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Money Part 2; How to have a good time with it (while still minding it!).

Last week we looked at some simple tips on how to mind your money. If you missed it, go check it out here

Some of us think that enjoying our money and saving can’t be done simultaneously, unless you have a big income. It absolutely can, but it takes some thought behind how you use your hard earned cash. I mentioned the word discipline at the end of the “how to mind your money blog”. It plays a huge part in enjoying your money too. 

I am someone who has rented for 18 years, so I know first hand how hard it can be to save for the things you want in life. I also know it can be done on a modest income. My wife and I bought our home over two years ago, but we still managed to enjoy ourselves and do all the things we wanted to do along this 10 year journey.

I think it’s important to highlight you really can enjoy your money and mind it at the same time. Read on for a few little tips to help you along the way.

You can't have your cake and eat it.

If you want to enjoy your money, while minding it, something will have to give. Take this list into account:

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  • big new home.
  • fancy car in the drive way.
  • luxury holiday each year.
  • dinner out every weekend.
  • regular hotel trips.
  • shopping every weekend. 

Only the very wealthy can afford that, and good luck to them. The first step to enjoying your cash is to understand you can’t have everything all at once. If you can accept this, you will be in a much better frame of mind to allow you develop a healthy relationship with money. CNBCs Make It have a good article on personal finance where they say “winning at personal finance often starts at the shop counter or the online checkout page”. 

Cut the crap.

When I was in my mid twenties, I would have had a habit of buying a newspaper along with my lunch each day. I had no real responsibilities back then, apart from rent and standard bills, so I didn’t think too much about how I spent my money. 

As time went on, I found I was spending everything I earned and had nothing for a rainy day. So I cut the newspaper and started making my lunch a few times a week. Considering a paper was about €1.50 per day and lunch about €6, over the course of the year this was anything up to €1000 a year I could put into something I enjoyed. 

That’s just a small example of how I cut silly spending, there are plenty more ways we can stop spending silly money:

  • 1 night out a week instead of 2.
  • stop buying needless items while grocery shopping.
  • no to scratch cards & lotto.
  • eat 2 courses out instead of 3.
  • buy multipack items instead of individual ones. 

Every €2 counts. Over the course of a year, you would be surprised how much money you can put aside for things you enjoy by cutting the “crap”. 

Less is more.

I touched on it above, but cutting back can make things more enjoyable even. If you love dinner out with your friends every weekend, but you want to save as well, why not go out every 2/3 weekends instead. This way you could put aside €200 a month yet still look forward to and enjoy your nights out. If concerts are your thing and you normally go to 6 or 7 a year, cut back to 3 or 4 instead. 

These are two very simple examples of combining smart saving with enjoyment at the same time. Who knows, because you are doing the things you enjoy a little less, maybe you end up enjoying the experience even more? 

Figure out what you like doing.

If you are on a budget each month, which most of us are, chances are you can’t do everything you want. So really start thinking about what it is you enjoy doing. My wife and I, we enjoy:

  • dinners out.
  • a trip to a hotel.
  • concerts.
  • the cinema.
  • a holiday, if possible. 

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so that’s where we focus our hard earned cash. We would rather 2 nice hotel trips a year than going to the pub every Friday night. 

That’s just us, you need to figure out what you like to do with your downtime and focus on spending your money that way. If you are in two minds about spending money on something, chances are it’s not something you need, only something you want, so don’t spend it. 

Discover Modern Money have an interesting article worth reading. Among other things, they highlight the difference between cheap and frugal, which is a point worth noting. Cheap is spending money on poor quality goods and services, thinking you are wise with your money, when in fact you are depriving yourself. Frugal means you don’t waste and you know the difference between want and need. 

Plan ahead.

For big purchases, it’s important not to put pressure on yourself by setting unrealistic timelines. My wife and I were engaged for 2.5 years, so as not to put financial strain on ourselves. Saving for a house deposit was 10 years in the making, while our trip to New Zealand/Australia was also years in the making!

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Planning ahead will also give you something to look forward to, which is one of the best parts of anything really. Yes it takes patience and discipline, but as I have mentioned in other blogs before, anything worth having generally does. 

in conclusion.

Money can be such a hot topic, often because we feel we don’t have enough of it. We also tend to look at what others have with envy, which is pointless really, because they could be up to their eyeballs in debt and hugely unhappy. 

Is it possible to mind your money AND have a good time all at once? It absolutely is, but it’s a balancing act and can take some time to get the hang of. It’s worth pursuing though, because letting money have control over you is not healthy. Don’t forget, money is a tool to get to your goal, it should never be the goal itself. 

Getting the balance right and having a healthy relationship with money will set you on the right path to minding your money while having a good time with it. Remember, as with most things in life, it’s your choice. 

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