The Aporia · ‘I worry I’ve over-spent’: Here’s how to spend and not feel guilty

The article discusses strategies for changing one's mindset towards spending money without feeling guilty. It suggests shifting the focus from merely accumulating wealth to enjoying and enhancing life experiences with it. The piece also emphasizes altering negative beliefs about spending, such as viewing it as wasteful or irresponsible, by questioning where these beliefs originated and whether they align with personal goals and values.

Written by AI on 2026-09-22, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

Story summary

A Sydney Morning Herald article discusses the psychological struggle of someone who feels guilty about spending money, even when they can afford it. The author notes that while they might splurge on holidays, they often experience guilt afterward, questioning whether the expenses were necessary and fearing future financial instability despite having sufficient funds.

To address this issue, the piece suggests changing one's mindset about wealth accumulation. Instead of viewing every expenditure as a step away from accumulating more money, readers are encouraged to adjust their goals. The article emphasizes that minimizing all spending isn't always beneficial for building wealth and that some level of mindful spending can be positive. This shift aims to alleviate guilt associated with splurging on occasional luxuries.

Written for “Budgeting Advice” on 2026-11-03, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

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Economy/Business · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

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Paridhi Jain

4 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction

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🔮 There are times I do spend quite liberally; if I’m on a holiday, I might splurge because I do enjoy the feeling of freedom and abundance.

2026-09-22 · assertive framing · ‘I worry I’ve over-spent’: Here’s how to spend and not feel guilty

Also by Paridhi Jain

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2026-10-27 · The Sydney Morning Herald

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Maybe you think of yourself as very financially responsible, a mindful conscientious spender, a frugal person, someone who doesn’t spend mindlessly, someone who is careful and calculated about how they spend their money, someone who is low-maintenance or doesn’t enjoy spending, someone who doesn’t need much or is a minimalist, and so on.

framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-22

🔮 There are times I do spend quite liberally; if I’m on a holiday, I might splurge because I do enjoy the feeling of freedom and abundance.

2026-09-22 · The Sydney Morning Herald

‘I worry I’ve over-spent’: Here’s how to spend and not feel guilty · assertive framing

I have money but I struggle to spend it. asserted

I → have → it

There are times I do spend quite liberally; if I’m on a holiday, I might splurge because I do enjoy the feeling of freedom and abundance. uncertain

I → be → freedom

But then I feel a lot of guilt and anxiety. asserted

I → feel → guilt

I feel bad for wasting it. asserted

I → feel → it

I question whether I really needed it. asserted

I → question → it

I worry I’ve over-spent – even though I know I have enough, there’s always this feeling of like “well, you never know what could happen in the future – it’s always better to have more”. uncertain

it → worry → more

How do I get over this? asserted

I → get → this

This requires changing your psychological and emotional relationship with spending. asserted

This → require → spending

Here are a few strategies I use to help clients create this shift. asserted

clients → use → shift

Change your north star If your goal is to keep growing your wealth, every time you spend money, it might feel like you’re going against that goal. uncertain

you → change → goal

This creates an internal contradiction: if the goal is always “more wealth”, then any amount of spending feels wrong. asserted

amount → create → spending

It makes sense to minimise all expenditure. asserted

It → make → expenditure

Maybe this is what you’ve been taught it takes to build wealth: you have to put every spare dollar to work – never spend it. asserted

you → teach → it

Spending is something to minimise and even eliminate – never to increase. asserted

Spending → minimise → ?

If you want to feel good about spending, you have to have positive beliefs about spending. asserted

you → want → spending

But what if the goal isn’t just to grow wealth, or have wealth? asserted

goal → grow → wealth

What if the goal is to enjoy a wealthy experience of life? asserted

goal → enjoy → life

Now, you’re playing a totally different game. asserted

you → play → game

Now, you’re not just thinking about how to accumulate wealth – you’re also thinking about how to use your wealth to meaningfully impact your quality and experience of life. asserted

you → think → life

Now, spending money is no longer contradictory to your end-goal – it’s integral to its accomplishment. asserted

it → spend → accomplishment

Change your beliefs about ‘spending’ Your beliefs about spending will determine how you feel about it. asserted

you → change → it

You can’t simultaneously believe spending is bad and then feel great about spending money. asserted

spending → believe → money

Even if you do manage to splurge, you won’t feel good about it – your negative beliefs about spending won’t let you. asserted

beliefs → manage → you

So what are the beliefs you have about spending? asserted

you → have → spending

Maybe you think spending is wasteful, wrong, selfish, shallow, materialistic, irresponsible. asserted

spending → think → ?

Maybe you associate spending with loss – you’re more focused on what you’re losing (money) as opposed to what you’re gaining (the thing you’re buying). asserted

you → associate → what

Make a list of your beliefs and start to identify where you got these beliefs from. asserted

you → make → beliefs

Maybe you borrowed some of these beliefs from your parents or learned them from social media. asserted

you → borrow → media

Start to question these beliefs – are they really yours? asserted

they → start → beliefs

Do they serve you, and the life you want to live? asserted

you → serve → you

Are they consistent with the experience you want, of spending money? asserted

you → want → money

If you want to feel good about spending, you have to have positive beliefs about spending. asserted

you → want → beliefs

You have to believe that this is a positive thing to engage in. asserted

this → have → ?

Change your identity We don’t just have beliefs about spending; we also formulate beliefs about what our spending says about who we are. asserted

we → change → what

This starts to form part of our identity over time. asserted

This → start → time

who → think → much

Those aren’t bad things – they have their advantages, and they’ve probably served you well in your goal of wealth accumulation. asserted

they → have → accumulation

However, they’re not congruent with your desire to start enjoying spending money. asserted

they → ’re → money

Now, if you suddenly start splurging, that’s going to go against who you believe you are as a person. asserted

you → start → person

That isn’t going to feel good. asserted

That → go → ?

…and 10 more, not listed.

‘I worry I’ve over-spent’: Here’s how to spend and not feel guilty

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