I was blessed growing up to have a father that greatly impressed upon me the need to save. I am very thankful for his influence, it has allowed me to make smart decisions with my money and I am currently living completely debt free -- except for a mortgage on a house which is about to turn into a rental and actually provide positive cash flow.
This may seem all good and dandy, but I find recently that my dad's emphasis on saving has turned me a little ... well, stingy.
I spend hours researching two comparable products to try to save $3. I refuse to buy any mobile phone app unless I've tried and loved the free version for over a year. I spend hours on the phone complaining to my cable company, only to be satisfied to argue my way into a $5 credit. I put two months of work into a home improvement project that a professional could have done in a weekend just to save money by doing it myself -- when in fact I could have paid him and taken a couple of side jobs and made back twice the money in 1/10th the time =/
In short, I don't think I'm valuing my time nearly as much as I should. I'm in a healthy financial situation. But I'm looking for tips on how to feel free to spend more money (smartly).
This has been a tricky one to Google or search for, as most people are asking the exact opposite -- how do I spend less. When in reality, I'm looking to spend more. How can I avoid being a miser?