I go to a lot of music festivals and concerts. Particularly bluegrass music. That’s really my thing. Everybody has their thing. It seems like I’m spending a lot of money on live music. And I am. But that’s because live music is a priority for me. I’ve made tradeoffs in other areas of life to make room in the budget for the thing that is important to me. I live in a very small house. I buy most of my clothes secondhand. My “newer” car is 12 years old. I buy store brands at the grocery store. I’ve never been to Europe. I don’t spend much money on beauty products or self-care rituals. These are the things that are not a very high priority for me. I have what I need. I don’t need new or fancy or high end. I DO need live music for my life to be satisfying and happy.
Every financial decision comes with a trade-off. Your home may have the space you like and the location you like, but come with a roommate you didn’t initially want. Your food may be delicious and nutritious, but you may be substituting cheaper proteins for more expensive options. You may have chosen a less expensive college than your dream school, or you may have taken on student loan debt in order to afford your dream school.
Adulthood is full of decisions. Some decisions are big. Others are small. But every decision comes with a tradeoff of some sort. Every single thing you spend money on makes it so you can’t spend that money on something else. I’m sure there are wealthy folks who can spend freely on absolutely anything without thinking about it, but even those folks are making the decision not to invest those funds or donate them to charity.
The next time you face a financial decision (which could be anything from selecting a box of pasta at the grocery store to deciding which job to accept), remember this: You can have anything you want. You just can’t have everything you want.
