Due to not coming from a filthy rich family, I am always very careful in spending my money. I remembered my sister and I would collect all the coins scattered around at home, and asked our parents whether could we save them into our coinboxes. Usually, they would say "yes". 5 cents those days were big money. We could buy two sweets. Now, we can buy zero stuff from 5 cents.
However, I do not particularly have a system on how I should spend money. It was in-built inside of my system to always weigh the 'needs' and the 'wants' before purchasing items. If those items are my 'wants', I usually tossed them out the window the idea of buying. Had I ever spent money on something and regretted it? Yes, of course, especially on those sales and discounts and promotions season. After bought, I realized I did not really need those kitchen utensils or T-shirts. I regretted buying and I learned from my mistakes. My family had our share of poverty once during the bad economic crisis and I remembered my sister and I ate rice with eggs happily while our parents ate rice in the water happily too. Later on, we found out they acted happy because of us.
Becoming a parent entirely changes the way I spend my money. You will choose to spend money on your children. You rather not buying anything for yourself so that you have more than enough for their food, books, and clothes. I am glad to say I can live a minimalist life if I want to. It is like the lesser you own, the more you have. Then, when you have more, you can be generous to give away. When you give way, the more you receive.
I spend lesser these few years because I no longer work. Being a stay-at-home-mom, you must be careful with all the money given to you. The hard-earned money by husband always goes to paying off bills first. The hard-earned money from Hive also used for paying bills. I told my husband I want to be able to share a bit of the burden. Since I do not like to owe money, I make sure to prioritize paying off bills over food on the table. Seriously... So far, we still afford to buy food after paying off all the bills.
And when you got into crypto, the funny thing is, it teaches you to save more rather than spend. I find the earning from cryptos are very precious. Not sure how to explain but you will like holding it, saving it, instead of using it. I think some of you will understand how I feel. So I spend very little money on myself since I am a super-duper very low maintenance lady. I count my husband lucky because I do not need to have a lot of attires or shoes or bags or pieces of jewelry. I also don't go for a haircut, never been to pedicure manicures, massage, facial beauty places. Nothing. Sometimes, in a group of ladies, I felt I am the odd one. I love having just that one bag, that one sandal, that one hair clip, that one lipstick, that 5 T-shirts and 5 pants and I am good to go.
Or, maybe, I am just very out-to-date. Haha. No fashion sense, perhaps.
On top of all the above, I absolutely feel very satisfied if I can spend money to care for someone else, like buying food they like, giving them gifts, buying supplements for my parents. That's just me, my love language.
