A balanced Life??

[Cabanaboy1313]

Me and the Gal enjoy the simple life but also enjoy the finer things in life. We have the Homestead paid for We call it the "Lake Place" It's not on the lake but across the street from it. It is our vacation/retirement home. We got it as a forcloser, it needs a ton of work and we are paying cash for the improvements. The whole project will take the 8 years until I retire. We could have it done in 2 or 3 years but We like to play a lot. We travel, go to concerts, plays, and entertain a lot. We partially picked the property because it's only 30 min from a major metropolitan city. The small town it is near has plenty of amenities that are on the cheaper side like fishing, boating, and cross county skiing. We are about 40% Frugal and 60% living the high life. We are trying to figure out what the balance should be. I have a budget each month and for the most part stay within it.

So I have Question for you what is your % and do you make a conscious decision like looking at budget to make that decision. Finally what makes you sway one way or the other.

[kilgrosh]

I focus on my goals. Each month and every new year, I ask myself what do I want to do this year? What do I need to do? Then I plan out my budgets accordingly.

I tend to live a more frugal life during the year with spurts of spending. I am currently really focused on paying off all my debt and saving for retirement so that when I'm eligible, I can walk away without any issues (crossing my fingers everything goes according to plan). I eat out with my co-workers about once a week, and enjoy a happy hour every now and then. My biggest yearly expense is travel. I have in-laws that live in Europe so we travel at least once a year to visit, plus we like to take a small vacation every year as well.

I set my budget to pay myself first (retirement & savings), then my long term debt (mortgage, student loans, & car loans) at an accelerated rate, and the remainder is what I live on. It works for me mainly because my long term goals and debt payments are taken care of automatically and I am "forced" to live on a smaller budget so that when my debt is paid off I can up my savings.

[Use Less]

Your life sounds like it is a happy one, and your general plan suggests you are both enjoying today and looking ahead. But since you're asking, does that mean you have some worries? Does vacation/retirement home mean you have another dwelling someplace else, or do you mean you aren't retired but you already live where you will be? I am all for paying off any debt that is expensive, such as credit cards. People like to pay off mortgages, but if you can invest the money long-term rather than pay one off, considering what current rates are, it can work to your advantage. Have you talked to a good professional about your situation and your future? I think at some point, ALWAYS saving for your old age and deferring things you'd really like to do or have isn't the best idea. Not everyone gets an old age...

[sisterpine]

I also tend to be quite frugal with spits and starts of wild spending. Not really, I work to keep enough in the emergency fund for car repairs , though sometimes medical expenses cause me to have to make payments. I only owe 500.00 more on the credit card I was left with after the divorce so am patting myself on the back for that. A generous gift from my mom took care of the debt I made when I began my private therapy practice in Montana just before the divorce. I have school loans though I doubt they will be paid off in my life time. I live a pretty simple life but do like to go out to breakfast at the little café down the highway. I am not a social person so seldom don't go out to movies, plays, concerts etc. I sometimes spend a bit too much on preps and yarn but I think the Lord will forgive me that. Mainly I have a budget in mind and stay within my income just as much as humanly possible.

[V-NH]

Originally Posted by Cabanaboy1313

Me and the Gal enjoy the simple life but also enjoy the finer things in life. We have the Homestead paid for We call it the "Lake Place" It's not on the lake but across the street from it. It is our vacation/retirement home. We got it as a forcloser, it needs a ton of work and we are paying cash for the improvements. The whole project will take the 8 years until I retire. We could have it done in 2 or 3 years but We like to play a lot. We travel, go to concerts, plays, and entertain a lot. We partially picked the property because it's only 30 min from a major metropolitan city. The small town it is near has plenty of amenities that are on the cheaper side like fishing, boating, and cross county skiing. We are about 40% Frugal and 60% living the high life. We are trying to figure out what the balance should be. I have a budget each month and for the most part stay within it.

So I have Question for you what is your % and do you make a conscious decision like looking at budget to make that decision. Finally what makes you sway one way or the other.

I would say that my wife and I do something like 90% frugal and 10% living the high life. My wife likes to travel sometimes, but I think it is a total waste of money and time so we compromise and go on brief vacations with a budget. We do entertain a lot, but it costs us almost nothing. We have other families over and it doesn't cost us more than about $20 to throw a huge three course dinner and dessert together. We have a strict budget which we don't deviate from unless absolutely necessary.

I grew up in a dirt poor family where we sometimes went a couple days between meals, so even though I went to college, got an advanced degree, and now probably fit within the "upper middle class" category I still have some really serious concerns about economic security. I joke with my friends and say that I wear a suit to work but torn overalls when I get home because I don't believe that "good times" can be taken for granted. We spend all of our "spare" money on needed tools and goods or putting extra food away for the future. I don't feel like there is such thing as enough resources. I dream of quitting my job someday and farming full time, but I know I probably never will because even if I manage to save $10,000 in a given year it never feels like enough. I figure I will probably keep climbing the ladder and putting away as much as I possibly can until I die of old age and my children inherit half a fortune .

We're all, to some degree, a product of our upbringing for better or for worse

[Cabanaboy1313]

U/Less
Yes we have a main dwelling which is in MN. The homestead/vacation/retirement home (the Lake Place) is in WI. I have 8 years till I retire.

K/grosh sounds much what we do