I judge entitled people.
I lived in DC for a few years and the power grid there is terrible, we lost power regularly. When you lose power, stoplights stop working. I thought it was common sense to treat downed traffic lights like a four way stop, but this was not the case in DC. Drivers blew through downed lights at 40 miles an hour. It was terrifying. It was also the perfect example of how entitled our society has become.
Yet, if I’m honest with myself, I struggle with entitlement issues. Every day I make decisions or have thoughts based on my belief that I’m better than everyone else. I think it’s human nature (well, at least I hope it is, otherwise I’m just a terrible person). My particular brand of entitlement rears it’s ugly head when it comes to my financial life.
I regularly think to myself, “I am ____ years old, I have ______ job, I make _________ dollars a year, I DESERVE this $35 scarf or $500 vacation or $10 a month service.” The other part of my brain (the humble part) usually chimes in with, “Yeah, but you also spent like $100 on snacks last month so you should lay off frivolous spending for awhile.” The voice I listen to depends on my where I am on the ‘Caring About Being a Responsible Adult’ scale. In my more rational moments I understand that I get the financial life my financial reality warrants. Sometimes my financial reality is actually unfair, but far more often it’s due to the decisions I made on the many “I do what I want” days.
I don’t have any great advice for dealing with overspending based on the irrational belief that you deserve something. All I know is, sometimes I say no to an unnecessary purchase and other times I just promise myself to do better next time.
Jasmin is Vice President of Marketing & Operations for Pete the Planner®. Jasmin runs special projects, manages programming for clients, and stews over new and creative ways to engage people with their finances. In her downtime you can find Jasmin hanging a light fixture or painting a room at her fixer upper.