One of life’s most cruel conundrum’s is that fun stuff costs money. Capitalism is clever and it has its claws in deep.
Which brings us to this Reddit thread, in which a self-confessed ‘rich kid’ pretty much admits they suck at being financially independent and so is asking for advice before things get too messy and debt-heavy.
How to break bad spending habits as a “rich kid”? from personalfinance
We must acknowledge that it is an absolute privilege to relate to these woes of spending money frivolously, as it’s not a luxury everyone can afford. That definitely intensifies the guilt felt for failing to budget even with an adequate access to funds.
So for financial hot tips, there is honestly a lot of really useful, valid advice on this thread. But if you’re a self-conscious silly spender, it’s pretty ruthless so prepare to feel absolutely seen.
Let’s start with Reddit user SoggyMcmufffinns, who has kindly pointed out that,
“The great news about finances is that isn’t necessarily complex just not always easy to maintain emotional self-control.”
User albl1122 highlights that,
“A lot of debt situations start out small and then just gets worse”
Admittedly, this advice is very true. But it is also a bit extreme I mean chill OUT Scotts_Tots88.
“Create a budget. You’re spending is out of control because you do not have a plan for your money.”
“Start planning how you are going to spend EVERY dollar. First pay your bills, then save, then the left over is for extras like breakfast at that coffee shop. If you don’t have a plan that will be lopsided and you will spend on the extras first. “
PissedTuna thinks they’ve got it all worked out and honestly, I don’t love their attitude.
“I track every dollar I spend. Once you have a spreadsheet setup and everything written out it takes about 20 minutes a week. Save your receipts and put them in a spreadsheet every Sunday night.”
SquirrelTale is basically suggesting you chew your food then spit it out.
“You really only need 3 pairs of jeans as well. For me, I find online shopping and just making wish lists (and not actually buying anything) helps.”
Draculopin is out here coming for our Sundays AND our indulgent number of meals eaten out.
“You can avoid lazy sundays by having meal prep Sunday, spend 2-4 hours making meals, put them in containers and take them with you or have them ready when you want to eat”
To sum up the world of budgeting, Hyperobjeckt is coming in hot with some rough advice.
“Pay yourself first: keep increasing the % that goes out of each paycheck into savings/investment accts until it starts to eat into the money you’re spending each day. Then you’ll start cutting back on spending out of necessity, in order to accommodate your new saving habit.”
It even comes with its own bleak-ass motto. Yay.
“Another way to phrase it: keep saving till it hurts. Works for me :)”
Basically, improving our spending habits requires admitting that we have very little self-control and a completely warped perception of what is necessary.
So if you’re spending money like a fool, that’s a good place to start.