Are You A Financial Sinner? Round Up and Uncommon Money News
September 23, 2010 | Posted by Roshawn Watson under Uncategorized |
By: Roshawn Watson
I read a very interesting post last week over at Money Reasons entitled: Frugal Sins of a Personal Finance Blogger. The satirical tone was so inviting, I couldn’t help but participate. Before I knew it, I was confessing my love of eating at nice restaurants and entertainment. Apparently, I wasn’t alone in my transgressions, as there were several people who used the comment section to gain absolution. The idea is to highlight that everyone has an Achilles heel when it comes to frugality.
Upon reflection, I really don’t feel that there is really any reason we should feel guilty for enjoying ourselves if we have been responsible, such as operating off of a budget, have become debt-free, supported causes or ministries that we believe in, and invested for our futures. There is absolutely nothing wrong with making responsible purchases from which we derive pleasure. I would argue this is part of frugality: obtaining maximum value for input. Guilt-free enjoyment of our money is part of the financial peace that we should all be aiming for anyway.
If this is so, then why are we so hard on ourselves? Well, in some cases, we haven’t been particularly responsible, so our self-criticism is somewhat justified. Also, many of us are conditioned to feel good old-fashioned “Protestant and Catholic guilt,” regardless of how responsible we have been. In these cases, it is a lot less about our balance sheets and more reflective of the internal struggles to feel “worthy” of such pleasures. Lastly, I do think that there is an adjustment process that we go through as well. For example, I have significantly less stress now than I did just 5 years ago. As we mature and reach financial goals, we reevaluate what is frugal at this time in life. I remember a time when going on a vacation seemed irresponsible; however, this is no longer the case.
Thought Question: Are there any things that you feel guilty about that you shouldn’t?
Now, it’s time to do the weekly Uncommon Money News and Yakezie Round Up.
Uncommon Money News and Yakezie Round Up
In preparing to write my posts, I often come across noteworthy and sometimes bizarre financial and business news. Below are links to some of these sites. Enjoy!
To my readers: I am so honored by your support. Thank you for reading, subscribing, and for voting for articles from this site on social bookmarketing sites such as stumbleupon, reddit, delicious, digg, propeller, twitter, and yahoo buzz. Together, we are telling thousands of the importance of financial literacy. I absolutely could not do it without you. You are vital to this site, and I appreciate your! Thank you sincerely.
Personal Finance (Yakezie and other PF bloggers)
Welcome to the Post Consumerism Era: Will You Make the Turn? at Balance Junkie – 2cents explains what is necessary to be prepared in this turbulent economic environment: Deleveraging, Downsizing, and Destabilization plus much more.
Your Overconfidence Could Hurt Your Portfolio at Moneyed Up – Miranda Marquit explains why being an average investor isn’t so bad after all.
Frugal Sins Of A Personal Finance Blogger at Money Reasons – Money Reasons highlights that everyone has an Achilles heel when it comes to frugality.
Memo to Government, Cut Spending at Hope to Prosper – Bret makes some interesting points about the present intersection between politics and the economy.
15 Inexpensive Things to Do in The Fall at Everyday Tips – Kris welcomes you to embrace some fun activities this Fall that don’t break the bank.
Should Each Partner Have a Little My Money? at Frugal Dad – Jason discusses why it makes sense for he and his wife to have little private funds set aside.
Business News
30% Of Young Netflix Subscribers Are Skipping Cable
Economic News
California unemployment rate rises to 12.4%
Offbeat Money News and Humor
Tostitos Dip Caused a Bloodbath At Our House at The Penny Frugalista – Nicole explains how both she and her husband were “attacked” by a jar of dip.
Entertainment Money News
16 Luxurious Celebrity Homes on the Market
‘Big Bang Theory’ cast gets sizable salary bump (to the tune of a couple hundred thousand per episode)
Who Earns More Tom Brady or wife Gisele Bundchen?
My Guest Post
- Thanks to Jeremy Vohwinkle (Generation X Finance) for publishing my article: The Educated Indentured Servant
Carnivals I Participated in
- Best of Money Carnival at Green Panda Tree House (7 Surprising Facts About Millionaires)
- Carnival of Financial Independence at Ditch The Boss (Economists Blame ME for the Slow Recovery)
- Carnival of Wealth at Personal Dividends (Is Extreme Frugality For You?)
- Yakezie Carnival at The Millionaire Nurse (Do Competent Kids Need An Inheritance?)
Round ups that linked to posts from this site
- J Money at Budgets Are Sexy – Scammers, Millionaires and Lifetime Renters
- Kevin at Invest It Wisely – Weekly Reading Giveaway Edition
- Team Dinks at Dinks Finance – Some weekend reading for you
- Mich at Beating The Index – Weekend Edition: The World Energy Council
- Kay Lynn at Bucksome Boomer – Week in Review: Blackout Edition
- Kris at Everyday Tips and Thoughts – Links to Love, Sit down, and Read
- Adrian at 7 Million in 7 Years – Beat 80% of professional fund managers!
- Oblivious Investor’s – Investing Blog Roundup: Hedge Funds and ETFs
- Craig at Free From Broke – A Tornado of Great Articles to Read
technorati code: KS35YU3NU4Z2
Copyright 2012, Roshawn Watson, Pharm.D., Ph.D. All Rights Reserved.
Thanks for the mention Shawn!
Thanks for including my roundup!
My recent post Saving on Taxes and Growing Your Wealth with the Tax Free Savings Account TFSA
You are welcome Mich!
My recent post Are You A Financial Sinner Round Up and Uncommon Money News
Thanks for including my article Shawn! π
My recent post Investment Strategies for Biflation
You are welcome. I really enjoyed it!
My recent post Are You A Financial Sinner Round Up and Uncommon Money News
You are welcome. You had some very interesting pointers i.e. beginning Christmas shopping and raking a neighbors leaves (not typically thought of has inexpensive fun).
I use to feel way more guilty than I presently do. I am working to eliminate all unnecessary guild from my life.
Being able to say no is big… I am working on that too π
My recent post Are You A Financial Sinner Round Up and Uncommon Money News
Thanks for the mention! And great analysis of the topic π
My recent post Family Time – Lemons To Lemonade
Thanks for the mention!
My recent post Did You Opt-In For Overdraft Protection Tips For Avoiding The Overdraft Fees
You are welcome. Thanks for an entertaining post and for the RT.
My recent post Are You A Financial Sinner Round Up and Uncommon Money News
You are welcome. Thanks for the back link!
My recent post Are You A Financial Sinner Round Up and Uncommon Money News