I failed big time this month. I had some extra income thankfully from a few things like selling and so forth. September was a bad month and that is why I wanted to make some investments and get some extra money by doing garage sale type of situation. In the end I made more than 40% of my salary just from selling few things. It really worked out very good for me on that part, but I failed so miserably because I decided to buy things that I "needed".
Yes, I did need them, like a walking shoe because doctor told me to walk 30-40 minutes everyday and I paid for my visit to my moms, which I would do anyway one day, so why not pay for it now so that it would be free, and I met with a few friends since I couldn't during pandemic and we finally had a good day all together. All of that combined and few smaller things made all that extra money gone. Now, I have nothing to show for it aside from a shoe and few good memories. Make sure you do your budgeting carefully or you may end up like me.
I remember passing through similar situations and I tested my self to be sure If i really needed those things I thought I needed.... I imagined what will happen to me or things that depend on me if I end up not buying them, will there be problems, if yes how big or small will the problem be? If there will be little to no problem I will end up not buying or I'll go for cheaper alternatives. The test should fairly determine whether or not we actually need these things, so that we don't spend unnecessarily.
And it's also important to order your actual needs according to their priority. That may help you focus on top priority and leave the least ones for other times.