The I Deserve It Spending Trap | Oh My Aching Debts

I Deserve It!

Posted on April 28, 2008
Filed Under emergency fund, goals |

One of the excuses mentioned in Frugal Dad’s Language of the Perpetually Poor was “I Work So Hard, I Deserve It”. ‘I deserve it’ is a trap that I still fall into occasionally. It’s not usually for big ticket items like cars or vacations but usually for the smaller ones like eating out when I have worked a long day or like the carpet I bought on clearance.

It is a mentality that is often reinforced by our well meaning friends. I was fussing at myself to a friend for purchasing the carpet and he said “You deserve to buy some nice things for your house once in awhile.” He meant well but too often we use this as justification.

I am changing my “I Deserve It” spending mentality into an “I Deserve It” saving mentality. It is simply, or not so simply, a matter of changing my mindset. Do you fall into the same trap? Want to change the way you think about it? Look into the mirror and repeat after me:

I Deserve It!

I deserve to have security!
I am going to be financially secure.
I deserve to have enough money in savings to pay for an emergency!
I am going to have enough money in savings.
I deserve to have enough to pay my bills every month.
I am going to pay my bills every month.
I deserve to have that great feeling of knowing that I can cover my expenses if I can’t work.
I deserve to be able to pay for repairs without using more credit.
I deserve to have enough money to eventually retire comfortably.
I deserve to not worry about how I am going to pay the monthly bills when money is tight.
I deserve to be debt free.
I am going to be debt free.
I deserve to have financial security.
I am going to have financial security.

I not only repeat this every day to myself but I have written it down and posted it on the refrigerator. I spend a little time imagining what it would feel like to know that I am financially secure, to not worry about bills or retirement, to know that my savings are working as hard for me as I am working for myself.

It doesn’t always work but it has helped me to change my goals from instant gratification to a more long term view. It has changed the way I look at purchases as I think a bit more about the cost to my goals than I do the cost to my immediate pocket book.

What do you do to remind yourself of your goals? Do you visualize them?

Help keep me awake to write by buying me a cup of coffee! .

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Comments

2 Responses to “I Deserve It!”

Bouncing Betty (7 comments.) on April 28th, 2008 9:49 am

I make posters/collages/vision boards, or as it is known, creative visualization, and lists, lots of lists of what I want and put them up in my bathroom by the mirror. I did this most recently when I had to shop for the new to me car. I cut out photos of the vehicle, sheepskin seat covers, gps, hitch/cargo rack, mat for the back of the vehicle. Why the bathroom? I don’t know, it just seems to be the right place for the poster. I also keep a copy of my list of goals in my day planner as well as on my bathroom wall.

I got the vehicle I wanted, I had an unexpected check come in just the perfect amount for the GPS (also found a great deal on Amazon.com for a refurbished one), someone gave me seat covers and I’m working on the hitch and cargo rack.

And yes, I do a lot of positive affirmations everyday. It’s soo easy to go back to a negative mind set.

I agree, I can feel myself slipping into the I Deserve It mode-a lot. I find that I have to remind myself that I Deserve It does not mean I Need to Have It. I think a lot of what you are saying is the delicate balance between what we need in life and what we want in life.

Another excellent post!
Mrs. Micah (19 comments.) on April 28th, 2008 2:49 pm

I like how you’ve reframed it. If we deserve something, surely it’s not stressing over our finances because we’ve got things in good order now.