget. However, part of this blog’s vision is to help you live well on a tight budget, not suffer through it. Part of that is saving enough in most areas to be able to splurge a little on another. In other words, I’m telling you it is okay to splurge once in awhile and/or on one item. ๐
For us, we splurge on television service. We live somewhere where we don’t get any TV reception with an antenna. By the time we paid for basic cable and maybe Netflix, we wouldn’t save much from our current television service. Plus, a lot of the shows we enjoy aren’t on Netflix, Hulu, etc. So we decided to splurge $68/month on DISH. (If TV is one thing you want to splurge on, let me know. I can refer you to DISH which will save you $50 off your first month and saves me $50 as well.)
Update 4/2/18: We now have Netflix and also Amazon Video as part of our Prime membership but have dropped our DISH down to $30/month.
Splurge weekends
We also will occasionally have what we call “splurge weekends.” These are usually special weekends like our anniversary or when we went to the George Strait concert. Instead of counting every penny and getting the cheapest thing on the menu, we allow ourselves to splurge and get what we want. Or do a little shopping. It helps to just “let go” once or twice a year as it makes it easier to live on a tight budget the rest of the year. You don’t feel like you’re never allowed to have fun. Just be careful that you can afford these. A good way to plan for splurge weekends is to set aside some from a tax refund or a work bonus. If those aren’t things you have, set a little aside from each paycheck.
Plan your splurges
Maybe for you, your splurge is nice perfume or a weekly coffee shop trip or higher speed internet or a quarterly pedicure. Whatever your splurge is, don’t feel bad for having it. It is important to splurge a little so that we don’t get discouraged on our frugal journeys. That doesn’t mean you can throw caution to the wind and buy whatever you want. That does mean that a little splurge helps you not feel so deprived of the good things in life as you are trying to make do on a tight budget. You just have to have your splurges planned and in the budget. It’s important that they are budget friendly as well. If you can’t afford more than $5 of fun or blow money a week, don’t make your splurge item more than what fits in the budget.
If you don’t have a little splurge item or two, you are more likely to overspent all at once. Then you’re likely to get discouraged and not want to even try anymore. It’s important to decide on what yourย splurges are going to be and include them in the budget. So plan and enjoy your splurges. No guilt! ๐ ย ย
Gretchen says
Agreed! Splurging can actually help you focus on your goals. It make you feel in control of your money and spending rather than the other way around….great thoughts!
Julie @ Loggers Wife says
It absolutely does help you feel in control of your money! Thanks for stopping by. ๐
Jill says
Splurging is good…within your budget! Ha!
It depends on what your goals are I think and how much you really want them. We’re paying off debt, but we also schedule date nights and take Kung fu classes. 1 is for our mental health and 1 is for our physical health. I don’t consider those splurges, I consider them part of the budget!
Julie @ Loggers Wife says
Yes, everyone is going to have a different idea of splurge. While date nights are a normal budget item for you, date nights are a splurge/special for us. But that has to do with location as well. No really close by babysitters. ๐
All this talk of splurges is really making me want a pumpkin spice latte. Or iced coffee. ๐
Janell Mares says
I found this post by visiting the Frugal Friday Link Up Party. I don’t often get to splurge. I try…but money often gets spent on bills or things needed. I would love to splurge and by myself a new outfit. ๐ Thanks for sharing.
Julie @ Loggers Wife says
I hear ya on the bills and things needed thing. I would love to splurge on a new outfit too but Abby is growing and needs new clothes, Matt goes through work pants about once a year, etc. I don’t want to talk about how old most of my clothes are…;) We decided on the TV service as our splurge for a number of reasons, part of which it is something we can all enjoy. So glad you stopped by!