Theoretical savings

[thebratqueen]

Is there any way to reward yourself for savings that mostly happen in theory?

Here's what I mean:

Comments

[dotsomething]

First off, my brain runs through that same process you describe dozens of times a week. After a while it just shorts out--I deprive myself of that dvd, this cd, that lunch out, I save $2 by walking instead of taking the bus, etc., etc., and then my brain goes, wow, I saved like $35, ROWRRR!! COMICS!! and then I am doomed. Seems like if I didn't spend it on one thing, it goes to another.

There are no tangible rewards beyond, hey, I have $100 more in my savings account than I did before.

Of course even if you end up spending it, by depriving yourself of the impulse buys and being frugal in small ways, and then spending it on something it turned out you really wanted even more, it's maybe a better use of the $$. The downside of that is the scenario I described above, where the repeated deprivation winds up in an Id purchase that's been wound up by the deprivation (this may just be my own sick money behavior cycle ;)

Nope, you save it or you don't save it.

How about a cookie as a reward that is a) free or b) already paid for? Something already included in a monthly fee, like a movie on standard cable, or extra helpings of fanfiction, or something.

[thebratqueen]

I had something similar happen once when I had a craving for pizza. I tried to be "good" and not buy a slice for lunch, but that only made the craving worse to the point where I ended up buying a whole pie later. Now granted, I was able to freeze the extra for lunches at a later date, but even so one of those impulses was a lot cheaper and healthier than the other. Giving in to one would have been a lot better for me in the long run.

A mental trick I'm finding works is keeping track of what I don't spend and looking at that as credit card debt that I don't have. It might not feel like much now, but perhaps by the end of the year it will be nice to look back and see what debt I don't have to pay off.