How to Really Reward Yourself for Hard Work

While at the bus stop this morning, I overheard a woman talking about how whenever she gets a paycheck, she makes sure to pay herself first. I was intrigued since I’ve often heard that “paying yourself first” means putting some money from your paycheck into savings before you’re tempted to spend it all and not have anything left  As she continued however, she explained that to her, paying herself first meant immediately using a portion of every paycheck to buy herself things.  “You see, you gotta reward yourself,” she concluded, for going to work.

I’ve met a lot of people who feel the same way.  I spoke with a woman just a few days ago who told me how she joined an expensive club that rents classic cars in order to treat herself after getting a promotion (and likely more work).  A guy I know at my office goes out for very pricey dinners on weekends because he feels he works hard so he deserves it.  Whether it’s clothes, shopping, meals out, event tickets, or whatever your temptation of choice, it seems that spending money is considered the appropriate way to “reward” yourself for your successes and (more often) hardships during the work day.

That got me thinking about why we take it for granted that buying ourselves things is a way to “reward” ourselves for going to work.  Take a look at your credit card statement from an average spending month and tally up the cost of everything you’ve spent money on to treat yourself for working.  Multiply that by 12 and that’s how much you’ve spent over a year. Multiply by 120 and that’s how much you’ve spent over 10 years, not including what you could have earned if you invested the money too.

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with splurging every now and then, especially if you really get a lot of enjoyment out of what you’re buying.  But for many of us, splurging means you’re living paycheck to paycheck or it means you’re having trouble saving enough for important life goals.  When you compare the value of things you’ve treated yourself with to the savings you’ve given up, can you still continue to say with confidence that you’ve rewarded yourself?

Sometimes a change in perspective can make all the difference.  Just for a moment, try to think about spending money to treat yourself in a different light.  Instead of thinking about it as a way to reward yourself, consider that you may actually be punishing yourself.  That’s what’s happening if what you’re spending now for a short term enjoyment prevents you from saving for longer term goals that might make you happier.  You wind up trapped in a hamster wheel, running in place without making any progress.

Instead of buying myself things, here’s how I reward myself for all the difficult day-to-day things that happen at work. After I get each paycheck, I log onto my online banking and investment accounts and see how they’ve grown. Maybe it’s not as glamorous as an expensive restaurant, but I can tell you it is very rewarding to see the fruit of your efforts of years of saving as a cumulative total.  Sometimes it’s not easy to be a diligent saver and this is a tangible way to keep me motivated and remind me that saving has been worth it.  It reminds me that I’m free from the stress and worry over paying monthly bills, and even that I’m free from needing a regular paycheck, knowing I have years of expenses saved up to protect me because I chose to reward myself by saving rather than spending.

A couple of weeks ago, I decided to reward myself in another more tangible way as well.  I’ve gotten into sailing recently and decided to “splurge” and purchase a sailboat.  I bought it for $10,000 (after extensive research of course) in cash. It was a substantial amount of money, but I was able to do it because I had been diligent about saving my paychecks, something I couldn’t have done if I had been “rewarding myself” with expensive treats.  It’s also something I know I’ll value far more than other things I could have purchased along the way.

Whatever your goals may be, make it a priority for your next paycheck to pay yourself first by putting more money into savings.  You’ll surprise yourself with how quickly things add up.  And you’ll find that being able to reap the benefits of continued savings is truly a worthy reward.