I just read an article written about a woman who decided to spend nothing except on the bare necessities in life.
So food, housing, toiletries, and a few other odds and ends. It was meant to be an inspirational story about how you can get by on very little, but to me it was just straight up DEPRESSING.
Of course you get by on very little money. But why on Earth would you want to simply “get by”?
I did the whole frugal living thing for many years. I even built a business on the concept of saving as much money as possible and spending the minimal amount. And in the beginning, I liked it! It was fun. It was a good challenge.
But in the end, I was depressed.
I would sacrifice anything I needed to in order to save a buck.
I got into couponing and forced myself to eat shitty, chemical-filled foods because those were the ones I could get for free
I avoided taking any kind of vacations and when I did, I would stay in the shittiest places pavailable
I stopped buying presents for my husband during the holidays
I wore the same clothes for years and years, even if they were stained and/or ripped
I didn’t allow myself to go out and have fun unless someone else offered to pay
I did whatever necessary to avoid spending money.
And in the end –
I wound up depressed, alienated from many friends and family members, and I’d turned into a raging bitch that could be set off at any given moment.
I sucked the fun out of life by trying to “save”. And save for what exactly, anyway? What the fuck was I saving for?
Why, retirement of course! I was putting money into the bank so I could one day, decades from now, stop working and live off the money I had set aside all of those years that I was depressed and having no fun.
Because apparently that’s what people do.
After awhile I got sick and tired of living that way and started having fun again. 🙂
And yes –
That involved spending money!
But here’s what I realized:
The more FUN that I had when I would spend money, the more money I would make afterwards. So if I spent money on something that bought me temporary happiness (such as a new outfit or dinner out), that money was long gone and not making a return.
HOWEVER!
If I spent money on something that bought me lasting happiness (such as vehicle or hired someone to help me in my business), I would make that money back in no time.
So while I don’t believe you should be foolish with your money and just blow it on everything you feel like, I definitely think it’s important to spend money because when you do so, you’re eliminating that scarcity mindset that tells you there is a limited amount of money to go around.
Just be smart about what you spend your money ON. 🙂
You and I, we know that we were not put on this earth to simply “get by”.
We want to thrive!
We want to enjoy life!
We want to live in luxury!
We want to be able to be, do and have EVERYTHING we want!
And we know that if we have all of that –
We’re able to do more good in the world.
Do you know how hard it is to help other people that are struggling when you have no fucking money in the bank?
REALLY FREAKIN’ HARD!
But when you have money, you can help so many people! And helping others is one of the best feelings in the world.
Which means, of course –
Focus on making more money so you can spend more money on the things that matter. The more money you make, the more you can help others. And the more you help others, the better the world will be. And you did come here to change the world, right?
Right!
So let’s stop avoiding spending money with the fear that it’s gone forever and start embracing the fact that when you spend money, you’re actually calling in more abundance.
As long as you’re spending money on things that will make you more money and/or give you LASTING happiness, you’re good. Don’t spend money on “stuff” just for the sake of having said “stuff”.
Buy and invest in things that will improve your life.
Just because you spend money doesn’t mean it’s gone forever and that you’ll never get it back. There is SO MUCH MONEY in this world. And most of it is held by 1% of the population. Those 1% believe that money is in abundance. There is NOT a finite amount of it available. They know that there is more to come.
I remember the other day I found a dime on the sidewalk while I was walking with a friend.
Normally I would be embarassed to pick it up, believing my friend would think I was broke and needed the 10 cents so badly I was willing to pick the dirty coin off the ground and stuff it in my pocket.
But these days, I know that when I find money, whether it’s a dime or something of lesser value, that’s the universe telling me there is an abundance of money available to me at all times.
So I picked up the coin, said out loud “thank you, Universe! I know there’s more where that came from!” and stuffed it in my pocket. 5 minutes later I found $1 on the ground and my friend just laughed and said “you’re a magnet for money!”.
And that is very true. 🙂
We are ALL magnets for money.
When you trust that there is an abundance of what you want available to you, there is a much higher chance that you will actually receive it. But if you believe that there is a lack of it, you are basically saying “no thank you” to the universe, which is going to result in lack!
The main reason I believe that SPENDING money is so important is because it trains your brain to believe that there is no shortage of money available to you. And when you believe that, you really do become a MAGNET for money and it starts flowing to you ALL of the time and from multiple different avenues!
I was talking to a client yesterday about how I bring in so much money every month, and I told her that I over-commit to things financially. That’s how I make more money. If I know that I MUST make a certain amount of money or X (a very bad thing) will happen, I hustle my ass off to make it happen, but if I play it safe and don’t over-commit, then I just make the bare minimum.
I know that if I want to make more money, I have to increase my financial commitments.
Which, I know, sounds SO financially irrespoinsible!
But fuck it, it works. So I don’t care what anyone else thinks. 🙂
Here’s an example of how I make a lot of money in my business. Take a look at the screenshot attatched to see how I over-commit with my expenses each month. With a goal of $100,000 minimum each month (last month was $167,667 - very specific, I know!), I need to make sure I have $100,000 in expenses each month. If I only have $60,000 in expenses, I will only make $60,000.
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You need to STRETCH yourself!
(Side note: Expenses include everything I need to pay for in my life - mortgage, savings, groceries, etc. Not just business things. It also includes fun stuff such as travel, a new vehicle if needed; things like that. Expenses include EVERYTHING I both need AND want.)
If I want to make more money, I start giving myself more expenses that MUST be paid or something “bad” will happen. I work best with my ass on the line, otherwise I take it easy and stay complacent.
This may or may not work for everyone, but chances are, if you follow me and align with my message, this is true for you, too!
I know that there is no shortage of money available to me.
I know that I can make as much money as I want, whenever I want it.
I know that there are SO MANY ways to generate an income.
I know because I’ve witnessed it. I know because THIS IS MY LIFE. This is what I experience every single day.
I know because it’s true. 🙂