Thursday, November 16, 2006

I'm losing my will to save

Yes, yes, I know that saving a little bit every paycheque and putting it aside for a rainy day is one of the best things I can do for myself.

And I also know that buying a house as early as possible and socking money into an RRSP in my 20's will put me in a better financial position that about 99% of my peers.

But dammit -- it's hard. I've been a good little saver this year ($7,000 into my RRSP for the year, and it's increased in value by about 15% already) and my automatic savings program diverts a good chunk of my paycheque into a high-interest savings account before I can even sniff it.

Sure, the ever-so-slowly up-moving squiggly line that represents my net worth does give me a nice little sense of accomplishment -- but my self-satisfied smugness is no match from the joy I'd derive from liquidating my Combine enemies on a brand, spanking new Xbox 360 system. Nor is it any match for, say, tossing back mojitos like Lindsay Lohan at a frat party while lounging around on the beach at one of these places, for example.

In short, I need a bit of a break. Christmas is coming up, and in addition to the myriad gifts I'm planning to give to friends and family, I think some treats for me are in order.

But don't worry, pfblogosphere. I'm sure my little anti-frugality protest will be short lived. Come January, I'll once again be waist-deep in the forests of paper that the financial press annually puts out on where to park those tax-free RRSP dollars. And I don't think the new video game console I've been jonesing for qualifies as a buy-and-hold investment.

If I don't re-discover my saving mojo, I'm sure you people will remind me of it.

I'm just sayin' -- if the diet ain't fun, you're not going to stick with it.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Balance, Grasshopper. All things in moderation.