I’ve been broke and I’m not going back!

Good morning Dinks. As you know I have had my share of personal financial struggles. Now I live a very conservative financial life. I don’t save every single penny that I make but I do think twice before spending any money and if I choose to splurge the benefit has to really be worth the cost.

I had my share of trouble with money in the past because I did not live on a budget and I spent more money every month than I actually earned. I racked up thousands of dollars in credit card debt because I liked shopping and having nice things.   Now that I am older I realize that those materialistic things don’t matter in life. All that matters is that I have a roof over my head – a comfortable roof, food in my belly – preferably good food and I enjoy my life – which means I like to travel and visit new places all around the world.

Conservative spending but not set in stone

This week I had a little relapse in my conservative spending habits. All of the summer sales are on and I love walking around window shopping, by the third day by window shopping lunch hours turned into a new summer dress shopping spree.

My shopping sprees nowadays are absolutely nothing like they used to be in my previous financial life. I call my past my previous financial life because it seems like an entire lifetime ago, I look back at those unstable years in my life as if I am looking at another person because it was so different from who I am today.

My summer dress shopping spree ended with six new summer dresses and $100 spent in cash. No credit cards were used and I did not spend more than $20 on any one dress.

You can spend, just don’t splurge

That is my new life, my new financial and my new shopping motto. I don’t mind spending money but I won’t spend money carelessly and I won’t spend money without thinking about my purchase. Before purchasing my new summer dresses I shopped around and passed on several other purchases because they were too expensive.

That is what I love about my new financial life; I don’t get the urge to spend very often because I remember the financial, personal and stressful damage that it can do. But when I do get the urge to spend I am still financially conscious about my purchases and I don’t feel guilty or have to worry about the everlasting repercussions of my purchases. People who are reformed financially responsible shoppers can still spend money, but they just shouldn’t splurge so that they don’t fall back into their old financial habits.

Now I have spent the money, I have six lovely new dresses and I got the shopping fever out of my system. One shopping spree in a while is ok, it’s justifiable and I don’t feel guilty about it. Actually I don’t feel anything at all except happy for my new summer wardrobe. Now if only the weather would get warmer so I can actually wear my new summer dresses.

Photo by danielmoyle

Kristina Tahnyak

Tahnya is a Certified Financial Planner and former Investment Advisor turned marketing and communications professional She holds a degree from Concordia University, is debt free and currently works in the field of digital marketing.