Striking a Balance

Dilemma – Save or spend!

Do you love to spend your money or do you prefer to save your money? 

Well, like you will agree, some of us love to spend, while some of us prefer to save! And then there are some of us, who are faced with a constant dilemma whether to save or to spend!! 

When  do we want to save? We save when we feel scarce, or when we feel fearful or unsure about our future, or when we can anticipate that there will be events in the future that will require money, or when we want to plan things in our life such that they unfold in a systematic way with minimum hiccups! Right!? 

And when do we spend? We spend when we feel the need for instant gratification, or when we want to indulge ourselves, or when we want to feel positive about ourselves, or when we want to drown our negativities by binge shopping, or when we don’t think of the future and live only in the present, for who knows if we will live tomorrow! Agree!?

Human beings are rational beings. We can use our logic, our judgement, our rationale, our intuition to think through the consequences of our actions.

And yet, many a times we get carried away by either extreme fear or extreme pleasure and become irrational. We forget to think through the consequences of our actions and fail to weigh the pros and cons before making decisions. 

Result- we regret later! We regret that we should have lived a more carefree life or we may regret that we should have lived a more conservative life.

I often hear many old people say that they did not enjoy their youth, and an equal number of old people say that they should have saved for their old age! 

Can there be a balance? Can there be a middle ground? 

Can we take decisions to save and to spend in a thought through manner so that there is no regret associated with it!? 

Regret happens only when we take decisions without knowledge and without giving a thought to the consequences of our actions. 

Planning one’s finances is the key to striking that balance. When we budget and plan our finances we can save a little and also spend a little. That way we can strike a balance between enjoying the present while being mindful of the future. 

Life is uncertain! However the good news is that we are in control of our life and can make the best out of it by planning our finances well. 

It is said that every drop helps in filling the ocean and a small leak can empty your bucket. 

Let’s enjoy our water (Money)  without letting our bucket leak (Over spending), while also striking a balance towards filling our ocean (Savings)! 

Are you amongst those who strikes a balance between saving and spending? Would you like to plan your finances better? Comment below.