What % of budget = fun?

[Leonardo]

I can relate to the OP, as I'm also single and young (26). Because my other expenses are also very low, my "going out" expenses are 70% of my budget. Because of my saving rate of 80%, I couldn't care less about these expenses.

Not very lucky with the dates, though!

 

[Danmar]

We spend about 30% of our total budget on entertainment and travel (not including recreational property expenses). We are retired and can afford it. Certainly couldn't afford this level of spending when we were your age. I would say 15% sounds OK if you can afford it. Obviously once you "settle down" fun takes on a different complexion and generally means mortgage, kids, etc. Enjoy it while you can.

 

[FreeAt30]

Going to bars and such.....................

Getting lucky.... priceless

In all seriousness, you sometimes have to spend a bit to find a mate. Do you want to retire at 35 alone? Whether a bar is the best place to find someone is another topic. I'll leave that for another thread.

Ha! I had never thought of that. Looking back I did spend a little more money on fun and entertainment back when I met my now DW. I consider myself very lucky (and priceless ) because once we got serious, she started asking good questions about the way I handled money and what I was trying to create. Soon enough she was on board.

When we made our FIRE plan, we wanted to make sure that we weren't cash strapped and living like peasants. I know this is subjective, but we just tried to be honest about our preferences. We were quite silly about it and planned for some massive percentage of our total target budget. Looking back over last years numbers it's about 25% for us. It may seem high but we consider all eating out to be entertainment since it's not a must for us.