Being smart about money should not mean worrying about it all time. Cut yourself some slack and enjoy your hard earned cash. The point of making money is not primarily to pay for your needs, live a little, have fun with what you earn. It will motivate you to work even harder.
However, getting funds to have fun can be a bit of a hustle: you could miss an adventurous road trip because you could not afford it, or missing a once in lifetime concert because you simply cannot afford a ticket, or a movie premier at IMAX because a ticket was way too expensive.
How can you go about avoiding such “embarrassing” situations, and still have your finances on the right lane?
Why don’t you set aside some spontaneity funds?
Unlike an emergency fund, a spontaneity fund is not a priority, but again, it’s a sure way of going with the crowd and not feel guilty about it.
I am sure you would not want to miss a concert by your favourite band, or take a rain check on an impromptu evening out with friends because you cannot afford it. We all want to do all these fun activities without breaking our budget completely.
Set aside something small every month, KES 500 would do, exclusively, for those fun activities. You never know, it might come in handy when you least expect it.
This account is exclusive for those unplanned fun activities and should not be over used. Only opt for it when your budget is extremely tight. It can be very depressing staying in while your close friends are out having fun.
Finding the balance between being smart about money and worrying about money is hard. But the more you clearly define your own limits and adequately plan your finances, the less worried you will be about having a little unplanned fun in your life.