How to Enjoy Yourself on a Budget

Are you worried that having a budget means that you can no longer enjoy the things you love?

Whether that be drinks with the girls, or your weekend getaways, whatever your budgeting needs this post is her here to tell you that you can do all this and more on a budget.

The concept of budgeting can be difficult for some people. There is so much (conflicting) advice out there on what you can and can't do when budgeting.

The biggest budgeting myth we hear is that having a budget means you have to stop doing the things you love in the name of saving money⁠. But that is simply not true.

Budgeting is a tool to help you manage - not limit - your spending.

Find out how you can make that change with these three simple steps:

1) Set Clear Budget Categories

Budgeting is essentially telling your money where to go, and that involves having clear categories of spending. Whether that be using to 50/30/20 method or a budgeting app (like ImageNPay 😉) the clearer you are with your spending categories the easier it'll be for you to enjoy your money.

Why? Because when you know where your money is going you know how much you have left to spend. Once you've covered the necessities, like bills and rent, you can allocate money to your 'fun pot' to enjoy each month. However, one key point to remember is once that money is gone, it's gone. You should not be topping that pot up from your savings or investments, you have to be strict with yourself.

Read all of our post on budgeting here if you want some more guidance.

2) Be Open About Your Goals

Nobody likes a friend who always cancels last minute or refuses to pay for anything - don't be that friend. Instead be the friend that is open about their money and financial goals. If you don't talk to your friends about why you would rather not do the 5 course meal at the 5 star restaurant, wanting to hit up the Tuesday 2for1 cinema tickets instead, you'll always be struggling to keep up. Financially, emotionally and socially.

By being open about your money goals, whether that be saving for a house, car or even a holiday, you will be able to enjoy yourself more with your friends (and family). Not only will they be more understanding about why you might not be wanting to blow your pay check every night out, but they can help support your budgeting journey.

3) Find No Spend Alternatives

Not every social activity has to come with a high price tag! There are many ways you can find cheaper or no spend alternatives to your favourite social activities. Not only will this save you money, but you actually might end up having more fun.

For example, instead of going out for your friends birthday meal, why don't you all cook for them instead and do an at-home dinner party? Or instead of hitting the cinema as soon as that new film is out, why not wait for a couple of weeks for it to be released on streaming platforms? Yes, it will still cost you money to watch at home but much less that watching it at the cinema. Also, you save money on snacks too!

Hopefully this post has been able to show you that budgeting is not something negative. In fact, it's a great tool to help you make wiser decisions about your finances whilst enjoying yourself!

To find out more about how ImageNPay can help you take charge of your budget and save you money, read this post or download the app for FREE on iOS to try for yourself.