Can you save too much?

Ray_Singh-Blue

I don't think he said he panics. He talked about justifying it. Fair enough, because spending is strongly linked to consumption of the Earth's finite resources, and without wishing to sound too holy about it, can be pegged to factors loftier than bank balance.

I drive a very shabby car for this reason. It actually gives me more pleasure the keep the old thing running than to buy a new one. Some say tight, I say considered. As a side effect I seem to have a bucket of cash at the moment.

Missus_Hyde

I've always maintained that there's little point in being the richest corpse in the graveyard and unfortunately there are no pockets in shrouds!

melanzana

I have more than enough now.

The result of years of hard work, a great OH, And good health. That is worth millions.

There is no monetary value on that.

Pincher

My goal is to have enough to build a Killbot army, so I can take over the world. Don't have enough for a secret factory built inside a mountain yet.

So anybody with a million to spare wants to chip in?

Obviously I want to be in overall charge and be Dictator Absolute.

Eco_Miser

Startup1985 wrote: »

Negative.

This post is about the OP who will not spend money well no more than 30 quid anyway. I'm sorry but you can have a million but if you won't spend more than 30 you are not going to experience very much at all.

The OP didn't say he won't spend more than £30. He didn't say he panics at spending over £30. He said

bigfreddiel wrote: »

And I still have trouble justifying spending anything over £30!

which is somewhat different.
Presumably when he can justify
the spend he has no problem doing the spending.

I know that's the case with me - I want to know what benefit to me any spending will bring. Once I've settled that, which for amounts over £30 for a single item may take some time, I'll happily spend the money. I find this is easier for large one-offs than small, potentially regular, amounts.

chucknorris

bigfreddiel wrote: »

Having had the savings bug since my thirties I think I've saved too much and not spent enough!

Own my house, own my car, no debt, no dependents, have good pension - worked out the same as my full time working wage, and have getting on for £1m in various investments.

And I still have trouble justifying spending anything over £30!

Does anyone else have a similar problem?

fj

We (my wife and I) have a not too dissimilar problem, our problem isn't so much justifying spending, as not particularly wanting anything, but obviously that is a nice problem to have.

We have realised that as we approach retirement we are going to have to change our attitude to spending (big style) if we are to get anywhere near spending what we have (we don't have children). I'm almost 59 and my wife is 48 and I reckon that we are going to have to start spending about £150k per annum, but the things that I like to do don't cost much i.e. cycling, hiking, swimming, jogging, bowls, cinema, cooking, restaurants (but we don't particularly like overly expensive restaurants any more than normal ones) and just being with friends.

We are taking our first big step in January, I am dropping down to one day a week at work (I like my job) and my wife will probably retire. We are also going to get a new car and probably a caravan too next year, as well as upsizing our home, that is one thing that we have definitely decided to do, although I consider that more of an investment than actual spending.

chucknorris

Startup1985 wrote: »

I would rather live a life full of experiences, adventures and memories than have a million in the bank which I panic about spending 30 quid of. But that's just my opinion and we are all different.
As long as I have enough to survive if the worst was to happen and I am saving a bit for retirement then a little spending is no bad thing. Who wants to get to the 60's or 70's with a million quid in the bank and a million regrets of missed opportunities? Certainly not me.

I'll be 59 in January and we are worth a lot more than that, but I couldn't have enjoyed my life any more by simply spending more, money doesn't buy happiness. The thing that I like to do best of all is go for a walk in the countryside with my wife and dog on a nice summers day, and stop for lunch at a dog friendly pub. I don't even want to fully retire, so I am dropping down to one day a week in January, I like my job that much that I think working one day a week is better than total retirement. Although I think I may reluctantly retire after my wife has (I want to see her do it first, she keeps changing her mind, although it looks like she will do it this December) so that we can omit the winter season from our lives, by spending the winter months in Spain and/or the Algarve.

Sea_Shell

We've saved hard, but not really gone without things we wanted. I still balk at buying coffee out, having nails done (more than twice a year), takeaways, and stuff if think I want, but is just tat really.

When you head towards 50, you start to wonder how long it's going to have to last you. Do you need to live off it for 20 years or 50 years, you just don't know.

No dependents here either, so we will get to the stage in a few years time of SPEND!!! And leave a little note to whoever saying "there is no money left"

Newly_retired

Am at the stage now where both I and DH have decent pensions and enough savings to do whatever we want to do, which given that we don't have expensive tastes, is easy.
What I don't know is how long I will live and how much it might cost to pay for care in my later years, or for how long. I am well above the threshold for the state to pay, but certainly have nowhere near £1million.
My parents lived extremely frugally, yet there was still a surprisingly decent amount to inherit. I am happy to have money to spend on my care, if needed, but hopefully that could be 20+ years away, if I follow my mother's example.
So,no, I don't have plans to spend my savings on living it up in my seventies, though that doesn't mean I am going to live frugally. I have savings because I have been careful. When I got my inheritance, I doubled it in the next five years. But like the OP, I do find it harder to spend over £30 on an item than £1200 on replacing the garage roof.

le_loup

melanzana wrote: »

or are you insecure I dunno.

Yes, he is very insecure.
That's why he is a troll - it makes him feel better about himself.