Saving up for things is terribly old-fashioned. Yet, like many old-fashioned things, it’s good for you. When people pay upfront for the things they want, they enjoy them more. In part that’s because people are more careful about what they buy when they pay cash. They buy things they really want rather than things that seem like a good idea at the time. In other words, being mindful is a good way to be happier when you spend.
The second factor is that when people save up for things that they want, they get to enjoy the anticipation. You get extra fun out of whatever it is as you wait to enjoy it. That is party of the fun.
Saving up makes more financial sense when you can earn interest in the meantime. These days, that doesn’t happen, but that doesn’t mean that saving up is a bad thing. Hardly. Saving up and then spending cash makes you more mindful about what you spend, and that’s good.
In fact, anything that helps you avoid regret is good. If you spend a lot of money, you should enjoy whatever it is that you spent it on. Not everything I’ve ever bought would pass Amy Dacyczyn’s standards, but that’s okay. I can afford it because, well, I have been fortunate and I made the room in my budget.
Elizabeth Dunn and Michael Morton have written a book, Happy Money: The Science of Smarter Spending
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