Good morning! Vanessa from Liberty Loves Company has written this guest post. She discusses how to use money to gain freedom, achieve financial independence, and what truly living the good life means. Vanessa enjoys living in New Zealand where beautiful beaches make up for the high cost of living. You can find her on Twitter at @Liberty__loves.

If you’d like to contribute a guest post to RFI, let me know.

‘Because you’re worth it’ – what a catchy tagline. It perfectly justifies any purchase, making you feel pampered and deserving in a vague yet convincing way. This sort of emotional manipulation in advertising works constantly to make you feel justified in your spending. Your challenge is to see through this and eliminate the nonsense.

A sense of spending entitlement often comes disguised in many forms. These delusions are crafted to satisfy a needy version of ourselves that can never truly be content. The mental narrative might go something like this:

“What a day/week/month! My feet are sore, that shirt is annoying, and dealing with clueless clients who don’t understand the industry is exhausting. I’ve worked so hard and sacrificed my time and education. My job is stressful, and when I get home, the kids are demanding. I deserve a treat for all this effort!”

In other words, you feel you deserve something special – expensive, quick, indulgent, and without regard for the cost.

Any form of temporary luxury becomes justified – pricey alcohol, table service, subscriptions, costly shampoos, taxis, gourmet dinners, high-end linens. We choose from an endless array of luxuries without guilt because we feel entitled. Because we’re worth it!

Entitlement becomes confused with rights, which become intertwined with expectations, eventually forming habits. We turn into little emperors who forget ever doing things for ourselves.

Everyone has basic rights as human beings. We all deserve respect and rest, regardless of our jobs or status. Supermarket employees, accountants, or royalty alike – we don’t need to spend money to prove our worthiness. A higher income doesn’t automatically make you more deserving of luxury or better at managing money; it often just makes you a slave to an expensive lifestyle. Understand the difference!

Of course, you can spend your money however you like. It’s your choice. You can quickly burn through your income feeding a lifestyle you’ve convinced yourself to adopt. This lifestyle might reflect your age, social circle, or cultural expectations. It may seem appropriate for many reasons.

Just don’t trick yourself into thinking that spending money is an entitlement. It’s merely a choice. It’s a choice that can bring you closer to what you truly deserve or push you further away.