It is nice to have friends. Hanging out with friends is fun, but we are adults. We have bills to pay, and the majority of us have budgets and can’t drop one hundred dollars twice a week on hanging with our friends. Yet, a lot of us never back down and end up spending over whenever invited by our friends. The next thing you know you’re getting an eviction notice and/or a late fee or your lights are on the verge of being turned off, and you have to call your parents to help you out because you’re out here spending too much money.
I know it is hard to make the right decision because it always feels like you’re missing out on something.
However, we all know that in the long term it is better to save your money correctly. So here are some tips for you if you find yourself spending more than you need to because of your social life.
What To Do If Your Social Life Is Making You Broke?
1. Be honest
With both yourself AND your friends. I am guilty of convincing myself that I have the money to go out when I know deep down that I don’t. I am also guilty of making excuses and claiming that I will pay this or that bill with my ‘next’ check ignoring the fact that the next time I get paid, I will start rationalizing in the same way.
It is an awful habit used to encourage temporary pleasures and ignore your responsibilities. Once you get your head straight to yourself, you need to be open with your friends. Let them know that you can’t spend as much money all the time because you have bills and responsibilities. If they are real friends, they will understand and will not give you a hard time about it. Sometimes you step back can remind them of their budgeting that they need to do.
Why You Must Hang Out With People Who Force You To Level Up?
2. Notice what type of influence you have surrounding you
Your friends are a direct indication of the kind of person you are. Are your surrounding friends the type of people to waste money on a regular basis on temporary pleasure instead of saving or doing things they need to do?
If you notice a pattern of reckless spending while living with the same kind of bills, it may be a sign that they aren’t the best influence. Unless you know for a fact that they are rolling in dough, they should be just as willing to settle down and spend less as you are.
You should also be aware if you have the type of friends who are spending money unnecessarily on a regular basis, but also don’t seem to be going anywhere in their careers or they lack ambition for anything and always remain stagnant. You should be able to hang out with your friends and have a good conversation that doesn’t involve an obscene amount of alcohol or club music.
3. Make a game out of saving money
A fun idea on controlling how much money you spend with your friends is coming up with a challenge among friends to see who can find the cheapest activities to do. Then, make it a problem to see who can spend the least amount of money when you do it. This makes whatever you’re doing even more fun while pushing you to be as cheap as possible, which for me, is fun all but itself.
4. Prioritize, and budget right
Get yourself a piece of paper and write down all of your bills. Be sure to include what you HAVE to pay and prioritize it appropriately. Once you do this, you will see what you need to save and what you have leftover to spend. Savings does matter so don’t just pay all of the money you have left.
Don’t let one night of fun mess you up later on so that when things hit the fan, you have nothing to bail you out. Then, do not deter from your budget. It doesn’t matter how fun something seems; you should never spend more than what you can afford in your budget.
5. Find cheap and free things to do
This is something that I do even if I do have a lot of money to spend. Just because I have money doesn’t mean that I want to spend it. When you are with friends, anything can turn into a fun situation.
- Go on a nature walk.
- Cook a meal together.
- Go swimming.
Google free and cheap things to do near you. There are all sorts of websites that can help you figure something out when you can’t think of anything that you and your friends can enjoy. Remember: Not all fun is expensive. Spending more money can cause the fun to have a bad aftertaste.
6. Stay Home
You do not have to go out every weekend. It is not necessary to live your best life. It is okay sometimes to stay home. Take a night and binge-watch one of your favorite Netflix shows. You can do an at-home spa and relax. It honestly leaves you more refreshed on Monday morning when you have spent the weekend relaxing and recharging your batteries instead of out causing mayhem and partying.
It is okay to go out with your friends and have fun, so don’t think that I am trying to put you in a box and force you to be bored on Saturday nights. I am merely suggesting that when you go out, you will enjoy yourself more if you know that you aren’t spending money that you cannot afford to pay and if you aren’t going out and spending all your money every other day.
So, which of these tips do you feel would help you the most? What suggestions could you add to help maintain your budget and still have a social life? Comment and let us know! We love to hear from you!
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