Learning to budget is how you stop needing permission to spend.

A budget sounds like a set of restrictions and works as the opposite. Once you know what comes in, what is already committed and what is genuinely spare, you can settle a question yourself instead of asking somebody whether you can afford it. The numbers take the place of the permission. That is most of what financial independence actually is.

Write down what you earn this month and what has to be paid out of it. Whatever is left is yours to spend without checking with anyone. Keep the list visible.