Learning to spend

michaels

Triumph13 wrote: »

The DB pensions are the big change. When they were the standard you automatically ended up with a decent pension without having to think about it. The next generation will have to consciously take the decisions to cut back on current spending to fund their retirement. Many will struggle with this.

I choose to work a shorter week for less money, forgoing a lot of lifestyle in return for time. It seems to be pretty much a unique decision amongst my peers. I am generally the only parent and certainly the only dad watching the kids matches and competitions in the week at this expense of longhaul holidays and 2 year SUV leases. So many seem to complain about work life balance but so few seem to choose less consumption and more time. It also means that I am used to living on 35% of my full salary (after pension contributions) making an early retirement much easier to contemplate.

Win win

MallyGirl

I have stuck with a job that I really don't think much of purely because it is from home so I can go to any school event, concert, whatever that my daughter is involved in. I may reconsider when she goes to uni but it has worked well for the school years.
I salary sacrifice 50% of my salary, with OH sal sac'ing about 40% of his, so that gives us an idea of living on a smaller income.

DairyQueen

DT2001 wrote: »

Whilst I commend the use of funds to do what you want i.e. buy your dream house, having accumulated funds over time, it is, playing devils advocate, just purchasing a different asset!

But an asset from which we will max. our pleasure in retirement. That it's an 'asset' is neither here-nor-there. If we were inclined more toward luxury travel, or expensive cars. etc. then we would choose that path.

Having options is surely the biggest luxury. Our aim is not a financial investment, but a lifestyle investment. OH will gain more form the massive TV (to watch the footie, rugby and movies that I hate) in his study than he will from driving a Merc. I want my 'snug' - the place where I can escape from the aforementioned footie/rugby and indulge my love of reading and (dare I say) DIY investing.

Our priority is a beautiful view that we can see every day rather than long-haul vacations. We would rather have space for dogs and cats, and a lovely landscape to walk every day, than a conspicuous consumer kind of lifestyle.

Horses for courses.

Triumph13

michaels wrote: »

I choose to work a shorter week for less money, forgoing a lot of lifestyle in return for time. It seems to be pretty much a unique decision amongst my peers. I am generally the only parent and certainly the only dad watching the kids matches and competitions in the week at this expense of longhaul holidays and 2 year SUV leases. So many seem to complain about work life balance but so few seem to choose less consumption and more time. It also means that I am used to living on 35% of my full salary (after pension contributions) making an early retirement much easier to contemplate.

Win win

I hardly saw my own father growing up because of the long hours he had to work to support us. I didn't want that to happen to me so when my kids were born I arranged to wfh 2 days a weeks and my wife went PT with two days in the office and 2 at home so there was always someone home for the kids. More than worth it.

michaels

Triumph13 wrote: »

I hardly saw my own father growing up because of the long hours he had to work to support us. I didn't want that to happen to me so when my kids were born I arranged to wfh 2 days a weeks and my wife went PT with two days in the office and 2 at home so there was always someone home for the kids. More than worth it.

I guess we have gone a bit ot but did it result in you having to curtail your lifestyle, perhaps a smaller house, older car, cheaper holidays etc? There seem to be so few willing to make that trade off in my experience. Sad.

barnstar2077

I ordered a new PC today. Despite buying the components and putting it together myself to keep the cost down, and even though my current PC is eight years old, I have still been torn since I placed the order.

I just find spending money painful, there, I said it!

fred246

You don't normally have to buy all the components at once though. Just the ones that need replacement. My PCs are in beige cases from the 1990s. They have started to change from beige to yellow which is a bit of ugly. I think I might have to replace them at some point.

barnstar2077

fred246 wrote: »

You don't normally have to buy all the components at once though. Just the ones that need replacement. My PCs are in beige cases from the 1990s. They have started to change from beige to yellow which is a bit of ugly. I think I might have to replace them at some point.

Haha, and I thought I did well making it last eight years! : )

I needed to replace too much, and I need to reinstall windows anyway, so it makes sense to do it all in one go. I only regret how much it costs!

cfw1994

MallyGirl wrote: »

I have stuck with a job that I really don't think much of purely because it is from home so I can go to any school event, concert, whatever that my daughter is involved in. I may reconsider when she goes to uni but it has worked well for the school years.
I salary sacrifice 50% of my salary, with OH sal sac'ing about 40% of his, so that gives us an idea of living on a smaller income.

A wise friend once told me that when my funds can supply the money I am surviving on, then I am ready to jack it all in (if I want, of course!).
Hence why I have such complex spreadsheets.....he never said how hard it was figuring out what the funds might supply :rotfl:

Triumph13

michaels wrote: »

I guess we have gone a bit ot but did it result in you having to curtail your lifestyle, perhaps a smaller house, older car, cheaper holidays etc? There seem to be so few willing to make that trade off in my experience. Sad.

Sort of. Career wise, prioritising my home life over my job meant I was never going to climb any further up the greasy pole. Luckily I had already achieved a very decent salary which, as we do lead a life significantly more frugal than my peers, meant we could still achieve a 60% savings rate.

Edited to add - I suppose the fact we had our kids late is a big factor - I'd already advanced far enough in my job that stopping there was no problem. If we'd had them in our twenties it would have been more difficult.