Growing up is hard. You suddenly acquire a lot of unsavory responsibilities. Not like, having to slaughter game to take back to your family for sustenance or having to decide between pressing a little red button that kills someone instantly but gives you ten million dollars – but mundane shit. Saving. Rent. Rent increases. Dwindling savings. Finally understanding why people get so worried about the economy. Lather, rinse, repeat.
As a result, you change. Not to be melodramatic, but a tiny little part of you dies. The youthful part that ate at Chipotle three nights a week, specifically. In that part’s place, a new part of you grows. This new part remindes you a lot of your mother, which is more than a little worrisome. Sometimes this new part of you is weirdly fun, like when it gets super excited because you received a coveted but rare 20% YOUR ENTIRE PURCHASE COUPON from Bed Bath & Beyond.
But the flip-side of that is that a lot of time this new part of you is kind of…not so fun. Like when it tells you to skip that $12 salad and instead eat some sad $1 tuna and heat up some even sadder frozen broccoli. Or like when your friend asks you to go to a Beyonce concert with her and you actually have to hold back tears while you say “I’m so sorry, but I don’t think I have the money to spend on that right now.” By the way, that is a true story and I can’t delve too much deeper into it because I have not completed the emotional homework needed to process it entirely.
In case you couldn’t tell, I’m slowly but surely coming to accept this new part of me. And God knows it’s saved me a bunch of money. But in the process of doing that, I accidentally forgot one to do one of the most important things in life: treat myself.
Look, saving money and being responsible is 100% probably the most important things you will ever do for yourself. But, provided all your bills are paid, you’ve saved a little money that month, and you aren’t swimming in credit card debt, you need to treat yourself. It seriously makes life worth living. After all, money sort of loses its usefulness and value if you don’t, you know, actually spend any of it.
So after saving hand over fist for the past few years, I splurged (read: spent $200 more than usual this past month. Look, I never said I was a Kardashian). I spent money on technically “frivolous” things like clothes, books, and ~*salon services*~. I expected to feel kind of shitty for thinking so “short-term” but instead I felt way less stressed and actually (dare I say it?) happy. I felt more confident and connected to the world around me. I walked a little taller. And most importantly, for the first time in a year I didn’t want to set my closet on fire while trying to get dressed in the morning.
Now look, I can’t always spend money on myself. That’s just a great way to become super poor, super fast. But next time I want to buy myself a lil somethin’ somethin’, I probably won’t hesitate for too long. And by “somethin’ somethin’” I of course mean “burritos”. Because if burritos can give you some happiness, then I think that’s worth the $10.
Treat yo’self lades. It’s the little things in life. .
Nice Move821
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