Do you find it easy to save?

[bongo2]

My impression is that most of the people around here are not very tempted by material things, and find it easy to save money. Recently FireWhen said "I REALLY HATE TO SPEND MONEY," and that seems to be a pretty common attitude here. Are there a lot of people who've had to work hard to save a large percentage of their income and not spend most of what they earn?

 

[brewer12345]

I used to find it relatively easy to save. Now that I have two small children and a very demanding job, the money flows more easily than it used to. In part there is simply a lot more expense with twice the people in the budget.

 

[ziggy29]

Yes. In fact, I've grown increasingly tight with my money that I have to convince myself that it's okay to spend a little and there to enjoy life today. I don't want to be so miserly that I put everything away for the future and die or become incapacitated before I can enjoy the fruits of today's sacrifices.

 

[W2R]

I don't really look at it as saving. It's buying time, instead of things (that will get broken or lost or obsolete so quickly anyway).

I get a big charge out of watching my nestegg grow and dreaming about ER.

But then, I live alone. Before my divorce, any money that I managed to save would be used by my ex as a down payment on a loan that we couldn't afford, to buy something 20x as expensive that he might happen to fancy. So, I wasn't very motivated to save.

 

[ProspectiveBum]

I used to find it relatively easy to save. Now that I have two small children and a very demanding job, the money flows more easily than it used to. In part there is simply a lot more expense with twice the people in the budget.

Same situation here.

For sure, the most painless way to save is to "pay yourself first", and have your savings socked away in accounts that aren't instantly accessible. I find that our spending levels tend to rise to meet cash on hand. When the money never "reaches" us, we don't miss it.

 

[Walt34]

Before my divorce, any money that I managed to save would be used by my ex as a down payment on a loan that we couldn't afford, to buy something 20x as expensive that he might happen to fancy. So, I wasn't very motivated to save.

I hope he married my ex. They'll be very happy in bankruptcy together....

 

[Moemg]

I managed to save a lot and still be able to travel & enjoy life . Every time I got a raise I upped my standard of living slightly and increased the amount being taken out of my paycheck for savings . It was painless. No big tricks just slow and steady and hope for a bull market .

 

[Walt34]

It took a conscious effort on my part to learn to save, and that didn't happen until after my divorce, I bought a house on my own at age 35, and realized that I was 12 years from "normal" retirement. Law enforcement careers are short by most standards, normal retirement is usually 20-25 years. Forty or more years happens, but it's very rare.

 

[Sarah in SC]

I don't really look at it as saving. It's buying time, instead of things (that will get broken or lost or obsolete so quickly anyway).

Great line W2R, I'll use that on DH when he gets a wild spending hair!

 

[simple girl]

We find it pretty easy to save money. Of course, we don't have expensive hobbies, except for travel. Even when we do travel, it's a game to me to get the absolute best deal possible.

This doesn't mean we don't treat ourselves to things when we want to!

I also view money as a means to more time. Check out my sig.

 

[CitricAcid]

I get more satisfaction out of investing money and seeing my money grow than buying something with the money, I don't know why, probably some weird mutated recessive gene. In any case, like everyone else said, I HATE spending money.

 

[jblack]

I find that our spending levels tend to rise to meet cash on hand. When the money never "reaches" us, we don't miss it.

Pretty much sums up our experiences as well (granted we don't yet have kids). Every now and then we'll want some new fun gadget or toy and having less in our checking account makes us at least pause and think about our priorities.

We still have a lot of fun but we just find different ways of making it all work with whatever is available to spend.

 

[Marquette]

I don't know... I don't save to the point of sacrifice. So, it's easy to save, but only because I'm fortunate to bring in a lot more than I'd be interested in spending. In the same vein, it's easy to give to charities because of where I'm at.

If I were in a position of self-sacrifice to meet either of those objectives, then it'd be different, I'm sure.

As it is, though, I don't like spending money on many things that I'm "supposed" to, but I do like spending money in things that are important to me... but I don't go out of my way trying to convince people that their way is wrong, it's just different.

 

[OAG]

We find it easier and easier to save as time goes bye. When we had kids running around (about a million year ago) it was really tough and I did not even try. After they all got off on their own it became much easier. Got 4 kids and 9 G-kids now and we are now starting to think about how to give them some $$ without them just wasting it.

 

[DallasGuy]

It's very easy for me to save. The hard part is actually spending money on things other than the everyday necessities.

 

[unclemick]

Over the years - I used various forms of auto deduct to hide from myself tax deferred and taxible.

Lived on the rest - sinned periodically - credit card balance/fight to pay it off/car payments some decades/etc/etc.

401k/500Index/DCA over a reasonible(76-92) period of time turned out to be the big dog that trumpted all my other legend in my own mind ventures.

30 yrs in New Orleans always found a way to eat, party or fish on the rest - so to speak.

heh heh heh - max auto deduct trumped discipline which came and went over time.

 

[Khan]

I don't really look at it as saving. It's buying time, instead of things (that will get broken or lost or obsolete so quickly anyway).

I get a big charge out of watching my nestegg grow and dreaming about ER.

Basic economics: You sell your time to get money to buy stuff; I value time over stuff.

 

[Khan]

I get more satisfaction out of investing money and seeing my money grow than buying something with the money, I don't know why, probably some weird mutated recessive gene. In any case, like everyone else said, I HATE spending money.

Even though I have enough, I keep looking for ways to save; it's a conditioned reflex.

I have to tell myself to turn on the fan or the A/C.

I hate shopping.

 

[ProspectiveBum]

Even though I have enough, I keep looking for ways to save; it's a conditioned reflex.

Just curious: were you conditioned by a thrifty parent, or was it self-taught? Is this thriftiness a life-long habit, or something that was consciously developed?

 

[Coach]

I have kind of a hard time spending serious money. I have enough saved up to cover my retirement but I'm having trouble pulling the retirement trigger, so it seems like a logical time to spend more. But it's hard. So many things I might buy end up being a commitment -- for example if I go buy a boat, then I have a boat to take care of. I could buy a new car, but then I have new car insurance to pay. I could buy a Rolex, but I'd just be worrying about banging it up. So I mostly end up saving.

I did manage to talk myself into buying a scooter not too long ago. But that's not much money out, and I'll save on gas

Coach

 

[DallasGuy]

Just curious: were you conditioned by a thrifty parent, or was it self-taught? Is this thriftiness a life-long habit, or something that was consciously developed?

I had a thrifty parent who grew up in the depression and that rubbed off on me I guess. But although I believe that being thrifty/frugal can be learned, I also believe that for some of us it is a trait built into our genes. I know some people that absolutely can not control their spending under any circumstances. I think they missed out on the frugal gene, just as I missed out on the spending gene.

 

[Khan]

Just curious: were you conditioned by a thrifty parent, or was it self-taught? Is this thriftiness a life-long habit, or something that was consciously developed?

A lot of it was from my parents, both lived on small farms in the NE USA during the Depression. I learned not to ask for stuff because I knew there wasn't any spare money (they did work hard to make sure we were adequately fed and housed and clothed). They also instilled a sense that conspicuous consumption was morally and intellectually inferior.

I strayed a bit from thriftiness when young, but never had big debts beyond house and car.

I recall coming home from school and finding my piggy bank raided (with an IOU, later paid back) because gas money was needed to get to work.

 

[IBWino]

My wife and I are both frugal by nature and we don't have a problem saving. When I was young and single, I considered my savings account untouchable. Any money that went in was off limits. If I wanted to buy something, I would accumulate the funds in my checking account until I could afford it. I only used credit cards for convenience and never allowed the balance to go higher than I could afford to pay off at the end of the month. As my savings balance grew, my feelings of independence and well being increased and it encouraged me to save more.

 

[Eyerishgold]

Saving is pretty easy. We have a small townhouse that either one of us can afford on just one salary and no kids yet.

Interestingly enough, we have friends who have a 2 year old and they find that they actually save more with the kid than they did before having her. Because they eat less dinners out, fewer trips to the bar, etc....

 

[NW-Bound]

I am fortunate that my wife and I are very financially compatible. We never care for conspicuous consumption, nor showing off to friends or neighbors. We do not drool over fancy material stuff, nor are impressed by it.

We both do not like to go shopping. For example, when we need a new pair of shoes, we dash to the shoe store for the purpose, and are done in 15 minutes. Of course when buying larger items, such as an HDTV, we would shop around. Ever since we were married, we never carry credit card balances. Since 30 y.o., I have been paying cash for our cars, which was only 4 or 5 cars ago; we either drove them to the ground, or until they got totaled by the other idiot drivers. Writing a $20-30K check for cars keeps us focused on the car's cost, not the "affordable" monthly payments as most people consider. Oh, I am sure that some consider that is unwise use of money. It is better to borrow, while investing your cash, blah blah blah...

Actually, we did not save for ER intention like some younger forum members. Though our jobs had been reasonably secure, or as secure as they could get in the private sector, we always fretted of layoffs. We hated the insecurity of living paycheck-to-paycheck. We just didn't feel safe, and still don't, if we did not have multi-year expenses stashed up. We saved for financial security. I never thought we would retire early and I still may not, though my wife is pretty sure about herself.

When I read financial articles advising people to have 6-mo of expenses saved up, I just shook my head. How about for the rest of your life, I asked. I did not know that was called FI.