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Spending Money, Vacations, and Passtimes

8 Way To Justify Spending, Including Spending On Yourself

By Karl • October 27, 2021

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CultOfMoney - justify spending and super sales
Want something, buy it!

Whether you want to supercharge your sales or convince your spouse to take that overseas vacation, changing the frame of reference to your advantage is a powerful technique.  Using the re-framing method, you can be the top earner in the office, or buy those new pair of shoes you’ve been pining for.  This is for all the positive people who want to have fun buying things or convincing others to buy and to enjoy it.  This is for when you want a break from the savings and frugal drudgery.

  1. Divide the time-frame – Instead of a monthly payment of $30, re-framing this to a daily time-frame, that’s about a dollar a day!  This is an easy way to get over the initial shock of a price.  Many charities use this method.  “Support a child for just pennies a day!”  The lower price that you talk about, even though everyone knows it is on a shorter time-frame, subconsciously work to give you the idea that this is a “good deal.”  It can work for you too.
  2. Re-frame which bucket the spending occurs in – If you can re-class the mental accounting “bucket,”  the conversation about  an item or idea to purchase as an investment instead of “normal” money or money set aside for fun, you’ll be able to access a much larger pot of money that has been programmed to be “invested” in up or down markets.
  3. Re-frame the feelings from negative to positive – If you re-frame the discussion from spending money to all the great benefits that you get from the product, service, or idea, and you’ll increase the likelihood of getting what you want.  This is the related opposite of number 4.
  4. Re-frame a gain as a loss – Research into the stock market shows that people feel the pain of a loss 4 times greater than they feel joy from a gain.  If you can re-frame a gain of a product into the loss of an opportunity, you will have better results.  This is the underpinning of the ubiquitous “for a limited time only” sales pitch.  With a bit more class this can be a great method to convince someone to buy now.
  5. Re-frame by changing the units – Changing the cost of something into another unit, such as time can help overcome a price-based objection.  This works better for high-income individuals or companies where time really is money.  Someone wanting to take a trip to Hawaii for $1,500 who makes $10 an hour needs to work for a full month (before taxes and any other expenses) may not want to hear it.
  6. Re-frame the frequency – When selling benefits, you can re-frame things so that a onetime benefit becomes an ongoing benefit if continuation is simply assumed.  That one-time bike trip to Europe could lead to a lifetime of healthy cycling around town.
  7. Re-frame the bundle – Adding or taking things out of the bundle can certainly help.  You can have a candy bar because you had a salad for lunch.  You’ve expanded the bundle of eating to the entire day.
  8. Re-framing Combo – Use more than two or more of the above re-framing techniques together.  Instead of thinking about spending all your money  on a $400 pair of shoes, think of all the great days that you’ll have (negative to positive) after you invest in a solid pair of shoes (mental accounting buckets) for only about 9 cents an hour over the next year!

Whether you want to take an amazing vacation, or convince your spouse that diamond earrings really are a great investment, these techniques will help you put the best possible frame on your argument.

See my previous article on re-framing to save money and supercharge your savings.

Readers, do you have any tips or tricks that you use to justify your spending either to yourself or others?  What about keeping yourself on the straight and narrow and keeping that wallet in your pocket?

Karl

Karl Nygard is the original founder of Cult of Money and created the website to share his ideas on investing, personal finance, and more.

Editorial Disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airlines or hotel chain, or other advertiser and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.

Comment Policy: We invite readers to respond with questions or comments. Comments may be held for moderation and are subject to approval. Comments are solely the opinions of their authors’. The responses in the comments below are not provided or commissioned by any advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any company. It is not anyone’s responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.

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AnotherRandomGuy
11 years ago

I don’t know about the requirement of spending money and material things to be happy, I don’t think that is going to help most people. But I do see the need to open the wallet every so often and so I do appreciate the tips on helping that. Plus my girlfriend is always trying to get me to save more, so maybe this can help her thinnk about it in a different way.

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Author
Karl
11 years ago
Reply to  AnotherRandomGuy

I’m not implying that you need material things or to spend money. I’m saying that if you need to or want to these are some techniques that will help you spend that money. If you are looking to save money, avoid doing these things, or at least be aware of them so that someone else can’t use them on you.

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retirebyforty
11 years ago

It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity! That one works too. 🙂
Divide the time frame is a great idea. That’s why people don’t notice how much coffee cost over a year.

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20's Finances
11 years ago

Ha – nice list. I often find myself having to fight some of these excuses.

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Lisa @ Cents To Save
11 years ago

I have to be careful about justifying myself out of all my cash! Impulse spending can sure get the best of me.

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Author
Karl
11 years ago
Reply to  Lisa @ Cents To Save

Yes you do need to be careful how and what you justify spending money on, but just being aware of these tricks help you to avoid spending money when you don’t want to.

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Aloysa @ My Broken Coin
11 years ago

I think what Joe said above. When it comes to travel, that’s exactly what I say :”Once in a lifetime!” But when it comes to my other weakness – clothes and shoes – it is “I REALLY need it.” Emotional justification.

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Well Heeled Blog
11 years ago

I use the good ol’ “I deserve it” or “it’s an experience, so it must be worth it!” or the “it’s just a few dollars more.”

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John | Married (with Debt)
11 years ago

Reframing is possibly my favorite type of psychological warfare. It’s what drives me. Great post!

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Author
Karl
11 years ago
Reply to  John | Married (with Debt)

Yeah, I’m always big into the behavioral marketing and finance. It’s amazing what little changes can do as far as getting better results or decisions.

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Reply
bax
11 years ago

I like re-framing a failure from a defining moment to a momentary set back. Helps me keep pushing towards a goal rather than stressing about missing a day on the way.

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