I’m Giving Myself an Allowance

Recently I started a wish list on my phone. At first, it started out mostly as a sort of joke. Something would come up and I would think, “I need (insert item here) but it’s not in the budget this month… oh well.” But then the next month I still wouldn’t put any money into the budget for whatever it was that I wanted. I would forget about whatever it was until I found myself in the same situation again and thinking, “man it would’ve been nice if I had bought that thing.”

So the list was born. It started with some things for my car. I’ve been thinking about getting remote start and tinting my windows. When I’m feeling really froggy I think about getting a new radio with Apple CarPlay. All of those things went on the list. Thinking about my car made me think about my motorcycle. Armored clothing, a tinted visor, and a few other things were added to the list. I told myself when I got commissioned that I would buy myself a pair of Tieks (shoes) as a present. Instead I went a little crazy and bought a bike. Since I never bought the shoes, they were added to the list.

I started the list just last month and it’s already grown to 16 items! At this point, if the total cost of the all the things on the list is probably close to $1500. Some of the things are less than $50 but most of them are closer to $200. In the rare occasion that I do give myself spending money, it’s usually only $20ish. Maybe $30. But never $50 and especially not $200. Since my list has gotten so long, I’ve decided to start giving myself an allowance of $100 a month. Any money I don’t spend I’m going to let roll over to next month so I can try to buy some of the bigger ticket items. I haven’t bought much for myself the past few years so I’m pretty excited about the idea. I think the first thing I’m going to buy is the tinted visor for my helmet. I’m looking forward to not being blinded by the sun anymore!