I have lived most of my adult life extremely frugal, saving any dollar I earned. I have been able to save practically 6 figures (maxed out Roth IRA every year and some in a HYSA), but have basically done nothing with my life. I recently decided to enjoy some of the money I have saved up and splurge a little bit. I’ve been spending quite a bit on stuff l’ve wanted and experiences l’ve missed out on before as of late.
I didn’t have much clothing (have been wearing the same outfit for years) so l’ve been spending a quite a bit on clothes l’ve always wanted, going out with friends, eating out, and overall spending a lot more than I usually do.
I’ve spent about $2000 this month alone, but don’t see myself spending this much in the later months. I’ve, of course, have been able to pay off the credit cards on time and still have a lot left over in both my savings and checkings.
I don’t own a car (live in a big city and solely use public transportation), and my rent and expenses are pretty low (overall expenses are about $600 a month).
Should I carve out a little more of my budget to have fun? I feel a mass amount of guilt after spending the amount I have on ‘unnecessary spending’ even though I can afford it. Not sure if what I am doing, and somewhat want to continue doing, is a mistake but wanted to see if I am making a terrible choice (I’m a college student which I feel makes this situation different).
I had a client like this once. One big thing that helped was getting hyper-detailed about their spending (using something like FinaMoney or Monarch or whatever). It helped a lot because they could see that they were TOTALLY fine to increase spending in some areas they enjoyed. It’s more about finding areas that improve your life a lot, like maybe restaurants with friends, or new gym equipment, etc., and being okay to spend more there instead of spending randomly.
@Dru
This helped me a lot. When I got my budget honed in, it was difficult to see I was spending 15% on completely frivolous crap… Like even outside of eating out. But then I considered 47% was going into savings and retirement. Seeing those numbers really helped me spend guiltlessly if I had the money left in that line item.
@Laken
For sure! I was fortunate enough to get a full ride to school, so I received massive scholarship refunds and worked full-time on top of that. I wanted to enjoy the fruits of my labor but wasn’t sure to what extent I should do it. I know some of my peers don’t have much money and still enjoy themselves, so I felt like I needed to loosen up a bit.
Definitely time to revamp my budget and get a new method to monitor my spending. Gonna give FinaMoney a try.
If you have the money for ‘unnecessary spending’, maybe you could start by putting a set amount into your budget. Don’t make it a crazy amount, but something realistic. An amount that lets you go out to the movies, have a dinner out, or buy an outfit. And if it’s within your budget, you can do it guilt-free. Once your budget is gone, so is that spending.
@Marin
I always budget for fun. I grew up poor, so now I make sure to have money set aside for fun. Even $50 a month can cover trivia nights, movies, or a hockey game. You deserve to have fun!
Amory said: @Marin
I always budget for fun. I grew up poor, so now I make sure to have money set aside for fun. Even $50 a month can cover trivia nights, movies, or a hockey game. You deserve to have fun!
Same here. Grew up really frugal, so it’s hard to shake that mindset. I feel guilty even for spending $20 on something fun. Thanks for the reminder that I deserve to enjoy life too.
You have a strong nest egg. Your personality is to save, so after the first few months of spending, you’ll naturally come back to your frugal ways. You just need to find the right balance and it will happen.
