Addicted To Saving Money

           The thought of receiving your salary every 15th and 30th of the month makes you jump for joy. Instead of thinking how you are going to spend it, you think of adding it to your savings account. You walk almost everywhere to save on transportation cost. While you are walking, you look down most of the time to look for loose change and if you find one, you will pick it up with a smile on your face.
            

         The thought of going to the mall gives you headache. You don't understand why most people can spend all day in the mall. You do all kinds of tips and tricks to save a penny, and you even beat yourself up for spending a $5 dollar McDonald's meal. But then you stop and think, "Am I addicted to saving?"

          Boy, that sounds so me, or is that me?

         There is a big difference between being cheap and being frugal. Eating instant noodles each and every meal is being cheap, while eating vegetables and fruits that are in season and cooking in bulk is being frugal. Sometimes, we are too focus on one thing that we become extreme and we miss out on something important. We must seek balance in our life and that includes a balance between spending and saving. Overspending, to the point of bankruptcy, is as much as bad as saving money to the point of scrimping on things that are essential like nutritious food  and foregoing on activities that builds a  strong and healthy relationship with loved ones.

         I am in the process of bringing equilibrium into my spending vs. saving habit. I grudgingly set a once in a month "cheat meal" just so I wont feel that I am depriving myself on my small wants. I still drag myself to that "cheat meal",but I really have to do this or I might end up a miser or when I pass away, my relatives might end up fighting over my assets, the assets that I work so hard and did not spend while I was alive. Acceptance is the first step to healing, right?

         Have you heard about a 78-year-old Pinay in U.K. named Brigida Aro, who recently died from her own house in Tooting? And you know the reason why her house burned down? She was using a candle to save on electricity bills. The candles caused the fire which burned down a significant portion of her house. The penny-pinching cost her her life. What a sad story. I don't want to end up like that.

       Saving can be addictive and addiction of any kind is never good.