Just 15% of Americans Find ‘Joy’ Affordable in Today’s Economy

Here’s how to make room in your budget for fun.

Money can’t buy happiness. But it can buy things that make life a little more fun — if there’s room for them in your budget.

Only 15% of Americans say the purchases and experiences that bring them joy are easy to afford in today’s economy, according to a new survey from Ally Bank of more than 5,000 U.S. adults involved in household decisions.

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Still, people haven’t given up on having a good time. Nearly 68% of respondents say they spend money on something that brings them joy at least once a month.

The catch? Making room in our budgets for things we don’t necessarily need but want is a balancing act. More than 3 in 4 Americans say they have at least occasionally reduced, delayed or avoided discretionary spending because of financial pressure or competing priorities, according to the Ally survey. And 70% say they feel stressed at least monthly about balancing their responsibilities with enjoying life.

“When people are trying to balance day-to-day expenses with longer-term goals, it can be easy to view ‘fun spending’ as something that comes at the expense of saving for the future,” says Sabino Vargas, a senior financial advisor at Vanguard. “But healthy financial planning is about balance, and purchases that fit within your budget shouldn’t come with guilt.”

Why spending money on fun can feel irresponsible

The hard truth: There’s always going to be another place your money could go. You could pay down more debt, pad retirement savings or build a bigger emergency fund.

For many, those competing priorities aren’t hypothetical. Just 35% of non-retirees said their retirement savings were on track in the Federal Reserve’s latest survey, while 45% of adults said they lacked enough emergency savings to cover three months of expenses.

But feeling guilty about a purchase or night out doesn’t always mean you’re overspending. In fact, 68% of respondents to Ally’s survey say they spend about the right amount on things that bring them joy, while just 6% believe they spend too much.

Still, nearly three-quarters experience at least some guilt over those purchases.

“Spending isn’t just about money. It’s about emotional energy, too,” says Chrisanna Elser, a financial planning quality assurance specialist at BOK Financial.

When you’re weighing something like a weekend trip against a major goal, spending can start to feel like you’re making the wrong choice — even when you can afford it. Elser says the key is figuring out where that discomfort comes from.

“If the spending is pushing aside essential priorities, that’s worth paying attention to,” Elser says. “If you’re meeting your obligations and the guilt is rooted in comparison, pressure or the belief that every dollar must be optimized, it may be time to give yourself permission to enjoy what you’ve worked for.”

Social pressure can make that distinction even harder. A dinner with friends, for example, can get more expensive when someone else picks the restaurant or the group decides to split the bill evenly. In those situations, your financial stress may have less to do with the purchase itself than with feeling obligated to spend more than you would have on your own.

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How to spend on fun without feeling guilty

The goal here isn’t to stop spending on things you enjoy. It’s to figure out which expenses are worth making room for — and whether they fit alongside the financial goals that matter most to you.

One place to start is by looking at your actual spending rather than judging individual purchases in isolation, Elser says.

“Spending on enjoyment can fluctuate throughout the year based on travel, holidays, entertainment, special events and social activities, so it’s important to understand your patterns over time,” she adds.

It can also help to put the cost of a discretionary purchase in perspective by distinguishing between money you would have spent anyway and the additional cost of an experience. For example, if you typically spend $20 on dinner but spend $60 when you go out with friends, the decision you’re making is really whether the extra $40 is worth it to you.

Evaluating your spending this way can make it easier to figure out which expenses are intentional and which ones are quietly eating into your budget without adding much value.

Of course, that doesn’t mean every purchase gets a free pass.

“A way to determine if your spending conflicts with your financial goals is to track if you’re missing debt payments, neglecting emergency savings or falling behind on retirement contributions,” says Vargas.

If you’re meeting those obligations, deliberately budgeting for enjoyment can make it easier to spend without second-guessing every purchase.

Thankfully, enjoyment doesn’t have to be expensive. In Ally’s survey, meaningful family time ranked as respondents’ top source of joy, while shopping and splurging ranked last. Elser recommends looking for lower-cost or free ways to do the things you enjoy, whether that’s hosting a dinner party at home, hiking or a free local event.

“In some cases they’re even more memorable because they’re centered on people rather than spending,” Elser says.

After all, a budget is supposed to help you decide where your money goes — not make you feel bad every time it doesn’t fund a financial goal.