Your money is yours
What would you guys say if, after paying all my bills, putting money towards my debt and the some aside for long-term, I spent the rest on marshmallows.
Yes, marshmallows.
Maybe different kinds of marshmallows, like those coloured ones or the jumbo sized ones, or those jars of marshmallow cream. Let’s say I spent every leftover penny I had on marshmallow things because it just brought me unequivocal joy to stock my cupboards with sugar fluff — would I be wasting my money?
I feel like respondents will be in one of two camps:
YES you are wasting your money! What return does marshmallow cream give you? Nothing!
vs.
NO you are not wasting your money! Marshmallows bring you happiness, so why not?
At this point you probably understand I’m using marshmallows as a metaphor to represent any materialistic want that generally serves no purpose other than short-term enjoyment. I’m bringing this up because a friend sent me a somewhat horrified text message when I confessed on twitter I dropped $200 at the spa — only a day after I posted a how-to guide for cutting your own hair. She asked me to “justify” my outrageous spending while claiming to be frugal. I have only one justification:
My money is mine.
Actually, my first justification was half of my spa bill was going to be immediately reimbursed because massages are covered by my employer health plan. Just for future reference, I actually drop that amount at the spa on a monthly basis, only this month my regular appointments landed on the same day inflating the bill for the visit.
According to Gail vaz Oxlade, your life pie should look like this:
I generally try to arrange my life accordingly, but because my housing costs are less than 35% of my income and I don’t own a car, I have a little bit more flexibility. Nevertheless, the most important thing here is to acknowledge that even Gail says you have to give yourself some money to spend however you want, on whatever you want. The catch is you can’t spend all of your money however you want.
When money comes in and you have to decide how/if to spend it, these are the questions to ask:
1. Are all my needs taken care of? Food, shelter, clothing! If you’re short on one of these, you can be in immediate physical danger. You have to take care of your health & safety before anything else.
2. Are all my obligated payments made? Credit card bills, loan payments, car payments, insurance. These are things that won’t put you at risk if you miss, but it can cause problems like hurt your credit score later!
3. Have I put some money aside for long-term and short-term goals? This means contributing to a retirement fund and an emergency fund, and also for something else you might be working towards like a vacation or a down-payment on a home.
If the answer is YES to all of the above and you have cash left over, I say do whatever you want with it. You can tackle more debt or put it towards a goal, or yes, you can buy out the local grocery store’s supply of marshmallows. It doesn’t matter, it’s your money.
I agree with you – but I would encourage you to examine how much happiness unlimited marshmallows are really bringing you, and to think about if you could get equal happiness from a smaller supply :)
haha good point
I’m with SP.
Actually, I’m torn. I’d totally stuff my face with marshmallows (mine are shopping marshmallows), but I’m starting to realize that I need to scale back or I’ll be nutritionally deficient.
lol it’s true, too many marshmallows means not enough of other things!
Great post. You hit it on the head. The great thing about personal finance is that it’s personal. What appeals to me, might not be desirable to anyone else and that’s okay.
First of all, putting all of your disposable income into marshmallows is INSANE. What in the heck are you going to do with all these marshmallows if you don’t also have chocolate and graham crackers? Come on, now!
Seriously, though. I completely agree with you. If all your basic needs are taken care of, and you’ve planned for the future, then your money is yours to do with as you please. I mean, I might suggest you examine your marshmallow jones and see if you really DO enjoy all those marshmallows, or if you’re just buying them out of the habit of always buying a lot of marshmallows, but other than that, you do what you want.
lol your right, marshmallows without chocolate & graham crackers is just not a balanced life
Girl, as usual, you and I think exactly the same!
#greatminds
This is why I’m a big advocate for fun money. Yes, it’s important to put money aside for your needs and savings, but wants are important too.
I wish you and your marshmellows happiness. :)
This is basically how I live although I prefer gummy bears. Once my needs and obligations are met I don’t usually stress myself over spending the rest of my money, except in cases where murphy drops by, then I get peeved.
Like most of the others said, depending on what brings me joy, I would reevaluate it to see if I actually need that much of it but if I was a card collector or something I wouldn’t let it bother me so much. Also there is also the possibility that you don’t have that much left in which case you might only be able to get one small pack of marshmallows.
It’s true. I think at this point I still have too much left… I’m going to work my way up to attacking my student loan debt more aggressively.
Hooray for marshmallows! You had me there for a moment (and I secretly wish there was some truth to this marshmallow business), but honestly, point agreed. If I must (keyword: must) make every dollar be “productive,” then who is the real master?
AMEN!!!
I was in the convenient store today and saw a s’more display. I almost took a photo of the bags of marshmallows for you, but I didn’t want to look like I was casing the place….
-cartwheel roundoff- She works hard for the money! So hard for it honey!
I completely agree.
Bravo *clap clap*
Now I have the urge to dig into a bag of marshmallows and make pie charts.
Marshmallow pie charts?
Indeed!
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[...] spending on needs and those who choose a more balanced strategy and still spend on some wants (or marshmallows). On this project of doing a year without wasting money, there is so much I have cut down or out [...]