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This is a good thread. All through my 20s, I scrimped and saved even though I had a good job. I never went out and did anything fun, I drove an old car, never ate out, and just lived a very monotonous and boring life.
Then I started hearing about people dying in their 50s, some even before retirement, or maybe just a couple of years after retiring. At around 30, I thought "what's the point of saving so much if I die before I can enjoy it?". I had accumulated a couple hundred grand at 30 from being so cheap, so at 31 I went on two international trips (Japan on one trip, Thailand and Singapore on another) and three 1,000 mile road trips on some four-day weekends (driving all over the state of Texas). That was a hell of a year and I don't regret doing it at all. Obviously, that's not something I do every year.
Now I make a habit of taking one good, long 3 week vacation either overseas or to somewhere beautiful like Maine, New Hampshire, or Washington state. I make sure to invest 25% of my income in a 401k and what's left over is play money.
Don't overspend, but you should have some fun along the way in life.
Save some, spend some it's all about a balanced life.
I can't imagine anyone who is so frugal they do not enjoy life. My step mom was the tightness person I even knew and I think she still knew how to enjoy life. Her frugalness which I would call cheapness was something she enjoyed. If it becomes a habit that means life isn't enjoyable I think it then becomes a disease.
Everything is about balance. Personally, having lived paycheck to paycheck and stressed out over how I was going to make next month's rent, it isn't even a question in my mind as to which is worse. Living paycheck to paycheck is pure hell. I'd rather have roommates, live in a bad part of town, drive a jalopy or nothing at all (if not needed for employment), wear clothes from Wal-Mart (I might as well anyway, I don't give a crap about clothes aside from actually enjoying men's wear, as in Suits 'n stuff) than live month to month.
Yes, this is me, too.
That doesn't mean I don't ever go out for lunch a work, etc....but I don't do it most of the time.
Honestly, I know these extremely frugal people exist, but they are major outliers. I think the spenders use them as an excuse to justify their overspending. Most frugal people don't go to the extremes the spenders like to use as examples.
While it's true that having a ton in savings and investments doesn't guarantee happiness, the same is true of buying things--or even spending on experiences for that matter. Yes, extra spending does bring a bit of happiness...but it's not a 1:1 ratio. After a certain point, more spending just doesn't do it, just as more money in the bank/investments doesn't do it.
There are so many things that are enjoyable in life that don't require money though... so in my opinion it's pretty easy to be frugal and also enjoy life.
obviously if you don't spend a penny, then yes you will be miserable. but at that point it's beyond being frugal. there's probably a different name for that.
I hate spending money and it has prevented me from enjoying life. I could take classes, but don't want to pay for them. I do enjoy buying clothes when there's a great sale, but that's 1-2 times a year. When I was in my 20s, I could've spent time overseas learning my native language. But I did none of those because I hate spending money. I was constantly saving for my future.
So yeah, I find it difficult to spend money on entertainment or even personal enrichment when I don't HAVE to. I am constantly fearful of losing my job or having a health problem that requires me to spend a lot of money, or needing re-modeling (there goes $6,000).
The most upsetting threads to me are ones where people have very low monthly food budgets. I understand if there's no money to go around, but for those that try to cheap out on food strikes me as very boring, bland people who are going thru the motions of life.
This is the biggest problem i have with money. Not being too frugal that I skip on the good things in life yet not wasting money that I lose security. I am like the other poster who said he saved all thru 20's only to realize life is short in 30's and started spending. I naturally save & I have to push myself to spend more & raise my standard of living. But then it kills me inside for spending money on things that are not necessity part of life. I must create a balance
Yes there is. I believe in balance. I am doing my best to live on a budget, save, pay off debt and prepare to buy real estate. However, you can't take it with you. It is important to also enjoy life too. I am trying to shave off portions of my budget and use the money for myself.
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