Balancing Your Budget and Social Life
The timing of my reading this article was perfect! Those of you who have high school or college age kids may relate. I have forwarded this to each of mine. Although they grew up learning how to budget , the "outside" forces can be much more tempting at times than logic
“Sticking to your budget while maintaining an active social life can be challenging. Dining out, vacations, retail therapy-all of these things can take a significant toll on your financial stability. Don’t give up hope; just follow a few simple pointers on how to be a responsible social butterfly without breaking your budget. (From Seeds of Success )
1. Forget About the Joneses
If you want to maintain a healthy budget, you must live within your means-so the first step is a mental shift in priorities. Sure, all your friends might drive luxury sedans and sport Swiss watches, but that isn’t an excuse for you to do the same. The truth is, many people who indulge materialist hedonism can’t afford it either. By sticking to your budget now, and investing your savings properly, you’ll end up with more money to spend on what you want in the long run -including bigger cars and shinier watches. Remember that a little restraint now goes a long way.
2. Save for the Fun, Not the Finance Charges
It’s not uncommon for friends to plan winter ski trips or summer getaways together. It’s also not uncommon to rack up serious credit debt on social outings. You don’t have to turn down the invitation, just curb overspending and work your trip into your budget. Calculate how much you’ll need for travel and trip expenses in advance, and pay yourself first. You’ll save huge chunks in credit card interest-plus the peace of mind that comes from knowing your good times your won’t come back to bite you when your credit card bill shows up in the mail.
3. Embrace Like-Minded Savers
Find a support group of penny pinchers who still enjoy cavorting-it’s a great way to exercise financial responsibility without feeling pressured to throw caution to the wind and go "spend crazy." Online groups like ThriftyFun.com and Geezo.com are perfect places to share ideas, stories, get advice and find ways to creatively cut spending while keeping a smile planted squarely on your mug.”
Please leave comment about how you balance your budget and social life! 
Until next time, J.
"Take control of your destiny or someone else will"
Tags: age kids, budget, cars, challenges, chunks, credit card interest, credit debt, destiny, excuse, finance, finance charges, finances, financial, financial responsibility, financial stability, follow, greatness, hedonism, investments, joneses, longing, luxury sedans, mail, mental shift, money, peace of mind, penny pinchers, retail therapy, social butterfly, social outings, stability, successes, summer getaways, swiss watches, travels, truth, winter ski trips
August 06 2008 10:49 am | Home Business Ideas and Retirement and Wealth Strategies
August 7th, 2008 at 7:58 am
Hi Janet!
Who are “The Joneses”?
Good info!
August 19th, 2008 at 4:02 am
Thanks Janet for this reminder. Often times peer pressure is the culprit for sending the budget into the cooler and operating on deficit. The temptation to match-up with the higher class is always there.
@Brad
The Jonesses are the hypothetical “Stupendously Rich Next Door Neighbours” or call it the Millionaire next door who is flaunting money and spending lavishly on all the kind of luxury one may dream off. Well sometime it may just be a friend or neighbour with a higher income. But who wants to admit that. If he can buy a Posche and we are in the same neighbourhood, I can get one too, even if I have to use bank CREDIT!
August 24th, 2008 at 12:10 am
Janet,
This was a very timely post - especially since the holiday season is right around the corner. Great job!
FabulousAbstinences last blog post..Rape & Denial: Not Another Fairy Tale, Pt. 4
August 25th, 2008 at 6:00 pm
Thanks for stopping by and dropping me a reminder about the holidays! Yikes! It certainly is the beginning of the season when people start thinking Fall trips, Thanksgiving, holiday travel and gifts. It’s easy to not pay attention to a budget if one’s not “observant”.
August 29th, 2008 at 10:02 am
I have to agree with your completely. Putting stuff on credit cards and allowing the interest to build is not the way to go. I make sure that I pay the full balance of my credit card each month so I don’t have to pay the credit card companies any of my money. The key is, spend what you have.
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August 29th, 2008 at 11:18 am
Congratulations on being so diligent. I also do the same, paying them off each month, but must admit I put almost everything on my cards to get the “frequent flier miles”. It adds up to get a free flight or two. But the key is to pay them off each month or it’s not worth it!