11 Practical Ways to Spend Your Money

I know, I know.  Saving and investing your money for the future is one of the most practical things you can do.  This is solid advice, but when you do decide to spend your hard earned money it should be spent on something practical, useful, and meaningful to the wellbeing of your existence.  So many people either save their money or blow it on worthless crap.  Here are 11 practical ways to spend your money on something useful:

1. Travel to See the Significant People in Your Life – There may be no better way to spend your money than to use it to nurture and rekindle personal relationships with the most significant people in your life.  As time quickly passes, we sometimes forget how essential strong personal relationships are to our mental wellbeing.  The older we get the more we need true friends and family to be regular parts of our lives.
2. Hire a Personal Trainer – Your health is your life. Without it, all the success and affluence in the world is meaningless.  Committing yourself to a regular exercise routine is one of the best ways to maintain the health of your body and mind.  Sometimes it’s hard to tackle this endeavor on your own.  Spending money on a knowledgeable personal trainer who can set you on the right course creates priceless results.  Make sure you stick with the trainer until you are committed to exercising on your own.
3. Fix What Is Broken – Have you been ignoring your screeching brakes?  What about the excessively loud hum from your AC compressor?  Or the scratching noise coming from your computer system?  Sooner or later these small annoyances will wear down the reliability of the product and you will be left with a completely broken product instead of just a halfway broken one.  Use your money wisely to fix and maintain your belongings.
4. Educate Yourself – Use your money to purchase educational courses or books pertaining to your career, or to a miscellaneous topic that interests and intrigues you.  Remember, knowledge is power and your brain is the container of that knowledge.  There are few options for spending money on something more practical than the development and facility of your brain.
5. Add Value to Your Home – Your home should be your sanctuary, the place on this planet where you feel the most comfortable.  Adding value to your home, be it personal value or increased monetary value, is always a practical choice for spending your money.  If the additions you make increase your level of comfort for years to come, you win.  If they increase the value of the home to a third party someday when you sell, you win.  If both occur, you win big.
6. Take a Healthy, Relaxing Vacation – A vacation revitalizes your mind by pulling you away from the daily stress factors in your life.  It can spark creative thought by stimulating your brain with new material.  And finally, a vacation allows you to be yourself without the external influences present in your typical surroundings.  Does that sound like something worth spending money on?  It should.
7. Upgrade Something You Use Regularly – There is nothing wrong with splurging on a practical item that you actually use on a regular basis.  If you are a hardcore movie buff that loves to watch movies on Saturday nights with your family and friends, having a 65 inch HDTV and a Blue-ray player makes sense.  If you love computer games, purchasing a powerhouse laptop gaming rig makes sense.  The idea is to never waste money on stuff you don’t use.  Spending money on upgrading your hobbies is one of the reasons you work so hard in the first place.
8. Buy Meaningful Gifts for Key People in Your Life – One of the most rewarding acts in life is the act of giving; especially to those key people you truly care about the most.  Spend a little money every now and then on a sensible gift for some of the key people in your life.  Surprise them.  It doesn’t have to be their birthday or a holiday.  Remember, there is no better gift than an unexpected gift.  You will make them feel special.  For instance, my buddy Donny brought me back a cool souvenir from Amsterdam a few months back and it just made me feel good.
9. Update Your Wardrobe – You don’t have to waste money on the latest overpriced fashion line to look good.  However, if you are still wearing the same ratty shirts, slacks and shoes from 5 years ago, it might be time to go shopping.  While appearance isn’t everything, it can make you look older, smarter and more emotionally mature.  First impressions for job interviews, dates, and the like are heavily weighted on the way you look.  Sometimes it is practical to dress to impress.
10. Buy Healthier Food – “You are what you eat.”  There is a great deal of truth in that statement.  It is impossible to maintain a healthy body and mind if you pump your body full of junk food.  Fresh, healthy food is usually more expensive, but this is an expense with priceless benefits to the longevity and wellbeing of your future.  Eating healthy goes right along with bullet number 2 about hiring a personal trainer.  Your health is your life.
11. Pay Down Debt – This one is a no brainer, so I just couldn’t bring myself to leave it off the list.  If you have a great deal of high interest debt it would be foolish not to pay it down before you go off and splurge on additional purchases.  There is nothing less practical than being a slave to your debts.