Just thinking the word, ‘budget’, is enough to make many of us cringe. Yes, a budget leads us to achieve financial goals, however, in the meantime it’s hard to feel like the sacrifices are worth it. Rather than focusing on lack and what you can’t have while you’re saving, change your point of view to one of abundance about what you do have and can do.
Invest in self-improvement, education and hobbies to feel rich.
Invest time in education
One thing that’s guaranteed to make you feel rich in every sense of the word, is self-improvement.
Saving or decreasing debt often means foregoing expensive activities for a time, in order to get on top. Whether they include five-star dining, pricey weekend breaks by the beach or weekly facials, chances are the absence of such means more leisure time for you. One thing that’s guaranteed to make you feel rich in every sense of the word, is self-improvement.
Perhaps you’ve always wanted to learn a new language, read those books gathering dust on the shelf, enhance your painting skills, practice martial arts or become more financially savvy. Whatever it is, it’s likely you’ll find entirely free resources online to get you going. For each activity that’s put on hold, use that slot in your schedule to invest in education or hobbies and you won’t have time to feel like you’re missing out. In the meantime, your brain will thank you for it.
Regularly seek cheap or free adventures close to home.
Seek cheap experiences
Expensive experiences, like world travel and shopping sprees, might need to go on the back burner while on a budget. However, wherever you live, you’ll find cheap experiences everywhere, when you look. Have you explored the local art galleries? Hiked through the nearby rainforest? Discovered quaint, outback towns? Camped on the beach? Being on a budget doesn’t have to mean a lack of adventure in life.
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Enhance everyday things
How many things do you do, each and every day, that could be significantly improved upon? Could boring dinners turn into gourmet feasts, quick showers become leisurely baths or neglected gardens bloom into flower-filled havens? It truly is the little things in life that lead to general happiness, especially when you make the most out of all of them.
Write a list of all the things you do in a day and think of ways to improve each one. Before you know it, life will become so full of wonderful ‘normal’ things, that being on a budget really won’t matter. Remember that a budget is temporary. In the meantime, deliberately fill your life with things that make you feel rich and those savings will build up before you know it.