Question

I have been so intent on saving money, I feel like I am loosing my reasons in my obsession. My son wanted to go to the fair & I acted like I had no $$$ for the purpose of wanting to see how much I could save in 6 months. I actually had money from leftover cash envelope weekly stuffing. I made my own challenge to save each week what is left, plus 1s and 5s. I feel bad because I save for these reasons. My hubby cashflowed it from his account. Am I the only person feeling this way or this intense in saving? He deserves better from me. HELP. I AM NOT SELFISH AT ALL BUT I SURE AS HECK FEEL LIKE IT AND REALLY GUILTY

Answer 1

You are doing amazing! Just got to remember balance.  

Comments

@euphemism thank you

Answer 2

It's nice to save, but if you knew you had a certain amount extra maybe give him a budget of $20 for the fair and that's it. It would be a good balance and teach him the importance of saving too

Comments

@insociable the fair is so expensive. It cost $20/person to get in and $34 for a wrist band. Plus he likes to eat

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@irmgard25656 holy crap! Yea that's expensive. That would have to be a saved entertainment night. That might be a whole month or a few months worth of entertainment funds.  

Answer 3

Try setting aside a small amount for fun and entertainment for the family and yourself each month. Otherwise you could really get burned out from all saving and penny pinching.  

Comments

Chui, I started an entertainment envelope so I no longer feel guilty and he knows about cash envelopes so once it is gone, that is it

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Awesome!  

Answer 4

I do this too with my 2 kids, it's hard at times but when we get to do bigger and better things they love it!  

Comments

@lamartine exactly

Answer 5

Balance. It’s ok to do both and not feel guilty for either.  

Answer 6

This is why we have a budget for family fun. I want to make sure we’re enjoying ourselves along the way without blowing the budget. We can save it and do something cool or just go get ice cream. Doesn’t matter as long as we spend it together.  

Comments

@lucifer I started an entertainment envelope so I no longer feel guilty and he knows about cash envelopes so once it is gone, that is it

Answer 7

Im not doing the saving challenges right now because I’m trying to pay down debt and just work on sticking to my budget. Although it is okay to do both, I chose not to. Best of luck.  

Comments

@duggan0 same to you and you got this.  

Answer 8

I think if you had the money - there’s no better way to spend a little than to give it to your child for an amazing time. Your driven. But don’t lose sight of the “why”. I wouldn’t say you don’t have the money - I would give him a budget to stick to at the fair to teach a lesson. You want to go, that’s fine, I’ll give you $25 and you have to make that last etc. Kids don’t always understand sacrificing now for a better future. You’ve got this! Maybe do something low cost and special to make it up to him!  

Comments

@editor we habe passes to Universal in Orlando so we go but this was an extra. cost I did not budget for

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@irmgard25656 you said it yourself, you save for these reasons! You’ve got this!  

Answer 9

My husband is a lot more frugal than I will ever be so he always looks for coupons or deals to things like the fair. We try to spend as much time with our only kiddo- a teenager-while he still wants to hang out with us  

Comments

@masterwork thank you

Answer 10

I get ya. My husband says now that I’m following a budget, it means I only want to spend his money . We have separate accounts so it’s partially true  I’m glad your hubby cash flowed the fun day! I am sure you and I will find a balance between saving and spending that makes us all happy. Don’t beat yourself up. Your a good and caring Momma who also knows that all this saving will benefit your son one day too!  

Comments

@meadows6 thank you, it is going to work itself out and I dis start an envelope for entertainment

Answer 11

We did that but I know it’s not fair for our kids or our mental health to not doing anything. So I set aside 20 biweekly if we wanna get ice cream or take the boys to the zoo or the trampoline place. We roll it over even if we don’t use it and at the end of the year we will put it towards debt/savings. We don’t throw it at debt monthly, yet. We want it for our sanity. The park is fun but our boy gets bored of it all the time as “fun”. We will soon have a house to do more fun things we can’t do in our apartment.  

Comments

@dogmatics I started an entertainment envelope so I no longer feel guilty and he knows about cash envelopes so once it is gone, that is it

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@irmgard25656 we are talking to our 4YO about saving a budgeting. He doesn’t fully understand. We are telling him we have this much if we all want to do something fun but we don’t always need too. We can save it to do something bigger at one time. He also has been enjoying looking at houses with us so he gets his fun there.  

Answer 12

I’m guilty of this with my kid ‍♀️‍♀️‍♀️

Answer 13

Tomeka, I’m not here to judge your momming - just to encourage! You ARE doing great things by saving! And you obviously love your son! If you’re intent on saving but he wants to do something that costs money, one idea is to tell him how much you want to spend time with him (assuming he wanted to go with you) and suggest some free or less expensive alternatives? Just one option!  

Answer 14

Sometimes you gotta live life. You only have one life.  

Answer 15

I understand. We went to dinner with friends tonight and i almost didn’t enjoy myself thinking about what i would spend. It is scary but we have to trust the process!  

Answer 16

I totally get obsessed with budgeting lol. I am the same way! I just remind myself that we were debt free and that was the milestone i wanted in life :) i would have to remind myself that all of this crazy strict budgeting wasn't worth it if we STILL couldn't enjoy the things we wanted to once we became debt free!