(BAD) Save money forever, watching it pile up in an account, even though it never feels like enough and you’re always afraid it’ll run out on some emergency you can’t predict or explain
(BAD) Spend money on frivolous gadgets that ends up breaking immediately or getting stuck on a shelf never to be looked at again. Spending money on little tchotchkes that fill up your house until you feel like you need more living space just to hold them all. Spending money on disposables and other single/limited-use products that fill up your trash can.
(GOOD) Finding value-add products that save time / improve quality of life, ideally in a way you can say provides some kind of net savings or tangible benefit. A tablet that lets you cancel your physical newspaper prescription because you don’t want all the trash in your house, for instance. Or a new dishwasher, so you don’t have to waste time scrubbing dishes by hand. Or a nice new coat because it’s cold outside and you want something durable that’s also pretty. Or a celebratory dinner, because you really want to spend time with close friends and have fun together.
Like, consuming isn’t bad. It’s the wastefulness and the hording that’s bad.
Everyone consumes by necessity and you shouldn’t feel guilty because you want to enjoy a common popular amenity.
But also, if you can cheat, you absolutely should. Don’t subscribe to Netflix if you can get a Jellyfin server full of movies with a VPN. Hit up the vintage/thrift shop when you can and don’t feel locked in to the fad style of the moment. Learn to cook and don’t feel ashamed of having a nice kitchen or a quality dining set. Steal from the office, they won’t miss it.
Identify the real cost of low interest savings relative to capital improvements, for starters. If you’re spending money on Uber because you can’t drive your car, for instance, or you’re eating out all the time because you don’t have a functional dishwasher, you can just do the math and show where a quality purchase saves money.
After that, it can help if you budget forward in your savings (I’d like to take a vacation, I estimate $2000 cost, we can set aside $50/wk for 40 weeks and go somewhere nice next Christmas). Then you’ve got a plan for your savings, you’re not just hording cash.
Finally, if you’re savings is growing, you don’t need to feel like you’re trying to save your way out of inflation. Putting money into a blue chip like Berkshire Hathaway or an S&P ETF gives you future returns that will eventually outrun your current income. That helps defuse savings stress.
(BAD) Save money forever, watching it pile up in an account, even though it never feels like enough and you’re always afraid it’ll run out on some emergency you can’t predict or explain
(BAD) Spend money on frivolous gadgets that ends up breaking immediately or getting stuck on a shelf never to be looked at again. Spending money on little tchotchkes that fill up your house until you feel like you need more living space just to hold them all. Spending money on disposables and other single/limited-use products that fill up your trash can.
(GOOD) Finding value-add products that save time / improve quality of life, ideally in a way you can say provides some kind of net savings or tangible benefit. A tablet that lets you cancel your physical newspaper prescription because you don’t want all the trash in your house, for instance. Or a new dishwasher, so you don’t have to waste time scrubbing dishes by hand. Or a nice new coat because it’s cold outside and you want something durable that’s also pretty. Or a celebratory dinner, because you really want to spend time with close friends and have fun together.
Like, consuming isn’t bad. It’s the wastefulness and the hording that’s bad.
Everyone consumes by necessity and you shouldn’t feel guilty because you want to enjoy a common popular amenity.
But also, if you can cheat, you absolutely should. Don’t subscribe to Netflix if you can get a Jellyfin server full of movies with a VPN. Hit up the vintage/thrift shop when you can and don’t feel locked in to the fad style of the moment. Learn to cook and don’t feel ashamed of having a nice kitchen or a quality dining set. Steal from the office, they won’t miss it.
This is a good advice, now how do i convince my partner about that very first one.
Identify the real cost of low interest savings relative to capital improvements, for starters. If you’re spending money on Uber because you can’t drive your car, for instance, or you’re eating out all the time because you don’t have a functional dishwasher, you can just do the math and show where a quality purchase saves money.
After that, it can help if you budget forward in your savings (I’d like to take a vacation, I estimate $2000 cost, we can set aside $50/wk for 40 weeks and go somewhere nice next Christmas). Then you’ve got a plan for your savings, you’re not just hording cash.
Finally, if you’re savings is growing, you don’t need to feel like you’re trying to save your way out of inflation. Putting money into a blue chip like Berkshire Hathaway or an S&P ETF gives you future returns that will eventually outrun your current income. That helps defuse savings stress.