With having our financial goal this year, it is changing the way that I think about how I use the money that we have, and how to make it go further than ever before.
One of those changes is how I view gift vouchers. I have always viewed gift vouchers as a luxury, to buy something for me that I wouldn't otherwise buy, to treat myself with etc. But this year, I have decided to look upon gift vouchers as normal cash and spend it as such. For example, Hubby is given vouchers at work each Christmas, which he gives to me. Usually I wait until the sales and go and buy myself something I don't really need because I want it and well, I deserve it, don't I? But this year, I have decided to use the vouchers to buy stuff that I/we need and not just spend it because it is there, or indeed not spend the vouchers because the item isn't 'special' or 'luxury' enough. That will mean that the money I save can go into our Goal Pot. The same goes for some vouchers that friends got us for Christmas, and a cheque that we also received as a Christmas gift. For this year at least, it feels better to have the gift of being debt free from our friends and family rather than another 'thing'.
The only vouchers that I can't do this with are specific book vouchers... Unless of course, I pay it forward as it were, and use the vouchers to buy gifts with...
One of those changes is how I view gift vouchers. I have always viewed gift vouchers as a luxury, to buy something for me that I wouldn't otherwise buy, to treat myself with etc. But this year, I have decided to look upon gift vouchers as normal cash and spend it as such. For example, Hubby is given vouchers at work each Christmas, which he gives to me. Usually I wait until the sales and go and buy myself something I don't really need because I want it and well, I deserve it, don't I? But this year, I have decided to use the vouchers to buy stuff that I/we need and not just spend it because it is there, or indeed not spend the vouchers because the item isn't 'special' or 'luxury' enough. That will mean that the money I save can go into our Goal Pot. The same goes for some vouchers that friends got us for Christmas, and a cheque that we also received as a Christmas gift. For this year at least, it feels better to have the gift of being debt free from our friends and family rather than another 'thing'.
The only vouchers that I can't do this with are specific book vouchers... Unless of course, I pay it forward as it were, and use the vouchers to buy gifts with...
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