While
many people equate having money with having fun, many find money to
be a source of worry and stress, especially when there never seems to
be enough of it. However, even when money is tight, it is still
important to have some fun! I don’t want you to get the idea that I
am suggesting that you forego paying bills to go out and spend money
frivolously, but what I am suggesting that you create a special fun
money fund.
I
have always been a huge movie buff, and although horror movies are
not my favorite genre, I will never forget a scene from the movie,
“The Shining”, where the main character is sitting at a
typewriter, typing the phrase, “All work and no play make Jack a
dull boy”, over and over again. There really is a level of truth to
this statement! Are you constantly in “work mode”? Does fun for
you consist of watching the latest episode of some reality show?
It
is so important to have fun built into your day (yes, I mean every
day), and to have a “fun” category in your budget, or a money
bucket for fun! This doesn’t have to be a huge amount of money, but
it has to be an amount that is strictly designated for fun. It cannot
be raided for gas money, it cannot be given to your spouse or kids
when they ask for money and it cannot be used as fill in for paying a
bill. Set aside an amount of money that is strictly for fun, and
use it!
Earlier
when I mentioned working fun into your day each day, this did not
mean that you have to use money from your fun money fund every day.
However a couple of ideas about how you can use your fun money to
create daily fun is to purchase things with it that you can use
repeatedly. For example, if you think dancing is fun, buy some songs
or dance DVD’s. If you like movies, use your fun money to get a
subscription to a monthly movie site like flixsnow which is only $25 per year for unlimited movies (one at a time) !!!. If you like sports, buy some
equipment so you can get out to the park. Another great idea is to
buy some toys! Go to the toy store and buy yourself something fun!
This doesn’t have to be expensive – I have a special place in my
heart for bouncy balls and I can usually create cheer for myself with
just $0.25 cents LOL!
Aside
from having fun daily, you need to use your fun money to get out and
do something you enjoy. Treat yourself to a dinner out with friends.
Go out and see a movie. Treat yourself to a new outfit. Take a
vacation. You get the idea. Figure out what brings you joy and treat
yourself! Obviously, it will take more time to accumulate the money
to execute some of these ideas, so in the meantime, use your daily
fun ideas to get you through and keep saving for your big fun event!
(Until March 31st 2012 if you enroll in FlixsNow online movie rental service as an affiliate for no extra fee, then you can make plenty of fun money by simply referring people to your link to FlixsNow so that they can subscribe to renting the movies and save money on their movie rentals too)
Original type, courtesy of www.morningcoach.com
