I Freakin’ Love Convenience
But it’s wreaking havoc on my budget.
I recently wrote about how I was constantly financially broke. I was tired of just being the middle-man when handling money, and I decided to be more mindful of my spending.
That decision led me down a path of tracking my expenses, as well as trying to live within a budget. My aim was to spend less and increase my savings.
I am happy to report that so far things have been going well. Sure, there were the odd days or two where I splurged or spent more than I should have on things I didn’t really need, but apart from that, things have been dandy.
However, the main obstacle to my efforts of being mindful of my spending is my love of convenience.
We all love convenience am sure. Who wouldn’t love to spend less effort or time on things that bring them hassle in their daily lives?
My relationship with convenience, however, is probably toxic. You could scribble the word convenience on a scrap of paper, package it in a box, wrap the box, slap a price tag on it, sell it to me… and I would probably buy it.
The problem with convenience is that it isn’t cheap. You must be willing and able to pay the premium for it. To make matters worse, it is now available at the click of a button.
Just look at how it is used in our daily lives.
- Don’t want to walk to the bus stage or take multiple buses to reach your destination? Just request for an Uber.
- Don’t want to cook after a long day? Just order take-out.
Convenience is sometimes a surrender against resistance. We gravitate to what’s easy because our lives are so ‘busy’, or we are too ‘tired’, …or that’s what we tell ourselves. We choose instant gratification over battling resistance. By resistance I mean doing the work, actually spending time in the kitchen to prepare a healthy meal, or walking 10 minutes under the hot sun to that bus-stop, and spending time stuck in a stuffy bus or hopping from one bus to another in order to reach your destination.
Without careful monitoring, I realized my love for convenience could easily become a habit and derail my financial goals. This is because I would do so well at adhering to my budget, but would mess it all up on a single day by choosing Uber over public transport, or ordering take-out instead of cooking my supper.
Convenience has derailed my budget through the following ways:
- Sneaky and unnecessary fees: This includes delivery charges for ordering take-outs, or transaction charges for paying for some services via mobile money or using the bank apps. Though the charges may be minimal, they can add up to substantial amounts and the behaviour becomes a habit.
- Buying things I don’t want or need: Some services have a minimum order amount for delivery. This forces me to spend extra on things I don’t even want or need in order to just receive that free shipping.
- Overspending on entire budget categories: e.g. transport and food. This has led to me steering money away from more important budget categories like increasing my savings.
Financial disadvantages aside, there are also the health costs associated with convenience i.e.
- obesity due to leading a sedentary lifestyle (you can seriously walk to the bus station), or eating all those junk food from take-outs.
- Other lifestyle diseases such as high blood pressure.
Now, am not saying that you need to forego conveniences entirely. There is nothing wrong with wanting something better for your life, to be able to relax and enjoy things, to take it easy. The problem comes when you go too far and end up ruining the quality of your life.
Put simply, you need to compare the price with the value provided and ensure the extra money you are spending on convenience won’t waylay any of your financial priorities e.g. paying debt.
Some of the actions I have taken to ensure I don’t fall into the convenience trap include:
- Meal prepping for the whole week: I prepare my meals for the whole week on Sunday or Monday afternoons. This ensures that whenever I get home, there’s food to eat which makes me a lot less likely to order take-outs. Since all the work has been done, I just need to eat. Sometimes I even carry the food as lunch to cut down on lunch costs. To avoid the monotony of eating the same thing day in day out, I get creative with the core ingredients, or complement the meals with different side-dishes i.e. avocados.
- Making my commute interesting: I try to avoid moving around during rush hour since i will be more likely to use Uber than public transport. In cases where I have no choice, I try making my commute at least enjoyable either by reading a book, or practising mindfulness instead of mindlessly scrolling through social media. The internet is noisy after all!
- Scheduling Flexibility: This means that on my budget I allow myself the occasional take-out meal, or some “fun funds”. This way, I ensure I don’t stifle myself and feel miserable.
Over to you dear readers, what other conveniences do you think might be derailing your budget? Let me know in the comments below :)
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Am just sharing musings about life through the eyes of a Kenyan college student on a tight budget :D
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