After working on my job for three years, a coworker confronted me about wearing cheap shoes and carrying cheap purses. Anyone who knows me knows she was treading thin water. But she was discreet and looked reluctant to make the statement. Caught off guard by her statement and gall, I laughed. Unashamedly, I reminded her she was single with two jobs, while I was a wife and mom. Therefore, our priorities and responsibilities were different.
But I also explained to her a mindset that I maintain to this very day. When I am in a better financial situation, I don’t hastily start spending more money. I reevaluate my current spending, pay off debt, fulfill household and family needs, take an often much needed break or vacation, and lastly splurge on a luxury (more expensive shoes and purses are luxuries in my eyes).
My thoughts are that I want to make a sustained move, whether it be physical or in luxuries. I don’t want to move to a location or buy things I can’t afford, because once I step up in any aspect of life, I don’t want to return. Living beneath my means keeps me in a comfortable position. And for luxuries like shoes and purses, I want the amount of these items to be accessible to me. Meaning if I own a $300 purse, I need access to that amount of money with no stress or strain. If not, it’s not a sustainable move.
