I make my money so I spend it like I want within reason. I cut a lot of things out like restaurants, bars, sporting events so I can blow money on other things. You gotta live. It could all be over tomorrow. Tomorrow is promised to no one. Save for your retirement properly. After that the world is your oyster. I’ve never seen a hearse towing a U-Haul trailer behind it.

85% of the time I truthfully feel
Like the most fortunate person I
know.

Roof above ,shoes on my feet, full belly.
Treating myself generally consists of
Counting my blessings .

I consider cigars my indulgence. One a week, usually on the weekend.

We rarely eat out, live pretty simply.

My wife hates to shop, rarely spends money on herself.

I buy what I want all of the time. That's why we work. I'm very fortunate that aside from my boat, my wants are all relatively cheap and fall well inside my income.

quote:

Originally posted by PHPaul:

quote:

Originally posted by sjtill:
Whenever the jock itch gets bad.

I don't keep track.

If I need something and it doesn't require a loan, I buy it.

If I want something and I can buy it out of my pin money, I buy it.

Anything that requires a loan or a budget tweak gets cleared with SWMBO or deferred until it doesn't.

Same goes for Mrs. PHPaul

I'm 75, She's 82. The fuck are we saving for?

I am quite a bit younger, but as a dink ( double income no kids) but this is pretty much the lifestyle my wife and I enjoy.
The wife likes girly things - she gets her nails done, does things with her bestie ( shop, hike, lunches out)
While still is something of a clothing addict ( probably 1-2 new items a month) we haven’t bought anything high end like jewelry in years.
I of course feed my shooting habit, and I have slowed down a lot on gun purchases. In my younger days I was in “ the gun of the month club” but now it is 1 or 2 a year, and are usually funded in a sell 2 or 3 buy 1 formula.
Of course they need feeding so a pretty sizable ammo and reloading component budget.
We also support our worthy causes ( try to keep things local) to a degree with monetary donations but mostly by volunteering.

You do get to a point ( we are mostly there) where more “ stuff” just isn’t needed.

We are fortunate we can enjoy a first class dining experience or be just as happy sharing inexpensive take out ( I almost used the word cheap but you can barely get a meal for 2 from a chain fast food joint for $25 these days)

I'm self employed and single, no kids. I don't have anyone to fall back on, so I save accordingly. However, when I get to a point in the year when I've more or less maxed out my retirement, I start looking at pumping cash in to my mortgage principle and whatever shiny thing is on the forefront, at the moment it's NODs.

I agree with everyone else, you cant take it with you. At the moment i've got no one to leave it to, so I want to have a good fuckin time. But I'm also 42 and hoping to live for a few more years, so theres that.

Yes, empty nesters.

Still saving and investing too

This message has been edited. Last edited by: BigSwede,

I am learning to enjoy life more, have been a workaholic my whole life. Working a bit less, spending money on fun things has definitely improved my happiness. So yes I do treat myself.

quote:

Originally posted by MikeGLI:

At the moment i've got no one to leave it to

I'll volunteer.

I don't know. Define treat myself.

Every check the wife and I pay our bills, save some money, spend some on family needs, and each take a little for ourselves to do whatever we wish with. Sometimes we buy stupid stuff, sometimes we splurge on a nice meal, sometimes we end up buying one-off family stuff we need but don't want to buy out of the regular budget. It's not a lot, but it lets us get what we need, work toward what we want, and never fight about money.

I told my wife we didn't have to "settle" for "store brand" the other day, if there are better options out there. You know like canned veggies... and specifically Pasture raised organic Kerry Gold Butter vs Great value. Does that count?

How about telling My wife she could go to Walmart and buy any new vacuum cleaner she desired... when her old one quit. Happy wife happy life!


But then... In the last ~4 years I replaced our rusted out above ground pool, bought a new compact tractor loader backhoe with various accessories, had a 2,300 sq ft shop built, put in an 11,000 lb 2 post car lift and bought a 2004 LJ Wrangler because I always wanted one. That makes us roughly even right?

So yea, with zero debt, getting over being a tight wad can be fun.

I live alone and a pretty simple life. I do buy the food I like to eat(not beef recently), and do buy good bourbon. I am secure financially, and don't really have much that I want these days. I don't shoot anymore(eyes went bad), so I don't buy guns or reloading equipment. A comfortable life these days.

Well, I did get myself a new truck for my 70th back in April…

A few weeks ago I had to treat myself to a new water heater.

Soon it will be a water pump for my truck that costs more than the water heater.

Now about that lever action rifle I have been looking at for the past few years? Someday...

quote:

Originally posted by 1s1k:
I would have never believed it but we were fairly frugal all of our lives and now that we have plenty of money those well established spending habits really don’t leave you.

This is true.

More than I used to. Probably not as much as I should.

I've never been rich. Grew up lower middle class watching my parents stress about money. And then I went into law enforcement in an area of the country where you'll never make six figures as a cop - even with copious overtime.

Struggled through college on my own with a shoestring budget and a lot of scholarships, grants, and loans. Struggled through the early years of my career on a slightly fatter shoestring budget. And even once I started earning a decent wage (for the area), I stayed frugal/pragmatic and became a saver and invester, yet still not much of a spender.

This has paid dividends, since I don't have any debt besides a small mortgage, and I have enough savings and budget wiggle room to handle emergency expenses without worries, as well as to allow me to do things like transition from a stressful position to a much less stressful one that pays a bit less.

But now I find myself in my 40s, with no debt, no kids to support, a solid income, and a decent amount of investments and savings, and I've realized that I need to loosen up a bit.

So I try to treat myself on occasion, but it's still a struggle to overcome that mental hangup against spending money on luxuries like vacations or "toys", even when I can realistically afford it.

I guess all the treating myself was done when I was single in my 20's into late 30's as now I am one broke-ass Dad trying to keep 3 kiddos fed, clothed and housed with one salary so my wife can be a stay at home Mom and homeschool teacher for them.

Every chance i get. I follow the Dave Ramsey rule for money. It's only for 3 things...spending, saving and giving, and you should be doing all three all the time. I have paid off all my debts, i put a certain amount towards saving and giving, a certain amount towards kids college, and everything else i spend.

I dont go into debt, so I save up for big items and then buy them when i have the money. As a pilot, i have lost too many friends too soon, as the ups crash has pinpointed. You never get the time back, and money comes and goes. So I treat myself and my family every chance the opportunity presents itself. I don't go crazy, but i also never hesitate. You only go around once.

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:
now I am one broke-ass Dad trying to keep 3 kiddos fed, clothed and housed with one salary so my wife can be a stay at home Mom and homeschool teacher for them.

Very admirable Sir. Your children will be all the better for it

Treat myself?
Don’t need to because God gave me the sweetest wife in His inventory.

.

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:
I guess all the treating myself was done when I was single in my 20's into late 30's as now I am one broke-ass Dad trying to keep 3 kiddos fed, clothed and housed with one salary so my wife can be a stay at home Mom and homeschool teacher for them.

That's the way my wife and I lived. We did everything with the kids in mind, and money was tight back then.
Now that the kids are successfully on their own and we're both retired and without any debt, we treat ourselves to things like a kitchen or bathroom remodel.

It's hard to break the frugal habits, but we've been going out to eat more.
We have each other and both seem to have decent health; that's pretty much all the treat we need.