Can you ever be too MSE?

Spirit_2

For me it is not about possessions it is experiences that matter.

What would you like to do?

Go to a festival....Glastonbury, Download,IoW
Travel to....
See .... what painting where...Van Gogh in Amsterdam?
Go to the races....
Learn to....cook, sail, sew, paint,dance,sing
Volunteer....
Take your...neice, godchild,mum,uncle to the .....

If you would not like anything like this,and do not want to buy 'something' then you should probably carry on as you are.

Enjoy

Any

OP-I always say you cannot take your money to the grave.
As long as you can easily cover the mortgage repayments and have a buff savings for emergencies (ie sudden redundancy or illness) then do something you know you will enjoy with the money.

You can be knocked over by a bus tomorrow... And then what was all that hard work for?? At least when you stand in front of the heaven gates and wait for them to open, you can tell yourself "it was a good life".

Twopints

Being "MSE" does not mean never spending or never treating yourself.

It means saving money where you can, getting the best deals etc so that you can spend the money you have left in such a way that you can enjoy it. Being "MSE" is different from being frugal, which is what I think you are doing.

I will try to get the best deal etc wherever I can, but the reason for that is so that I have money to spend on those thing that I really want to do, rather than spending on the things I have to do.

Savvy2Be

I think you have to strike a balance..I'd say Ive always been a spender rather than a saver, but since discovering this site I am getting more into savings and getting the best value/deals I can get. You sound as though you are in a decent position financially, but slightly going too far in the saving direction. It wont hurt you to losen the reigns a little and use some money for things you would like to do or for the occasional treat. As many have said "You cant take it with you". I find myself being much more careful these days before buying anything and asking myself if I really need it, but sometimes you have to give yourself a break, enjoy what you have a little.

ailuro2

We paid off our mortgage AND went to Canada in 2004 & 2007, on various cheaper holidays in the years in between, and bought a year old Mondeo too (with £2K for our old car). DH and I do not earn big wages, he earns an average wage , me a bit less. Our mortgage was fur under £60K though, our house is a 3 bed semi and big enough and in a good area so no need to go bigger, really.:D

MSE is not about being tight and going without. :money: The man himself will always say that. MSE is about not getting ripped off for the stuff we DO buy - so if you want a new TV you ask the questions - can I afford it? - if the answer is yes, then you ask how cheaply can you get it?

As the meerkat says...Seemples!


We are cruising Alaska this summer, we didn't go for an inside cabin in the bowels of the ship, we decided which cabin we wanted then got the best price for it by shopping around. I'd been into town to pay off the balance and bumped into an old friend , was telling her about it (it's my 40th birthday present) she said my Mum and Dad did that before Dad got ill, they wanted to go back but Dad had a stroke and he can barely see now....sad thing is, her parents were young when they had her, so they aren't even 60.:(

I guess I'm trying to say take a break and go off somewhere wonderful - sometimes the mortgage has to wait:D

heretolearn_2

Being MSE is about your quality of life. Being debt free and knowing that you'll be mortgage free in 10 years gives you a feeling of security and no worries, which is a huge contribution towards your quality of life.

But other things also contribute to quality of life. a lot of them don't cost anything. Some do. Just not spending money for the sake of not spending money contributes nothing to your quality of life.

It's down to you to prioritise things and think about how you can be happier, more content, and have a good life. Don't suffer now to benefit for a later good life that as other posters have pointed out, might not happen for all sorts of reasons.

If building up an increasing pot of money in the bank and leaving it there makes you genuinely happy, ok. But don't forget that money has a purpose - what are you going to do with it in future. Just owning it is pointless. We've all heard tales of those old people who live like paupers and die leaving millions of pounds no one suspected they had. What was the point of that?

If your friend has invited you on a trip don't say no automatically just to avoid spending some of your money. Would you enjoy the trip? Do you want to go there? Would you have fun spending time with your friend? Will you be trying out new experiences? Will this be a memory you will treasure the rest of your life?

pukkamum

My MIL was definately too MSE when DH was young they were very very poor (or so he thought) every item of clothing was second hand as was every xmas and birthday present.
Pretty much every meal time consisted of chips and value white bread with marge except when he came home once to the smell of rost chiken, lovely he thought only to be give a single drumstick nothing else.
They had no holidays, days out etc.

They lived in a council house which they had bought, his dad worked there were four kids and sometimes mum worked also.
She would always say it was because of buying the house they had no money.
Dad would tip up his wage and be given pocket money with which to buy his fags and a paper etc.

Many years later DH's mum and dad split up just after we had our first son.

MIL bought FIL out of the house WITH CASH ( a four bed semi) went on foreign holidays etc it turned out that not only had she saved pretty much every bit of spare cash she had also recieved a very big inheritance when DH was little.

As you can imagine both FIL and DH were very very angry that they had been living in almost poverty whilst she saved every single penny.


In my eyes that is taking MSE'ing too far.

SammiD

What happens if (god forbid) something tragic happens and you don't get to see 50 and therefore don't ever get the benefit of being mortgage free?!?! What a waste of all the penny watching!

My favourite saying is ... "Dream like you'll live forever, live like you'll die today"
You never know whats going to happen tomorrow, you can't take the money with you, and if you feel like you are missing out on things then yes you probably are being to MSE. And the fact you have asked this question would suggest to me that you do feel you are missing out on things!

Carpe Diem!!!!!!

Redman30

What are you going to do when you pay your mortgage off at 50? Are you going to try and enjoy the money you save from this, by which time certain experiences may be beyond you, or are you going to carry on saving & leave your family/friends/cats home your fortune?

I think that by asking the question you know you've gone a bit too far. Carry on saving by all means, but have a treat every now & again - buy 1 new item of clothing a month, go out for a meal once a month, plan a holiday, live a little - you've earned it!

Mutter_2

I think being frugal is fine. What isn't, is being frugal at someone elses expense.
I've known some tightwads in my time. The ones who arrive just before closing so they don't have to buy a round. The one in the canteen queue who wants to borrow lunch money as she doesn't want to break into a tenner and so on.