There are a lot of things I spend my money on that I guess I could live without, but I really enjoy having them (and I don’t mind spending money on them). I’m sure we all have specific items or events that we don’t mind spending money on too.
I honestly don’t think I have a lot of splurges. I don’t spend as much money on clothes as I used to, and I carefully watch what I spend on, and I still have fun.
I recently told some of you about a comment/e-mail I recently received. This person told me that I am frivolously wasting my money and that I should be eating cheaply (they said I should be eating Ramen for most of my meals) and not going out or hanging out with friends until my student loans and mortgage are gone.
This kind of shocked me, and while I do know that others think this way as well, this is not my way of thought. There will most likely be some sort of debt that we will have, which in the future hopefully will just be a mortgage, so I don’t think it’s completely avoidable. And yes I do agree, there are certain areas that I can cut out, and I’m working on that.
Yes, my student loans and mortgage would most likely be completely gone if I gave up my health by only eating Ramen all day long, but that’s not something I want to do. Maybe, I don’t have the willpower…
We are currently spending around 50% of what our take home pay is. When I say “spending,” I mean the mortgage, bills, food, and debt payments. The other 50% is thrown towards savings, investing and extra debt payments. So I wouldn’t say we’re in a bad position at all.
I know I have debt, that obviously isn’t hidden anywhere. However, I can’t give up everything forever. I do have a plan to get rid of my student loan debt, and then I will eventually get rid of my mortgage as well.
I don’t view spending money as always bad. I love my life, and life entails spending money. I enjoy the things I “splurge” on. That’s why I work! 🙂
What I don’t mind spending money on:
- Eating out with friends. I enjoy going out with them. I save money though by not ordering the most expensive thing on the menu, and drinking the specials.
- Going out for drinks. We will drink at home before we go out, look for specials, and so on. I definitely don’t like spending $10+ on one drink.
- Dancing. I guess you could say this is free, but most places where I live charge a cover no matter what.
- Cable. Yes I realize that cable is a ridiculous thing for me to rely on. However, I love my TV shows and they are a great source of entertainment and laughs for me. We have cut our bill down though. We don’t have the greatest package (but it’s enough for us).
- My car. I wouldn’t be able to get to work fast enough without it. I have a 2008 car that gets good gas mileage though. It’s completely paid off and my full coverage insurance is less than $700 a year.
- My dogs. I know there are those out there who think having a pet is a waste of money. But, I think you are nuts. I love my dogs.
- My cell phone. We save money on this because Wes gets a discount through his work off the plan of 20%. This is a great way to save!
- Internet. I like having the internet. I like to blog as well. Our plan isn’t too expensive either.
- Travel. This gets expensive, and usually I get a little worried about money when I’m on vacation, but sometimes you just have to let loose. I save and pay for vacations with my “extra income” that I make every month.
Of course if anything went badly such as if we lost our jobs, I would get rid of some of these things (probably most if we really needed the money),
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