Daily FI discussion thread - August 31, 2015

If you are a little depressed recently, and you've been saving a lot of your income (just throwing it out there but say over 60%, whatever it may be for you) let me make a suggestion.

This month I want you to try to make an investment in yourself. Take what I call a "positive risk". What is a positive risk? Well let's think of what a negative risk is first. Binge drinking, doing drugs, buying Internet porn, driving under the influence, inactivity, whatever. These are all negative things that people do to act out because their inner child is being neglected. You can't treat yourself like some work machine that only works and has no time for the kinds of things kids like - imagine ice cream, toys, amusement parks, play dates with friends, etc. So I want you to take what I call a positive risk. A positive risk is when you put money and time forward into something exciting and fun for you, probably an experience not a material thing you buy. An example might be going camping somewhere you've meant to check out, seeing a fun movie in the theater, yes having ice cream, or going partying with your friends. Whatever it is, you should take it "seriously". Like, not the no-laughing serious, but you should see treating yourself kindly to these fun experiences as something you really shouldn't neglect.

I don't know about you but when I only work and save money it doesn't go as planned. I always find a way to act out, because I am neglecting my inner child, and any fun in my life. So you should consciously recognize this and put indulgent, unapologetic fun into your life.

Now if all you're doing is indulging yourself at every moment like a hedonist, then perhaps this is the wrong advice. However I imagine if you are working hard and saving a lot of money like I am, you're probably a bit of an ascetic, minimalist, insert "ist" here. If you've had trouble maintaining this hard-core work and save ethic, try out my suggestion. This coming weekend do something fun and indulgent for yourself. Stop worrying about the money just this once. If you're in this sub you probably have plenty of money.

I'm writing this because, well, I'm doing exactly this.

/r/financialindependence Thread