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Yes definitely spending lifestyle has increased with income but savings has accelerated even more...now save more than half of income but still could do better.
My wife and I married at age 30. Neither of us had much when we married but we started earning good livings. We desired things and we spent what we made enjoying the good life. In our mid 40's, still enjoy a good income, we started to think about retirement. We took a few financial investment courses. Paid a fee based financial advisor to come up with a plan for us. We started investing in the future with IRAs, solid stocks, etc. We could still enjoy the good life but we also cut a few corners. Like 2-3 star hotels instead of 4 star hotels while on vacation. Cheaper scotch. Keep a car for more then 4 years. Join a less expensive country club. $50 shoes instead of $120 shoes. We became debt free by our early 50's. We retired at age 62.
One of the biggest things in our favor was we opted not to have children so we were DINKs. Dual Income No Kids.
in fact, I spend less now than I did in college while making twice as much.
since graduation, ive really been throwing as much as possible at the student loans while finding ways to cut spending. im also saving 20%+ of my income for retirement. 50% once the student loans are gone in two months. my goal is to retire early.
My wife and I married at age 30. Neither of us had much when we married but we started earning good livings. We desired things and we spent what we made enjoying the good life. In our mid 40's, still enjoy a good income, we started to think about retirement. We took a few financial investment courses. Paid a fee based financial advisor to come up with a plan for us. We started investing in the future with IRAs, solid stocks, etc. We could still enjoy the good life but we also cut a few corners. Like 2-3 star hotels instead of 4 star hotels while on vacation. Cheaper scotch. Keep a car for more then 4 years. Join a less expensive country club. $50 shoes instead of $120 shoes. We became debt free by our early 50's. We retired at age 62.
One of the biggest things in our favor was we opted not to have children so we were DINKs. Dual Income No Kids.
First I live in a far more expensive city now (i.e. housing is 78% more than where we had been) so it's hard to do the side-by-side analysis.
We definitely buy less stuff than before, but maybe with the exception of clothing (which we buy mostly resale) and stuff for the kids, many of our purchases are of higher quality (I buy more organic and sustainably produced foods, higher quality furniture).
House is much bigger. Cars are the same. Restaurant and vacation budget has increased noticeably. Neither of us are clothing freaks (wife splurges every now and again).
However, monthly savings have at least tripled, with maxed 401Ks as well.
We been together for 11 years (29 years old now) and we are no longer broke college students or just starting out. So yes, our lives is 180 degrees from where it was when we just graduated college at 22-23 and got married, or 25 after my wife Master's degrees. And it will probably be different a decade or two from now ....
We went from earning low income, to having professional jobs, just starting out to now making a descent income in our careers and hopefully moving up the ladder. Yes life is good, but we are also further ahead at 29 than we thought we would be.
But besides lifestyle growing you know what grew insanely fast:
- Retirement
- Investments
- Emergency Fund
I believe it is a balancing act, and finding what you are happy with. We've worked hard and sacrificed a lot to get to where we are today and we don't feel guilty enjoying the fruit of our labor. We also understand the importance of savings, rainy day fund and retirement so save diligently.
Location: Chapel Hill, NC, formerly NoVA and Phila
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I feel like I have become "free-er" with our money as our income and investments have grown. I have always been frugal by nature, but I no longer feel like I have to get "the best" deal or cheapest price like I once did. For example, we travel by car a lot and we'd often stay at mediocre hotels on the road like Days Inn or Comfort Inn. Now, I like Hampton Inn or SpringHill Suites. And once you're used to better things, it's hard to go back. On the other hand, we just went up a notch - we didn't go from Days Inn to Ritz Carlton.
Same is true for grocery shopping. I buy better quality meats and other food than I used to. And if the only fruit in season is apples, but I want strawberries, I will buy them, even if they are pricey.
Before I would sometimes get semi-mad at myself if I went out to eat with friends and spent $40 on a meal because that was much more than I'd usually spend eating out. Now, I don't feel bad about splurges like because they really don't happen very often. I've come to realize the cost isn't just for the food but for an evening out and spending time with friends who I don't see often enough.
We still do everything within budget - we just have adjusted the budget some to enjoy more things.
Starting out during college, it was a minimal lifestyle. We scrimped and saved for several years. After some years of experience and strategic moves and job changes, our income increased. Our standard of living has increased along with it. We don't have to scrimp so much, but saving is always good. It's never good to waste money, but it is okay to occasionally enjoy nicer things in life. The advice I was given for raises in pay was to save the amount of the increase. Live below your means.
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