Guilty pleasures are things you indulge in, things that give you pleasure while being bad for you in some kind of way, which of course makes you feel guilty even as you are experiencing the pleasure.
Before we discuss it further, let me tell you the story of Nene.
Nene is a 25 year old Banker. He earns 250,000 naira monthly, and is living comfortably. However, Nene has no savings. In the event of an emergency, Nene would have nothing to fall back on. You want to know the reason for this?
Nene loves buying expensive shoes.
Nene buys designer shoes every month. He cannot resist them and buys almost every one he sets his eyes on. These shoes cost about 70- 100,000 naira each. Buying these shoes have rendered Nene incapable of saving, and sometimes he forfeits paying for important things just so he can afford new shoes and feel the pleasure they give him. He knows this habit is bad for him, yet he does it anyway.
This is Nene's guilty pleasure.
Guilty pleasures are not inherently wrong. The way life is, it is important that one finds things that give them true pleasure,that don't cause harm to other people of course, and pursue those things as much as possible. It is important that we take care of ourselves. We all love to feel satisfied and let's face it, "forbidden" things are the best!
That feeling when you see a watch you like and your brain starts screaming “get it!” and you just begin to fantasize about how good it would look on you, how good it would make you feel.
All of that isn't wrong.
However, one MUST be financially responsible.
Having savings is like a back up plan, because let's face it, life is often very unexpected. One might suddenly have a serious illness, or might have a financial emergency, or lose their job and stay jobless for months. It is your savings that would literally SAVE you from those unpleasant situations.
Having and sustaining your guilty pleasure doesn't have to be equal to financial irresponsibility. If balanced properly, one can sustain their guilty pleasure while making financially responsible decisions, like saving and investing.
For instance, instead of Nene buying his shoes once or twice a month, which is a terrible way to spend his earnings, he could buy those shoes once every 3 months. This way, he could save money, or invest the money into a viable venture like Farmsby and use the dividends (profit) for new shoes instead.
Having personal savings, no matter how little, is important if you earn money. Some people put away as little as 10 percent of their monthly income as their savings. Others put away more. It all depends on your income bracket and cost of living. To this end, you need to try saying "No" to yourself sometimes. Some people save up in order to properly afford their guilty pleasure. Instead of blowing their income for the month on "self care", they prefer to save towards it, drawing out the pleasure while making wise financial decisions and not straining themselves.
For example, instead of spending 150k on shoes monthly, Nene might save 50,000 naira monthly for 3 months, and then buy one new shoe at the end of those 3 months. This way, Nene gets to have some money put aside AND satisfy his cravings, all without straining his finances.
Ask yourself, do I really need to purchase this NOW?
Saying "If I perish, I perish" whenever you are about to make an irresponsible financial decision doesn't take away the fact that you might indeed, perish.
While you can't save your way into wealth, you could save up a good sum, invest wisely with it, and make good dividends which you can reinvest to build your wealth.
Here at Farmsby, we are trying to help you make good financial decisions, while ensuring that you live your best life. Today’s tea is that you don’t have to satisfy your guilty pleasure every time you crave it. Learn to say "No" to yourself. Okay? Okay.
We would love to hear from you!
Tell us in the comments section what your guilty pleasures are and how you would be satisfying it in the future. What will you be doing differently?
