Feeling guilty for spending money

[spenguin]

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So firstly, I am not sure if this is the exact right place to post this, I hope I'm not stepping on anyone's toes.

Does anyone ever feel guilty about spending money on non-necessary items?

Background: I am an incoming MS1 (DMU class of 2020) and I am on a gap year. I am currently working 10-11hrs a day in spite of the fact that I really don't have to (I have enough money saved up from previous jobs to cover all my expenses, car loans and student loans (4k remaining).

I just recently went on a long trip abroad and also spent quite a bit on shopping. That being said, I paid for it all myself and do not have any credit card debt.

But I feel guilty about spending my money knowing that I am about to take out loans for school. I also feel like buying stuff for my new place in medical school is going to make me feel guilty. (Ie nice mattress, desk...)

It just feels like when you consider the interest rates on loans, every little bit counts.

I know that if I pinch pennies too much I will just be miserable which would hurt my productivity, but I also want to be conservative with my finances. That being said, I like nice (expensive) things. I really just don't know what is the right attitude to have.

Sorry this was so long

 

[OsteopathicHopeful]

IMO, don't feel bad! I am in the same place as you but a 1st year med student. Sometimes we have to reward ourselves to feel sane. trust me med school is a butt kicker. You have to find ways to destress and reward yourself. If spending some money on clothes or whatever makes you feel good, then do it. If it makes you feel any better you are about to join a professional program and you will need professional clothes. Especially for OSCE (standardized patients) and special events.

 

[kbeitz]

It's much easier to forget about these small things once you start. I mostly make sure to pay all my bills now. Consider every guilty feeling you have as energy that won't be applied to performing well in school.

Sent from my XT1092 using Tapatalk

 

[CoomassieBlue57]

Purchasing a nice mattress is a good idea. Maintaining good health (especially in medical school) is a necessary. Having a car loan on the other hand is not. I'd ditch the car loan, and find something you can drive paid off in full.

 

[DetectiveAlonzo]

Simple. You can't take any of this **** with you when you die.

Make a budget, spend it on quality food and drink, and other necessary items that will contribute to your productivity and general wellbeing.

I know people that currently buy the most useless **** off of ebay (sports memorabilia, halloween character masks (in the middle of ****ing April.. really), and pokemon cards (yes... men in their mid-20s who still play Pokemon) but won't go out to eat with you unless it's Taco Bell because they "can't spend 10 bucks on a meal at a restaurant".

It's all about priorities.

 

[spenguin]

Simple. You can't take any of this **** with you when you die.

Make a budget, spend it on quality food and drink, and other necessary items that will contribute to your productivity and general wellbeing.

I know people that currently buy the most useless **** off of ebay (sports memorabilia, halloween character masks (in the middle of ****ing April.. really), and pokemon cards (yes... men in their mid-20s who still play Pokemon) but won't go out to eat with you unless it's Taco Bell because they "can't spend 10 bucks on a meal at a restaurant".

It's all about priorities.

I understand your point but I'm not sure it 100% applies to me.
My question was more about things that are helpful to have but not necessary. Like decent furniture for example. My issue is that most likely I will have to be in a different area for rotations and it seems like most people that attend my future school (dmu) just sell their furniture for cheap when moving. It is hard for me to put money toward things that not only are being charged with around 6 percent interest but also won't last me very long.

I know that making my new place 'homey' would help my morale and make me feel better about moving hundreds of miles away. But it feels kinda like throwing money away.

I found a desk I really like. Its kinda long so you have space for a computer, textbook and notebooks at the same time, but it would probably be hard to take with me.

Or a real dresser. Considering I might have to throw it after 2 years, its probably smarter to get a cheap plastic one from walmart or target but I know its going to bug me.

I feel like its hard to know how much is reasonable to spend. Especially when it feels like you have to have possesions that arent difficult to move around.

First you have to move to medical school, then for rotations and your posessions have to be even more compact for audition rotations. And then you move again for residency.

This whole quandary I have is not just about during med school but also the year before med school. If I spend X on a trip this summer instead of putting it toward med school, that is X more money that I will have to take for loans. You see what I mean? I know I will not be able to pay for even a year of med school with what I've saved but less loans means less future income goes to interest.

 

[GUH]

There are plenty of leeches in this country who will blow your tax dollars on useless crap and to cover their irresponsible decisions anyways. You'll see many of these people on rotations. So don't feel bad spending your own money on whatever you want. Just realize you'll have to pay back your loans in the future. But in the future you'll almost certainly have more income anyways.

 

[heybrother]

I don't know what nice stuff means, but as a soon to be DMU DPM grad who downsized before he moved to Des Moines, downsized when he transplanted his wife for 4th year, and will be downsizing again for residency - I would encourage you to decrease the material component of your life to something that can fit in the smallest truck possible.

I don't remember what projections and images they showed me when I signed my promissory note, but the debt projections at Exit Loan Counseling are pretty brutal. I've paid debt off before, but there's something really unsettling to being shown the daily interest cost your loans accrue. $200K accrues right around $40 in interest a day. Mosey over to whitecoastinvestor and read some of his stupid doctor mistakes. Decisions we make now will push our retirements deeper and deeper into the future.

 

[hallowmann]

I understand your point but I'm not sure it 100% applies to me.
My question was more about things that are helpful to have but not necessary. Like decent furniture for example. My issue is that most likely I will have to be in a different area for rotations and it seems like most people that attend my future school (dmu) just sell their furniture for cheap when moving. It is hard for me to put money toward things that not only are being charged with around 6 percent interest but also won't last me very long.

I know that making my new place 'homey' would help my morale and make me feel better about moving hundreds of miles away. But it feels kinda like throwing money away.

I found a desk I really like. Its kinda long so you have space for a computer, textbook and notebooks at the same time, but it would probably be hard to take with me.

Or a real dresser. Considering I might have to throw it after 2 years, its probably smarter to get a cheap plastic one from walmart or target but I know its going to bug me.

I feel like its hard to know how much is reasonable to spend. Especially when it feels like you have to have possesions that arent difficult to move around.

First you have to move to medical school, then for rotations and your posessions have to be even more compact for audition rotations. And then you move again for residency.

This whole quandary I have is not just about during med school but also the year before med school. If I spend X on a trip this summer instead of putting it toward med school, that is X more money that I will have to take for loans. You see what I mean? I know I will not be able to pay for even a year of med school with what I've saved but less loans means less future income goes to interest.

To be honest, I'd consider the whole thing as temporary. None of this furniture is going to be important to you when you have 3 days to move after boards, but before your first rotation. In fact it'll be a burden. You aren't buying any of this stuff, with maybe the exception of a vehicle, to last you its lifetime. If you can just live with a cheaper option for a few years, it'll be worth it. You don't have to buy something plastic, but if you can get a used dresser & desk or something on the cheap, it would be worth it. Every $1 you spend will be $2-$3 by the time you pay it back, so if you can hold off on spending when you don't need to, I would.

Make a budget for your furniture. Assume it will only last you 2 yrs and you will throw it away afterwards. That's what I did. Anything that was easy to move, or I could keep easily, I did, but it made the process much easier knowing that I planned to throw it all out. Anything I sold or kept was extra.

One thing I would absolutely invest in is a good mattress. It doesn't have to be the best/most expensive, but something that will last 2 years and let you sleep comfortably.

 

[ortnakas]

I know that making my new place 'homey' would help my morale and make me feel better about moving hundreds of miles away. But it feels kinda like throwing money away.

I found a desk I really like. Its kinda long so you have space for a computer, textbook and notebooks at the same time, but it would probably be hard to take with me.

Or a real dresser. Considering I might have to throw it after 2 years, its probably smarter to get a cheap plastic one from walmart or target but I know its going to bug me.

I feel like its hard to know how much is reasonable to spend. Especially when it feels like you have to have possesions that arent difficult to move around.

It's okay to spend on things that are important to you-- just figure out what's worth it-- to you-- to spend on, and what isn't. If having a solid study space at home matters, buy the real desk. If looking at a plastic dresser is going to annoy you for two to four years, get a real one. Or split the difference and get a Walmart dresser that looks like it's real wood for $60 instead of a real one for $600. On the flip side, if you don't really plan on having people over often, don't buy a fancy dining room table and kitchen stuff.

I agree with hallowman about the importance of a good mattress. If you're not able to get a new one, or if you're inheriting an old one from your parents or something, buy yourself a pillow topper for $100-$200 and it will make your sleep a ton better. Also, check CostCo and Sam's Club-- both of them have surprisingly good mattresses at reasonable prices.

 

[DetectiveAlonzo]

I understand your point but I'm not sure it 100% applies to me.
My question was more about things that are helpful to have but not necessary. Like decent furniture for example. My issue is that most likely I will have to be in a different area for rotations and it seems like most people that attend my future school (dmu) just sell their furniture for cheap when moving. It is hard for me to put money toward things that not only are being charged with around 6 percent interest but also won't last me very long.

I know that making my new place 'homey' would help my morale and make me feel better about moving hundreds of miles away. But it feels kinda like throwing money away.

I found a desk I really like. Its kinda long so you have space for a computer, textbook and notebooks at the same time, but it would probably be hard to take with me.

Or a real dresser. Considering I might have to throw it after 2 years, its probably smarter to get a cheap plastic one from walmart or target but I know its going to bug me.

I feel like its hard to know how much is reasonable to spend. Especially when it feels like you have to have possesions that arent difficult to move around.

First you have to move to medical school, then for rotations and your posessions have to be even more compact for audition rotations. And then you move again for residency.

This whole quandary I have is not just about during med school but also the year before med school. If I spend X on a trip this summer instead of putting it toward med school, that is X more money that I will have to take for loans. You see what I mean? I know I will not be able to pay for even a year of med school with what I've saved but less loans means less future income goes to interest.

Like I said my man...

"Make a budget, spend it on quality food and drink, and other necessary items that will contribute to your productivity and general wellbeing."

If you can live without it for a few years... then so be it. If you can't live without it, then buy it. You can ball out once that residency paycheck comes in and get some extra things if need be.

 

[echo87]

This seems like a rather odd topic for an osteopathic medicine sub-forum.

 

[hallowmann]

This seems like a rather odd topic for an osteopathic medicine sub-forum.

Why? The person is a soon to be DO student, and they're asking about a pretty common concern that students taking a lot of loans out have.

 

[GatorsKW14]

I feel guilty for spending money too, unless I am spending it on other people & then I don't care lol. I've had a job (or multiple) since I was 15 years old so I've always been mindful of what I am spending my money on. Like you, I have expensive taste and I prefer to have less of great quality items than more of cheap things. I invest in a few things that I know will last for a long time and that will be worth the money over time. When there is something that I really want to have but don't need, I'll wait for a sale. If I look at an item multiple times for several days/weeks, I will usually buy it without feeling guilty since I know it wasn't just an impulse purchase. I think it's okay to buy expensive things you really love as long as the price is justified and it's not a spontaneous purchase that you will regret a week later.

 

[Oh_Gee]

Simple. You can't take any of this **** with you when you die.

Make a budget, spend it on quality food and drink, and other necessary items that will contribute to your productivity and general wellbeing.

I know people that currently buy the most useless **** off of ebay (sports memorabilia, halloween character masks (in the middle of ****ing April.. really), and pokemon cards (yes... men in their mid-20s who still play Pokemon) but won't go out to eat with you unless it's Taco Bell because they "can't spend 10 bucks on a meal at a restaurant".

It's all about priorities.