Imagine if you will that you are poor, living with the bare minimum: rent, ramen, and water. After a year of scrimping, you finally have 1,000 dollars saved. What would you rather do—spend it all now and reward your efforts, or keep on grinding?
Most of us would spend it.
After saving as much of my income as I could, after 6 months I had saved up 2,000 dollars. The thought was I deserve this camera because of how hard I have worked.
Regrettably, I bought the camera.
Had I saved that money, it would have been available for something that I will argue is far more meaningful than the things that you can buy with the money.
While money is saved, it can buy you anything. Therefore, it is easy to imagine buying that new computer, camera, handbag, etc. The thought that I CAN buy any of these things is worth more than any of the things that you could ever actually buy.
By saving the money, you are buying peace of mind, both a safety net, as well as the power of choice.