Saving Up for the Splurge

   Most of us have all done it, having just one tremendously wallet denting shopping spree. That also means most of us have experienced the aftermath that it leaves. The feeling of missing all your hard earned money, all of it, just gone. There is a way where you could splurge, but not feel guilty because of it. Obviously, when you choose to have a massive trip to the mall to get things you've been wanting since the first time you laid eyes on it, you feel like you deserve it. The truth is you don't exactly deserve it if you're just going to waste all of your money on things that you don't even need, but that's exactly what a "splurge" is. Well I have a proposition for you all who wish to feel proud of yourself, before, during, and after a shopping trip.

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  You've heard it plenty of times before, but you need to save money before you can spend it. The method that works for me especially is to set goals. Once you've gotten past the first one, you will know that you're satisfied with yourself, and want to continue to keep doing it. The way I set goals is I set an amount of money that I wish to save up before going on a shopping binge. One crucial rule is that there must also be a certain amount of money I have to SAVE before moving up to my next goal. An example would be, say I'm going to set my target amount at $100, I'd probably set aside $20 from my shopping. This way, I don't have to start from a clean slate, and I know I'll always have some cash for things here and there. From the time I set the goal and actually accomplishing it, I start to keep my eyes open for things that I want to buy when I finally do save up enough. As you near your goal, you can start planning on eliminating things you know are just too expensive. Also, you might want to map out your trip to the mall, this way you can get straight to your shopping and enjoy doing it, because you know that you're smart enough to save AND spend!