It's no secret that monitoring your spending helps to decrease it and it's equally well known that setting a budget and sticking to it can, well, really be a drag. However, a budget can also be a helpful tool, and allow you to allocate funds not only for savings and bill payments, but also for hobbies, socializing and personal luxuries.
Remaining disciplined and sticking with a budget is much easier when that budget makes certain allowances. Following a budget that sets aside money specifically for things like your weekly magazines, latte, or night at the Roxbury allows for some fun while still enabling you to pay bills on time and deposit periodically into your savings.
Allotting for such luxuries allows for two things: 1) it ensures that each month or week (by what ever period you plan your budget) you'll have the money for small indulgences while preventing your personal expenditures from spiraling out of control and 2) planning for these expenses means you don't have to feel bad about spending on yourself. So long as you stay within the allowance you've set, you need never feel guilty about treating yourself.
Making room in your budget for this allowance is important! No one likes to feel as though they're denying themselves. Attempting to adhere to a budget that allows no room for fun and the occasional frivolous expense, can be a bit like trying to follow a crash diet. You may make some fast progress initially, but after a short time the entire experience is so restrictive and unpleasant that afterward you may well engage in over-indulgent behavior that undoes your previous efforts.
So allow dat bruv, and grant yourself a little allowance!
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