Fearless Money

I’m home for the evening from a weekend Buddhist meditation retreat, and I was thinking about how unlikely it was that I’d have much to post on this blog about it.

But then I realized that there is something of value for my readers. I’ve blogged before about giving gifts and feeling better about spending money, due to budgeting, but I’ve never talked about the education fund. In our "freedom account", I set aside money for adult education, along with a separate account for education intended for our kids.

That very important bucket of money goes to whatever educational opportunities we want. I’ve taken Spanish classes, bought books & CDs, and now paid for a weekend meditation retreat. My wife has taken language classes of her own, and paid for roller skating lessons.

Why?

You may be wondering how this is different than just buying these these things straight out. It is remarkably different, actually. There’s no hesitation, no quick balancing the checkbook to make sure we can afford it. No guilt or discussion about spending the money. That’s what it is *for*, and the money is already set aside.

I hope that makes sense. If you were raised with a frugal mindset as I was, you’d understand how liberating this freedom from spending guilt really is. Budgeting is such a help in this area, in ways that I never expected when I started a couple years ago.

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