Is Your Wallet Ready for an Open World?

Things are finally opening up! People are going on vacation, seeing friends, eating out, and doing all the things (or at least moving in that direction). It is exciting, but as a financial coach, it also makes me a little nervous. Over the past 14 months or so a lot of us have dramatically changed our spending habits and, for many, that meant that they were spending less overall and saving more (yay!). Now that things are opening back up I’m seeing lots of clients start spending in very different ways. This is not necessarily bad, but the sudden change does give me pause.

I made a little checklist that will help you make sure your new spending habits aren’t accidentally sending you off in a bad financial direction:

• Can I afford this? (i.e. do I have the money available to pay for this without going into debt?)

• Does it align with my values?

• By buying this will I need to not buy something else? Am I okay with that? 

• Does this help me with my lifestyle and financial goals? 

  • If not, does it take away from my lifestyle and/or financial goals? 

As long as you can afford it, it aligns with your values, and it either helps you reach your goals or doesn’t take away from that progress, then it is a-okay to spend that money! But, if it actually pulls you away from your goals or forces you to go into debt then take a pause. I know it feels like we have to do all the things now, but we don’t. Even if that specific swimsuit isn’t available in June, something else inevitably will... 

XOXO