Economizing vs. Quality of Life – Where To Draw The Line?

It is a psychological trap. Ever since the existence of humanity goods were something people saved up. The drive to economize is probably one of the few things most people – if not all – have in common. Generally, I am not only talking about money, but stuff that is of a certain value.

Knowing this it should be no surprise that after the first currencies had been introduced, money wasn´t something people were handing out generously. And that does make sense, since the financial situation defines who we are, what we are able to do, and how life follows. Yet, it is up to oneself to take action, and play an active role in creating life.

For Your Heirs

Everything that people do is done due to a certain motivation. Then why should this be different when it comes to money? The most important thing before you do anything else with regard to personal finance is to answer the “WHY?”. What is this all for?

As mentioned before probably everyone has a certain instinct for saving. That is why it is even more important to ask yourself what you want to save the money for. If you strive to buy a new car, or to keep the standard of living, that´s good for you, it makes sense.

Nevertheless, I see folks all the time that have no focus, that just want their fortune to grow bigger, and bigger. Usually not a bad idea, but if you are decreasing your standard of living just to have money available that you don´t need, sorry, and then I consider you not being the smartest person.

This is not a story that I am making up, in fact, I know people – aged 70 and above – that refuse to take their medicaments on a daily basis (as they should) just because it would cost them a few dollars more per day. I could tell similar stories; you would probably not believe them. However, this is not what this article is about. Just make sure to have an aim when saving money.

To be more dramatic:  Let´s say you save money in order to travel the world when you are retired. One day before retirement you die. Sounds weird, but it´s nothing impossible. Honestly, I don´t want to scare anyone, my only goal is to make you aware for the fine distinction between the common behaviour of saving money, and a wrong school of thought.

Set Your Personal Priorities

Now, take as much time as you need, and figure out what are the things that are important for you. You will see that there will also be a lot of things you spend money for despite the fact that they have a very low significance. Those are the cost factors we want to highlight in this part, as they can most likely be removed without any consequences.

You should know why you save cash.

I for example would not need I bed to sleep on (no joke), but I would freak out not having a large display, and a fast computer to work with. This is a cruial part that I can only initiate, you have to do the rest on your own.

Is It Worth It?

Whenever removing something from your expenses you should – even though it might sound weird – ask yourself if it is worth it. From time to time I catch myself selling stuff that I would still need just because I am in my money-saving mood.

That´s not a serious illness, however, it´s sometimes a little bit annoying when you want to save money and then do something stupid, like selling the computer that you would actually desperately need. (Weird, right?)