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Need to remember its okay to enjoy life...

October 3rd, 2008 at 10:10 pm

I tend to see myself as a spender so I always seem to think I am spending too much on wants. But, according to the 50/30/20 (needs/wants/savings) rule, I am not even close...

My ratio is more like 37/19/54 and is going to be 55/27/19 once we have the house (401(k) doesn't get counted in this formula because its after tax and we will start maxing that in January).

The reason this is kind of important is because I feel guilty that we spend so much on our entertainment right now and especially guilty that was/am planning to raise the amount after we get a house.

I need to stop feeling guilty and just enjoy the fact that we have completely cleaned up our act. Not being allowed to spend anything on myself in college is part of the reason we went nuts after we got our careers started.

The weird part is that I have checked this formula before but I guess I was convinced that I was somehow out of balance again.

Do I plan on eventually raising the savings amount? Most definitely, but for now maxing out the 401(k) and saving 20% of my after tax money is perfectly fine.

Posted in Musings | 4 Comments »

4 Responses to “Need to remember its okay to enjoy life...”

  1. Broken Arrow Says:
    October 3rd, 2008 at 10:36 pm 1223073369
    1223073369

    You know, I think I'm the same way.

    There's some half-way reasonable stuff I want. I think I can actually afford it. It would even fit my budget, but for some reason, I'm just really reluctant to buy it. I just don't know how things will end up next week or whatever, and I don't want to do that.

  2. compulsive debtor Says:
    October 3rd, 2008 at 10:48 pm 1223074126
    1223074126

    In my compulsive debtor recovery program, one of the things I've learned is that you have to enjoy life a little or else you're prone to go hog wild and overspend/overlive.

  3. fern Says:
    October 5th, 2008 at 03:39 pm 1223221157
    1223221157

    That's interesting. Where did that formula come from?

    I was curious, so i applied it to my expenses, taking the month of September as an example. Of course, there is some subjectivity involved in deciding what's a "need" and what's a "want," but i think i was fairly objective. I cam up with 75% needs/5% wants/19% savings.

    I always track my monthly expenses, so i know that the only "wants" i spend on are these categories: "Bird watching," "Gardening," "Entertainment," "Dining out," "Clothing" and "internet."

    And i included my extra mortgage prepayments as "savings" since i do believe that's what they are.

  4. Caoineag Says:
    October 5th, 2008 at 04:16 pm 1223223369
    1223223369

    All your worth by Elizabeth Warren and Amelia Warren Tyagi. The book was written in 2005. I actually stole it from someone else's blog because it seemed so reasonable. Obviously if shooting for an early retirement, savings need to end up higher than 20% but for now its a good goal post.

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