I haven’t been in debt for like 2 years now and I still tell myself that I don’t need to spend more money on food. I probably skip dinner (that I can afford to eat) 2 or 3 times a week because the only way I’ll eat something is if I pay for it.
I would genuienly suggest that you set up and maintain a 3 or 6 month emergency fund… literally as a psychological means of being able to actually feel ok about spending you can afford to spend, as much as for the actual finance sense.
Like basically, look at your budget, set an amount that always goes into that fund each month.
Once you hit the 3 or 6 month target?
If you have money left over after accounting for all other significant spending… it is actually ok to spend that money as fun money.
Then after that fills over, consider something like high yield savings account. Still pretty liquid, not very risky, but, it is still withdrawable, but but, you have the emergency fund now as a buffer.
Self-gaslighting. I don’t know if this is a superpower or a weakness…
Its literally a trauma response to poverty, its a kind of hypervigilance.
It can be a superpower in many situations, it can be a debilitating neuroticism in others.
I haven’t been in debt for like 2 years now and I still tell myself that I don’t need to spend more money on food. I probably skip dinner (that I can afford to eat) 2 or 3 times a week because the only way I’ll eat something is if I pay for it.
At least I’ve beaten the odds of obesity…!
… sounds pretty rough, not fun.
But, you did make it through it.
I would genuienly suggest that you set up and maintain a 3 or 6 month emergency fund… literally as a psychological means of being able to actually feel ok about spending you can afford to spend, as much as for the actual finance sense.
Like basically, look at your budget, set an amount that always goes into that fund each month.
Once you hit the 3 or 6 month target?
If you have money left over after accounting for all other significant spending… it is actually ok to spend that money as fun money.
Then after that fills over, consider something like high yield savings account. Still pretty liquid, not very risky, but, it is still withdrawable, but but, you have the emergency fund now as a buffer.