These side effects result from the lack of financial control and understanding. As we share with others in the community daily, becoming Orange is becoming financially literate. Becoming financially literate allows you to make confident and responsible buying decisions. Becoming financially literate allows you to distinguish between a need and a want.

Taking control of your finances truly makes a difference in your life. Beyond making informed decisions and managing their cash flow, many of our clients are able to differentiate between a "need" and a "want." With that power, they are now able to splurge without stress or buyer's remorse.

We can speak passionately about this because we know both sides. We both have lived our lives naive, unaware of this so called "financial literacy." We have made purchases in the past without knowing if we could afford them — or knowing we couldn't afford them but made the purchase anyway.Then, we justified in our minds that we "needed" the item to function in society. In actuality, it really was just a want.

Through our personal experience of guilt-filled splurges before becoming financially literate ourselves, we have found the key to making the shift from stressful splurging to pure indulgence. That key follows a three-step process:

1. Become financially literate — This is the absolute critical first step in the right direction.

2. Recognize your needs and wants — Once identified, you then can prioritize your wants.

3. Save first, then splurge — The final key to the puzzle is to save for it and then spend without guilt.

Sounds easy right? This isn't rocket science. There is no secret formula to financial literacy. You can make those buying decisions with confidence. Take the time now to splurge on yourself with that first step and become financially educated — and your future splurges won't come with a side of stress. Sounds like a worth-while indulgence to us!