16 Jul 2022
Overview
  • I felt like the Monopoly man with all my savings and felt guilty spending a cent of it...
  • But I changed the story I told myself around spending money after locky-d. So should you.

This was me after lockdown:

I purchased tickets for every gig, concert and festival I could get my hands on. I booked fancy shmancy restaurants that I'd never dream of going to before COVID. I revamped my wardrobe, sick to death of the same manky pajamas that I wore 24/7 in lockdown. Oh and, I bought a one-way ticket to Europe with no plans on returning... put her on a leash aye. 😮‍💨😂

Why all the spendin'?

First of all, I'd saved a bucket tonne. I don't need to remind you how we couldn't go out to restaurants, couldn't lift weights at exxy gyms, couldn't buy vodka, lime and soda after vodka, lime and soda at the club... With less time to actually, well, have a life and more time to slog, a lot of us had more savings than ever.

I felt like the Monopoly man, my savings shooting up rather than looking more like a rollercoaster... up, down, side to side, ending with a high but sometimes making you a bit sick afterwards... 

That sickness? Yeah, that's the guilt talking. Guilt after buying new shoes or a concert ticket. We always think damn, I could have put that money towards something more important. 

But you know what's important? Umm... Having a dang life! And life was kinda nicked from us thanks to the big C.

Now obviously, balance is key. Please don't spend every cent and then have nothing for rent or petrol. Budgeting is still a virtue. Buuuut it gave me the ICK that I was making myself feel so guilty at dipping into my savings. The rollercoaster was going down, down, down and my Monopoly man status was fading. 

But I changed the story I told myself around spending my money after locky-d. So should you.

Don't look at your savings going down as a sign of failure. Look at it as a sign of LIVING. Of making memories again, partying again, seeing friends again, traveling again, being able to just wear a funky outfit that people will see again. You're free, so make the most of it! 

And when I had that realisation, that's when I booked flights to Europe. Now I'm in the mindset that if I come back home with a cent left to my name, I'll see that as a failure.

Money can always be made. So just send it.