Saving Money Is Great — but Don't Forget to Enjoy It, Too

So much financial advice – rightly – counsels on how best to build wealth, maximize savings and manage assets prudently. But this piece urges you to celebrate this year by considering doing just the opposite – loosening up your pursestrings to fulfill cherished projects.

As a financial planner, I see many clients who diligently do all the right things to create financial security. But when it’s finally time to spend their hard-earned money on something meaningful, like a family trip, private school or long-desired purchase, they can’t quite bring themselves to take the plunge.

Imagine, for example, my client who saved diligently for a vacation, only to become hesitant to spend the money when the time came, for fear the reason was too frivolous. Or, worse, another who had saved for years to send their child to private school, a dream of theirs, but came to see every tuition check they wrote as a financial indulgence, compared with sending their child to a public school.

Our reluctance to spend, even to achieve cherished goals, often stems from a lingering fear that we don’t yet have quite enough money, or from an attachment to wealth as something that should be further grown more than enjoyed.

But what’s the point of saving if you never actually enjoy what you’ve built? More than that, clinging on to what you have can overlook the reality that spending – even in seemingly frivolous ways – is often a way to achieve your goals, not a hindrance to doing so.

Seeing spending as an investment

At its core, reframing your relationship with money is about seeing spending as a valuable part of life’s investments, rather than simply as an expense.

Once you make this and other such shifts, big purchases feel less like debits and more like credits. Obviously, sometimes you need to coach yourself – or be coached – to achieve that perspective.

Take my reluctant vacationers. I managed to persuade them to follow through on their plans by encouraging them to view the trip as an investment in their own well-being. Taking time off, recharging themselves and having new experiences, I successfully argued, would positively impact their performance at work and their overall life satisfaction.

The challenge of spending comfortably on “frivolous” goals can be compounded by non-financial obstacles—like a lack of time to plan, or even to find resources who can help you do so.

For example, as they contemplated their dream trip, my vacationing clients felt overwhelmed by the logistics. They had pets, a busy schedule, and no clear plan. I helped them to create actionable steps to solving their concerns – by taking some simple steps to identifying pet boarding services, creating a process to narrow down the list of potential destinations, and more.

Once those obstacles had solutions, the vacation became a real possibility, and the financial planning felt rewarding.

Three tips to follow

It may seem odd for a financial planner to urge you to spend. But here are three tips I often dispense to my clients, along with more on why I do so.

Select a goal

Pick one meaningful financial goal—whether it’s education, a home, or a big trip—and write down why it’s important to you. List the potential “returns” – personal satisfaction, perhaps, or family enrichment or well-being – to remind yourself it’s more than just an expense.

Set a “Spending Comfort Zone”

Establish a comfortable spending range for this goal to give yourself peace of mind. Define a maximum expenditure that feels both manageable with your finances and sufficient to reach the goal. This step makes it easier to relax about the spending itself, knowing you’ve followed a process to ensure it won’t – well. it shouldn’t anyway – derail other financial priorities you have.

Take One Action Toward a Goal Today

Choose one goal-related task unrelated to money to take action on, such as researching the destination of the vacation or booking a preliminary meeting with an educational advisor. This step breaks down obstacles and, with any luck, will allow you to feel more confident that the non-financial aspects of the project are achievable.

Remember: Financial success is not just about accumulating savings; it’s about creating a life that reflects your values and dreams. These small steps can help you shift to embracing the dream goals and projects you’ve worked so hard to achieve.