Hey Reader,

We all want to know whether our spending is "normal."

But trying to make your money look like everyone else's might be keeping you from building the life you actually want.

💲 Money Minute

I came across this post in the YNAB Reddit community earlier this week:

Clients ask me questions like this all the time.

And I get it. We all want some reassurance that we're making reasonable decisions.

But this is the wrong approach.

Indulge me while I step onto my soapbox for a second.

Notice all the information that's missing from this person's post.

We don't know:

• their income
• where they live
• what their other financial goals are
• what matters most to them

And yet they're asking a bunch of strangers on Reddit to help determine whether $50 is the "right" amount for their discretionary spending.

People ask me some version of this every week:

"What does the average person spend on eating out?"

Or groceries. Or gas. Or clothes. You get the idea.

As a rule for what you should spend, averages are basically useless.

Maybe eating out is one of your favorite ways to spend time with friends. Or maybe you'd rather cook at home and put that money toward a trip.

Maybe $50 of fun money feels generous to one household and ridiculously restrictive to another.

An average can't make that decision for you.

And that includes your own historical average.

Just because you've averaged a certain amount in a category over the last year doesn't mean that's what you should budget going forward. If you let past averages dictate your future choices, you may be keeping yourself stuck in spending patterns that no longer reflect what you want.

That being said, I do look at my average spending in each category when I review my budget.

Averages are useful for understanding what's happening. They're not necessarily useful for deciding what should happen.

When it's time to decide where my money goes, I set my YNAB targets based on my vision and values. They're my game plan for where I want to go.

So instead of asking, "What do other people do?" or "What have I been doing?" and letting those answers dictate my budget, I ask:

You don't need a bunch of strangers on Reddit to approve your fun money.

You do need to choose the amount you spend intentionally.

So pick one category this week and ask whether it supports the future you actually want.

Then budget accordingly.

Until next week,
Nick
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PS: If you'd like help using your money to do more of what matters to you, apply for a free coaching session with me. Selected sessions may be featured on the Mapped Out Money YouTube channel.
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Or simply hit reply and send us a question you'd like answered in a future video. Talk soon!
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