There is nothing as exhilarating as seeing the proof of your hard work! You’ve been having more Ramen dinners than may be deemed healthy and you’re fattening those saving and investments accounts so you can make your dream of Financial Independence a reality. It’s awesome that you’ve decided to take this huge step to making your future one you can enjoy and be proud of.

Now we know there are those moments when we miss spending money on the things we enjoy. Maybe it’s an occasional night out, or a meal at a restaurant, or the latest electronic device. Whatever it may be for you, there comes a time while saving for the long term that we just want to go out and splurge on all the things that’ll make us happy. After all, we’ve been doing such a great job of saving for the future, it’s about time we treat ourselves right?

It’s not a bad thing to splurge once in a while. In fact, it’s healthy and very beneficial to you if you have long term savings goals. This, our friends, is what we are calling our MINIPENDENCE!

Minipendence is a small reward you give yourself for working towards your Financial Independence.

It is a way for you to enjoy your life today, even if it is in a small way, while you work towards making the future rewarding and enjoyable. It keeps you motivated, it breaks your routine and gives you something fun and rewarding to look forward to in the short-term.

Why Minipendence?

1. It has long term benefits. Rewarding yourself with that gorgeous new pair of work shoes means you’ll have some fancy and (hopefully) comfortable motivation while you work and continue to build your Financial Independence.
2. Saving to purchase an item in the near future instead of waiting until you have achieved all your goals sometimes work against us. That’s because prices and availability change.
3. It is a reward! That’s positive reinforcement for all the diligent saving and investing you’ve been doing.
4. It gives you a way to plan rewards, free or otherwise, in a way that would not take away from your primary saving goal.
5. You need a reason for a reward right? In order to claim your Minipendence, you would need to earn it. Use this as motivation to reach specific stages in your master plan. For example, you could have a reward for every $100,000 you save.

This doesn’t have to eat into your savings, in fact it sometimes can cost nothing at all.

Minipendence Ideas

1. Splurge on one small unnecessary item and enjoy it to the max! Anybody up for some chocolate or pizza?
2. Do something fun! Go to some fun events. (The less you spend on each event the more events your budget can take you to).
3. Pamper yourself. Take a trip to a spa and have a manicure or pedicure, have a relaxing bubble bath, get a haircut, or have a nap.
4. Give back. One of the best rewards you can give to yourself is by giving a gift, a helping hand, a service, or your time to someone who really needs it.
5. Finally, reward yourself with something that means something to you.

Enjoy your Minipendence VMers! Let us know how you plan to reward yourself. Remember, it’s all about the balance.