I hit a wall recently where traditional budgeting felt purely restrictive. The constant guilt over small purchases made me want to quit tracking entirely.
I decided to flip the method: instead of just tracking the cost, I started tracking the value (a "Joy Rating" from 1-5).
It changed my spending habits immediately. I realized I was spending $100+ a month on "convenience" food that I rated a 2/5 (low joy), but beating myself up over a $5 coffee that was a 4/5 (high joy). By cutting the low-rated items, I aligned my spending with my values and stopped the guilt.
I wanted to share this for anyone else feeling exhausted by the restriction mindset. Does anyone else use a similar qualitative metric for their budget?
How I fixed my budgeting burnout by tracking "Joy" instead of just dollars
byu/ayush_g20 inpersonalfinance
Posted by ayush_g20
2 Comments
Love this
Nice approach. I’ve done something similar but never gave it a name. Started noticing I’d drop $40 on takeout I barely remember eating but feel bad about a $15 book I read three times.
The rating system sounds clean. Might try actually writing them down instead of just doing the mental math.