Develop a Safe Spending Plan

I used to have this problem. After I had gotten out of debt I became very good at not spending money while engaging in small acts of financial self sabotage. I got very focused on making the amount of money in my bank account grow every month. About once a year, though, something would happen that would threaten to undo several month’s work. I would over spend. Not by just a few hundred dollars, but by quite a bit more. To remedy the situation, I would have to take money from my savings account to cover the excess spending. I was engaging in a frustrating pattern. The pattern wasn’t enough to undermine everything I was working for, but it was enough to annoy and unnerve me. While listening to a T. Harv Ekker seminar, I heard the solution to my problem. Develop a spending plan. In other words, Give myself permission to spend. What a novel idea! According to T. Harv the mind is ruled by the conscious and subconscious minds. The subconscious mind governs desire and motivation and action and can often act like an undisciplined child. Frankly, when I over spent, I felt like a child. To remedy the situation, I developed two accounts one called Short Term Purchases and the other was called Long Term Purchases. Short Term Purchases were the purchases I wanted to make 30 to 60 days out and Long Term Purchases were the purchases that I wanted to make 4 months out or longer. If I wanted to take a trip or buy a computer, I saved money into the Long Term Account. If I just wanted to go out to dinner without guilt I took that money out of the Short Term Account. I then decided on an amount of money that would go into both accounts every month. I set the amount that went into the accounts as an amount that I was comfortable with that would still allow me to save in line with my financial accumulation plan. The key is that I am always depositing money into those accounts. If I spend it, that is okay. If I don’t, that is okay as well. Giving myself the permission to spend did the trick. The massive overspending stopped and I felt better about my overall financial plan.

Would having a spending plan assist you? Please comment.