Chances are, as you use MyMoneyPicture, you will find as I did, that thoughtless and impulse spending is the largest impediment to your financial freedom. Well thought out purchases for things that are important to you are probably not the issue.
MyMoneyPicture is not about depriving yourself. Far from it. MyMoneyPicture is here to help you maximize the enjoyment you get from your hard earned money. And we are all different, with different priorities, hobbies and things that are important to us.
That is why, you can read all the right financial books and listen to all the right advice, but in the end, your financial journey will be a very personal one, with decisions that can only be made by you.
MyMoneyPicture helps to give you the tools you need to be able to make those decisions, but only you can make them.
For example, one person may be a wine buff. If they receive a great deal of enjoyment from wine, it is not a waste of money for them. For someone else, who may be buying expensive wine recommended by someone, but who can't actually tell the difference between the better and the more inexpensive bottles, buying expensive wine may be a waste of money.
A couple may decide that it makes financial sense for the mother to take a few years off to be a stay-at-home mom while the children are young. In fact, I know of couples who have decided that it makes more sense for one spouse to stay home, even though some don't have children, since the costs associated with having both spouses work were greater than the lost wages. Having a spouse at home to cook and clean, etc., can be a great cost savings and can also reduce stress in the household.
On the other hand, another couple may decide that taking a few years off to raise children would be a career killer and would make it too difficult to reenter the workforce later. They may also value the insurance of having two incomes in today's work environment where layoffs can be common and unexpected.
One person may value things they can touch and use every day. Another may value experiences they can remember forever.
You may want to take some time out and reflect on what makes you happy and what is important to you. Those are the things worth spending money on.
Each of us wants financial freedom, but there are multiple paths to that destination. MyMoneyPicture is not dogmatic. It is a tool to help you make informed financial choices. But those choices are yours and yours alone to make.
