Have you recently made the spontaneous decision to buy a new car? Well then, purchasing (or not) a fancy car-key pendant won’t make any difference to your overall financial status. The same principle applies if you took out a huge mortgage: Buying a cheap lamp would be a minor issue.
The emotional purchase of a way-too-expensive house, combined with an anxious search for small everyday savings to make ends meet, is a classic example of being penny-wise and pound-foolish.
Surprisingly, many people dwell upon trifles while failing to do proper research when it’s really needed. Overpaying for your house by $20,000 is the equivalent of 5,000 $4 cups of coffee. Assuming that every year has about 250 workdays, that means 20 years of skipping your morning treat at Starbucks!
Making just one correct big financial decision frees you from denying yourself small pleasures that make life easier and more fun. Consider this saying from the entrepreneurial world: “You only have to be right once.” While not everyone is set to start a multimillion-dollar business, everyone faces at least a few major financial decisions in their life: buying a house, changing a career, choosing a university, etc. If you don’t mess those up, you’re entirely justified in treating yourself to smaller pleasures.
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