Celebrating Wins, YNAB style
When I was young (but apparently still old enough to remember) my mom was in a relatively minor car accident. My dad’s response struck me as so odd at the time: “Let’s go out to dinner to celebrate.” His philosophy was “My wife is fine, we can fix the car later, tonight we’re going to celebrate that this was super minor!”
I wish I could tell you that this made me really good at celebrating things. The truth is, I’m not. I’m that dork that has to plan out celebrating accomplishments when I reach a goal because otherwise I’ll just move on to “the next thing” - usually the next goal.
Many years ago, we finally paid off student loans. My response? Can’t wait to put that money towards an emergency fund now! (Can you see why I’m crazy popular?) My husband, on the other hand, is much better at celebrating. When we were a few years into our marriage and had just paid off every last penny of debt, we drove approximately a gazillion hours to Disney and Universal Studios and celebrated with a week long trip there. I still remember the literal tears in my eyes seeing the Hogwarts greenhouses for the first time and hugging my best friend, who met us for a day at Disney together.
Do you have a debt payoff coming up? Are you super excited to not pay $343.79 a month on your minivan? No more $189.62 student loans? Done with a $72.99 credit card bill?
🎉Celebrate!! Take a minute to figure out what you actually want to do with that money now. For months (or likely, years) these dollars had a job that was important but perhaps not the job you *wanted* them doing. Let’s give them a job of your choosing now.
Ways to celebrate being out of debt
Take that month’s debt payment (hello $189.62 student loans) and do something FUN with it this month!! Go out to a fancy restaurant, see one of your favorite artists at a concert, buy that beautiful piece of artwork you've had your eye on.
If you finished paying off your car, do you want that $343.79 to now go towards your 🚗New Car Fund so you never have to make another car payment again? Or maybe you need to beef up your 🔧Car Maintenance category because you’re hitting some big milestones (big mileage?) and there’s a large repair on your horizon.
You crushed that $72.99 credit card debt! Would that be better spent putting some of it towards 🧥Clothes (since that’s what you were paying off anyway) and the rest of it towards 🛋️Home Improvement?
I am a HUGE fan of the debt snowball (or debt avalanche!). Also if there’s anything I’ve learned about money in my 10+ years of YNABbing, it’s that money is just as much emotional as it is mathematical. If what excites you the most is throwing that extra money at the next debt, power to you. Maybe you can celebrate with a free walk outside in the sunshine, hanging out in your best friend's pool for the day, or reading a book for hours on end. But if money has been feeling a little tight and you need a little intentional splurge to help you stay motivated to continue your journey toward spendfulness, then by all means, celebrate this huge win in a fun way! Celebrate those newly unemployed dollars and take a moment to dream about their next important job. (Then go make sure your spending plan is ready for that celebration.)
