Today we have a guest post by Scribbles from the blog of the same name. Enjoy! -Jess

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So often when we’re saving towards bigger goals (and who isn’t, in their 20s?) we focus and save to the exclusion of everything else. Be it a flash new car, house downpayment, a destination wedding or even your very first pair of Leboutins, we’re all trying to scrape that cash together, cutting out our latte factor and eliminating everything but the necessary. After all, isn’t that what we’re meant to do? Keep our eye on the prize and run away from spending money with Gazelle Intensity?

Scandalous as it seems, I think these financial gurus are wrong. I focus on debt and saving with the intensity of King Julien XIII, the lemur played by Sacha Baron Cohen in Madagascar! Weird and dramatic, I still get the job done… just with a little bit of fun along the way. If you’re working towards paying off debt, you should make every effort to meet the minimum payments (at least) - I don’t disagree with that at all, your credit history is very important. No one likes being plied with overdue bills and in the long run, debt can cost you more. The issue is when you cut out all in life that you enjoy - people end up feeling so deprived that they snap and binge spend on everything and anything, like Kirsty Alley at a buffet.

I’m not advocating being utterly careless with your cash - that defeats the purpose of setting a cash goal. Try putting aside a fun budget even when you’re trying to save. You know in your heart the little things you spend money on that keep you sane. I’m saving for a trip to Sydney in six months time but I know that having the cash to spend on lunch out with a friend or cocktails with the girls makes life infinitely more bearable. For others the fun may be in buying cosmetics, clothing or holidays away (the weekend minibreak is definitely one of my favourites) - the reality is having a little bit of what you like does you good.

Everything in moderation, my friends! Just like a diet working best when it is made of sustainable lifestyle changes, your savings will thank you when you don’t spend them all on a shocking pink studded pleather handbag (in a slightly different hue than the one you already own). Create habits that will last longer than just your next savings goal and you’ll set yourself up for fatter bank accounts for life, rather than the fat-skinny yoyo of a crash diet.

This entry was posted on Saturday, February 7th, 2009 at 3:56 pm and is filed under guest posts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.