Comments on: Is Your Lifestyle Preventing You From Saving?

By: Jason Dean

Jason Dean — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 06:44:00 +0000

This was a very interesting article — I highlighted it at my blog, SmartMoneyDaily.

I like the caveat at the end about making sure you enjoy living life. While it is good advice to not buy things you don’t want / don’t need / don’t enjoy, it is NOT good advice to be overly frugal. You need to make sound economic decisions. Is spending the money now really worth it TO YOU when you factor in the cost of later? It could be the answer is YES. In that case, the rational thing to do is to spend the money. Life IS meant to be lived!

By: Fabulously Broke in the City

Fabulously Broke in the City — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 19:51:00 +0000

The best comment for me is from your husband: "We wake up. Go to work. Come home. Spend time with one another. Go to bed and wake up again tomorrow to do it all over again."

That's exactly the way I see it with my husband and I :) We both do the same thing, except he waits in the hotel room for me to come back from work.

"Lifestyle" gets expensive when you don't control it and get accustomed to having the finer things in life once you upgrade..Then the rush is gone and you take having a cleaning lady as a necessary service rather than a luxury.

By: Meg

Meg — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 19:37:00 +0000

Lifestyle is definitely a big issue with my husband and I. We used to spend so much money on eating out because that was our time out and together. We’ve cut down quite a bit, but it can still be an issue. He works a lot out of the home, so he tends to eat out a lot for lunch. I was a student until recently, but I tried to wait till I was back home to eat, though sometimes we ate out together. I’m working from home part time now, so I eat at home most of my time.

On the other hand, staying at home gets boring. So, now I shop a lot more. Even though I’m a bargain shopper, it adds up very, very quick – especially when I factor in gas. We have a gym membership and there’s a library nearby, so I’m trying to get myself there and not to the mall. It’s hard, though. A lot of it is just habit at this point.

By: Joan

Joan — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 11:34:00 +0000

You are correct. Being and living in NC, I’m glad you like to vacation here. The fact our state has beautiful mountains and beaches keeps our vacation costs down.

By: DebtMan

DebtMan — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 05:46:00 +0000

I agree completely with your article. With two healthy incomes, its easy to spend money on seemingly little things that really add up when you put them all together.
When I find my finances unexpectedly tight, I put together a basic budget showing my current income/expenses. If I do this a few times a year, I can quickly spot trends as to where my money is going.
I have a basic article on creating a budget on my blog. The article is more catered to those in debt, but a basic budget can be useful for anyone that needs to get real about their finances and often allows folks to see areas that they need to tighten up on to relieve their financial strains.

--DebtMan