Mindset has a big impact on how I handle my finances and I see the same thing in my spouse. If we are doing well emotionally, are healthy and well rested we stick to our budget and financial goals. This is the optimum effect and the point of what we are doing.
The Downfalls of Our Plan
However, we are not always at our best Whether work causes us to be stressed or we have a family situation or maybe we spent too much time playing with the kids and are tired. When these events happen, we tend to buy things we don’t need or maybe it is a need but not a necessity need. One example is we tend to buy food that no one will eat, or we decide we are too (insert emotion/feeling here) to cook dinner so we get fast food either way our successful plan goes off course. Sometimes it is easy to rebound and sometimes we stay in that downward spiral.
How to Avoid It
In a magical world, I would say don’t let stress in and get plenty of rest. While we can’t just block out these things, we can do things to take care of ourselves most of the time. Lately I have had some family stress, so I am going to bed super early to get plenty of rest. Our physical and emotional needs play into our financial well being. It is acceptable to indulge occasionally for some, other may not be acceptable. We do deviate some, but it is part of our financial plan to eat out occasionally for celebrations or special occasions, but we have to be very careful or we get in the rut of doing it and spend more than we want. Typically eating out is more expensive than fixing food at home. I have seen some exceptions but it is rare. Meal prepping is a great way to plan ahead. One of my favorite dishes is meal prepped Chicken Fajita bake. I may need to meal prep this weekend.