July was the largest month ever for our business. So, we paid ourselves a lovely bonus on top of our normal salary.
Being the budget evangelists that we are, we made sure to put the extra money toward some goals as well as pump up a few of our normal categories.
We increased our dining out budget from $200 to $300.
Our grocery budget from $500 to $600.
That sort of thing.
How fun! I thought. We’ll get to loosen up a bit and go to a few extra places just because! How fancy! And in the back of my mind, I thought this would equate to turning up the super-happy-fun-dial.
And yes, I’ve gone into to restaurants I normally pass by. Hit up my favorite thrift stores more than once. Even set aside a chunk for new furniture! But somehow, I feel less content than I did before. Analysis paralysis seems to haunt everything little thing I buy. Guys, I stood in line at a register for what must have been eleven million hours, just trying to decide what to order. We haven’t even spent most of the increases we’ve applied! What on earth is going ON?! I thought I was going kind of crazy so I asked Philip “Has having more money to spend on eating out made you happier?”. This man LOVES eating out y’all. It’s his thing. So I honestly expected him to say yes. But he just paused and said “Hm. No, not really.”
HOW AM I SURPRISED BY THIS YOU GUYS?! I preach this stuff all day! And yet, I still struggle with putting money on the pedestal it doesn’t deserve to be on. Maybe I always will.
Fun fact: you know the only part of my budget I’ve remained super jazzed about? Giving. We give a set percentage of our income, so a big bump in pay means a big bump in giving. Playing fast and loose with that money has totally played out like I thought it would. I kinda wish everything else had.
I’m not sure if I have a crystal clear lesson today friends. Just wanted to share the realness. Since this money stuff is kind of my job, I feel the need to dig down and come up some gold nugget of wisdom for you. Usually working on these newsletters helps me get to the bottom of things! But all the threads I followed don’t seem to lead to anywhere clear.
So I’d be interested to know, have you had a similar experience?
Gotten more money to do something you’d always wanted to do and found it a let down? Or am I the odd woman out here?