Good savings rate but feel cash tight. How do I balance my future with actually living?

Hey everyone,

I’m 23, enlisted in the military (2 years in), currently finishing my master’s (already have my bachelor’s), and trying to build toward financial independence. I think I’m doing well on paper, but in practice I feel more cash tight than I expected, and I’m trying to figure out if I’m overdoing it.

My monthly net income is about $4,700, increasing to roughly $4,960 in two months.

Right now I’m investing fairly aggressively. I put about $693/month into my Roth TSP (including government match), and my current balance is around $5,000 invested in the C Fund. I also invest $570/month into a Charles Schwab brokerage account (currently at $3,000 in SPUS), and I save about $450/month in a savings account, which is at $2,006 earning about 3.6%.

I have no debt. Including a used car paid off.

My long-term goal is to be financially secure regardless of what happens. If I don’t make it to military retirement or if social security underperforms, I want to be covered. If I do stay in, I want investments to give me additional flexibility for things like a mortgage, travel, and supporting a family.

At the same time, I’m also building an exit option. I’d like enough invested that if I leave the military, I can supplement my GI Bill income while pursuing a master’s/PhD and potentially ROTC. So part of this is about buying flexibility and independence in the short to medium term when my military contract finishes and if they don't let me retrain/commission (in 1 year and 10 months).

The issue is that despite all this, I feel tight on cash month to month. A big factor is that my spouse is still abroad waiting on a green card, and I travel overseas twice a year to be with her and my family. I don’t spend much on day-to-day lifestyle, so travel is really my main expense and honestly very important for both my relationship and mental health.

I’m starting to wonder if I’m saving too aggressively for my current situation. It feels like I might be optimizing heavily for the future while making the present more constrained than it needs to be.

I’d like to find a better balance where I can still build strong long-term investments but also comfortably afford those trips without feeling stretched.

For those further along or in similar positions, how would you approach this? Would you scale back brokerage contributions, adjust TSP, or keep pushing as is? And more broadly, how do you personally balance aggressive investing with actually living your life?

Thanks in advance for any advice.