Learning to Spend for Future Value and Security

One of the biggest and best lessons being a mom has taught me is indeed that of learning how to spend a lot more wisely. Being responsible for a whole other being and for the well-being of the family as a whole puts a different perspective on what value is, adequately equipping you with all the tools you need to be able to separate that real value from the type of perceived value which is shaped by the media and the people who are trying to sell their products and service to you, no matter how much of a need you have or don’t have for those products and services.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m only human and I too love to indulge and spoil myself every now and then, but generally I truly believe being a parent has made me much more responsible with how I spend money.

So what does it mean to be more responsible with your money though? It’s a simple matter of learning to spend for future value and security, which means you approach every spending decision as more of an investment decision as opposed to one of impulse.

Analysing the effects of your spending decision

Instead of spending recklessly to seek immediate gratification, it is wiser to invest in things that will benefit you in the long run. This could be as simple as maintaining a savings account, investing in mutual funds, or dedicating resources to enhance your skills and advance your career. If you aim to increase your earnings, consider investing in upskilling yourself rather than squandering money on unnecessary items. Remember, enrolling in a Physical Therapy CEUs course or a social media marketing seminar, depending on your profession, could enhance your CV and open up better opportunities. Keep in mind that the spending decisions you make today have the potential to significantly impact your future.

Admittedly this is indeed a skill which requires quite a bit of repetition and persistence for it to become something akin to second nature, but once you’ve made a sustained effort to think a little more deeply about every spending decision you make, eventually you will start to reap the rewards of making smart spending decisions by default – smart spending decisions which conceive future value you will come to expect yourself to benefit from.

Therein lies the challenge though, because some of this value you will benefit from in the future may be marginal or even expected, to the point that at the time of making the smarter spending decision there is no immediate indication that you did indeed make a smarter choice. For example, if you choose to spend some of the money set aside for travelling abroad on getting the premium option in travel insurance over something like flying Business Class, in the moment you can’t quite get an immediate indication that this is a wise spending decision.

Should there be a need for you to claim on your travel insurance as a subsequent, the difference between buying a mid-range insurance policy and the premium one you rather opted for can be a very profound one. I mean wouldn’t it be good to find that the premium insurance you smartly opted for covers something like the services of truck lawyers in the case that you might have been involved in an accident involving a heavy-duty vehicle?

That’s how you need to start thinking about every last penny you spend – think about what it can do for you in the future and not just about what it can offer you at this particular point in time.

Thanks to motherhood, I now get to benefit from previous wise spending decisions almost on a daily basis.