I have a savings account right now that I deposit between $5 to $10 in every week that is solely for entertainment. 

Even as I focus on paying down my debts, I pay into this entertainment fund.

I’m working hard to move towards Financial Freedom, but I’m not ignoring the fact that I want to purchase a book to read, or rent a movie to watch one weekend, or to go out to dinner, or to go to a play. 

You can’t ignore the entertainment factor in your life.

At some point, you’re going to want to buy something or do something that is pure fun. 

I have these moments all of the time and I used to feel guilty. 

I would spend the money and then have that moment of “I could have paid down a bit more on that credit card” playing in my head over and over.

So I said enough.

I’m going to do all of the hard work to save money, invest, pay off debts–I can spend some money now and everything will be okay.

I will overspend once in a while. I’ll accidentally make the purchase that I shouldn’t have. 

When that happens, I pause, identify what happened, and get back on track.

But here's the deal: I’m working hard and I deserve to enjoy my downtime. 

For me, the process was simple: I plan for it.

Budget the money and then feel absolutely no shame about spending it.

I’ve earmarked that total $5-$10 each week for fun stuff, whatever that may be.

As long as I save up for it, I feel no shame in spending it on a book for my Kindle app, dinner from Moe’s, or even a $75 video game.

I’ve set that money aside for that purpose and feel absolutely no shame in spending it.

When you plan ahead, these types of things become easier to control.

I’m setting aside some money in my savings account, but I also use Digit to automatically save towards larger purchases like the new Pokemon games coming out later this year.