Do you ever want to stop saving and just SPEND?

[Deleted]

I'm so sick of saving and being responsible with money. My husband and I are so diligent with retirement, investing (outside of retirement), saving in general...

Sometimes I just want to stop - for a year - and just spend it all. Go on the nice trip to Africa that I've been dreaming about for nearly a decade, finish the basement, and not have to squirrel money away like crazy.

This is a obviously a total vent, but we both work so hard, make pretty good money...but we're saving so much of it in various places that I feel we're not living life as fully as we could, and I don't want our 30's to just....pass us by...and then we have all this $$ in investments or whatever, but little to no life experience to show for it.

Feel like most of my friends IRL would not appreciate this - I know so many on this board are great at saving, maybe H and I have just gone overboard and need to chill out a bit.

Thanks for letting me vent.
[Hangs head sadly and heads over to Sharebuilder to invest more money]

[noodleoo]

Yes, I feel the same way sometimes. Especially when my not so MM friends are spending tons on fun things and I get jealous, even though I know I could do the Same, but I'm too responsible!!

Then again, there is something to be said for moderation. We do work hard, we deserve to have fun. So we booked a trp to London and Paris on a whim, just got back! Ad it was amazing and we spent about $4k, which we can afford. You need to have fun too otherwise it isn't worth working so hard. Maybe move up the plans for your trip to Africa? You deserve a reward once in a while.

[yellowbrkrd]

Maybe it's time you re-evaluated your budget. If you're feeling like you want to "live" more and have the money to do so then I tend to think you should make that an option. Why not start saving for that trip to Africa?

[mskitkat]

I reached this point earlier and decided to start consciously spending. We slowed down the savings, stopped the accelerated debt repayment, and are in the process of finding a cruise to take. We didn't slow down the retirement, just the liquid. I feel like, as long as you aren't being irresponsible (no savings, cc debt, no retirement), you should at least enjoy some of life.

[Deleted]

No. Just the opposite in fact! We make a good income but don't seem to save much. Enjoying life though, LOL.

[IrishBelle]

I am going through something similar right now. Its not as exciting as a trip to Africa but I really want to hire someone to clean our house. DH and I both hate doing it and with two kids and both of us working full time, it just isn't getting done. I don't mind a little dirt but some days I feel like we're slobs.

We've talked about just hiring someone a few times but then I always come back to the fact that we wouldn't be putting as much money to debt or savings if we did so we decide not to.

[chessie]

We get like that. Anything not related to house, horse, dogs though is usually a big splurge. Ya gotta have room in the budget is what I have found or you go nuts.

[80sjunkie]

I feel this way too sometimes, though to be fair we spend a hefty bit. I don't recommend my method but there is definitely an ebb and flow to our spending. A few months I pay zero attention to what I buy or the trips we take, and then we rein it in for a few months, rinse, repeat.

[carfar]

I have the opposite problem, actually.

We earn fairly good money, and save for retirement and such, but could save even more. I find it hard to be disciplined enough to save more than we do.

[bunch]

Yes, I feel this way, but I wouldn't want the stress of not having our savings so I don't do anything about it. Instead we're making budget friendly major life changes.

[twodogsandababy]

H and I did that when we found out he was deploying again. We had about 6 weeks and just did whatever we wanted and didn't worry about money. It was fun while it lasted but when the CC bill came in after he left I almost had a heart attack. We took a little out of savings to pay it off in full. I would absolutely do it again and we might when he comes back. Saving money is great and all, but we want to enjoy it also. Of course, we spend very little while he is gone, so it will all make up for it.

[megalicious]

I completely understand, and I'm not 1/2 as good with money as most ladies on this board. One coworker is leaving next week on her THIRD cruise of the year, another goes to Aruba twice every year, gets new Gucci bags every other month, etc. It's like that all around me, but I know I'm saving sooo much more than they are. They all think I'm weird and cheap.

[trident0]

It's important to know what you're saving for. It sounds like you're socking away tons of money just to save. Other than retirement and an e-fund, you should eventually be spending your savings on something you want.

[Lucille Bluth]

Don't they say that travel is the one thing you spend on and become richer? Book that trip you've been dreaming of! It's great to connect with your DH and have the memories afterwards, too.

[ohgillian]

I feel like we have a good balance, but I do at times get jealous of my non-MM friends and their spending ways. I love stuff.

[Deleted]

I think if you've reached the point where you have no debt (credit card debt and things like that, not mortgage debt), you're on track for retirement, and you have a decent e-fund, there's really no reason not to take a vacation. I know it sound morbid, but if you save everything now and plan to travel when you retire, what happens if one of you never make it to retirement? I've seen this happen to way too many people and it's sad. Save what you NEED to save, and spend what you can afford to enjoy life now.

[ssmjlm]

I go through periods of not spending and then periods where I feel like we're bleeding money.

Right now we've been doing really well saving, but I know with the holidays coming up and some other expenses we have planned, that it will even out.

I know something must be off right now though b/c even my fun money balance is more than I can remember, lol!

[thatgirl2478]

yeah... yeah I do.

And I have... at least temporarily...

[Deleted]

Thank you all for the advice / comiseration! H and I sat down yesterday and agreed to reevaluate saving and create a formal travel savings / budget. I think we both got so freaked out during the last economic crash that we never really course-corrected.

A big part of it is we are saving aggressively for retirement because we don't believe anything other than our savings will be there (no social security, inheritance, or pension).

We'll start planning now for a 2014 trip..