Reaching 30's, earn decently, 0 debt and have a decent chunk of investment for retirement.
I have been having a strong urge to spend money lately. No idea why. Been this way since last month or maybe a month before that.
I tried:
* Locking the money up in ETF last month only to have the urge come back this month
* Buy things which are non perishable in bulk which should last for next few months
* Buy things for people I care about as gift
* Allow myself to spend small amounts (>100) on completely unnecessary items
Doesn't seem to work. I could just lock up my money in ETF again this month but am pretty sure the urge will come with a vengeance next month.
Tbf, I didn't even see my bonus money I received in January this year. Went straight to ETF. Received my tax refund but the house's washing machine broke down and spend most of it on that. The rest is untouched.
A bit lost on what to do. Lock my money in ETF again?
Strong urge to spend money
byu/Subtlefeline inpersonalfinance
Posted by Subtlefeline
17 Comments
You are in the personal finance forum so no one will tell you to go crazy.
However, always remember, you don’t want to be the richest man in the graveyard.
In my experience it comes from depression. That might be something you want to read about. You’re trying to get a dopamine boost.
What’s the problem? Enjoy your hard earned money.
spending money isnt always a proble. spending money you dont have is a problem; spending money on things you dont really want or need is a problem.
learn to spend wisely and spending money wont become a problem.
investing for the future is great; but that doesnt solve all your needs/wants/desires today. upgrade your hobby items; plan that big trip/event; donate to chairities……….all reasonable uses for your cash
Sounds like therapy. Nothing wrong with spending what you got, you are describing a response, I would explore that and get curious about what drives your impulse control.
if you are meeting all of your other goals (retirement, near term savings for large purchases, etc), then spending money on things that arent strictly necessity is fine. The point of money isnt to die with the largest amount possible in your bank account like its a score in a video game, its to spend it. So as long as you have all of your necessities covered, spending money is not an issue.
You’re allowed to spend your money – that’s the entire point of it. No point living life saving it all just to die suddenly.
If you can afford to, once covering your needs/essentials, then there’s no issue I see in enjoying life a bit…maybe even a lot!
Just depends on WHY and WHAT you’re buying. I wouldn’t spend all your money on a shiny race car unless you’re into that, but there’s a difference between being into cars because you like them, and wanting a race car because your evolutionary/ego drive is suggesting impressing others will make you happy for eg.
Spend on current needs, invest for future needs/wants, spend on wants! That’s the order I basically follow
You’re looking for a dopamine hit and that is a GREAT way to get one, especially if it involves other people’s having things too. Bad news, you could be experiencing some kind of depression. What you describe and what I describe go hand in hand. Maybe take a stock of where you are at and see what changed, when this feeling started.
Disclaimer: Not a therapist but I have a bank account!
It’s tough to make a direct recommendation without knowing numbers/the picture.
Here’s what I do (in order of priority), as I like experiences and to bring friends along.
1. Pay bills
2. Core needs
3. Save to hit my targets
4. Have fun with my $
Obvi this is dependent on the numbers. But if you’re making enough to nail 1,2 and at least part of 3, I think it’s okay to setup an occasional spending budget.
Mate. I say go for it. Buy something you want (within reason). I am having the same urges. Recently, I just crossed the 100k threshold of cash/investments. This was after doing 2 jobs for about 3 years and remaining frugal to reach that goal. I want to reward myself by getting a better phone, spend money on hobbies, and/or go on a nice vacation/find a partner to splurge on but you know your goals so you need to hold strong to a point. If you do not have any debt and you are actively investing, treat yourself to something nice. If it will keep you on the path, then it is worth the investment into yourself. But realize… let this be a one/two time thing. If you get into the habit of “I deserve something nice”, it will go down a hole of spending that can get you into trouble. Enjoy your hard work and have fun.
Best of luck mate.
Make a monthly budget for nonsense spending. Lock the rest up.
Maybe make a short-term goal to save for. Take a trip in a year or something. It’ll give you something to look forward to and a reason to make sacrifices now.
I think you need to level up and practice spending/saving on things you enjoy. That urge may be there but what do you really want?
Now that I have disposable income(budgeted!) I deploy strategically for small clothing purchases i need/fun events and I save for lux bags and vacations to motivate myself not to spend all my “fun” money on dumb t shirts and dinners. Sometimes I might splurge on a concert or something knowing it will impact my other goals. It’s all for fun. What point is having money if you aren’t going to enjoy it a little? Esp for folks in an HCOL city… you live there for the culture and opportunities, they should be taken advantage of!
You have to provide your income and all account balances to actually get some real advice in here. Saying you ‘earn decently’ and have a ‘decent chunk’ invested could mean a lot of different things.
What I’ve done is find investments to make a return, then spend the return money but not the prinipal.
Sometimes I struggle with the invest more problem. Today I bought a boardgame. If it entertains myself and a couple of friends for 3 sessions then it’s basically $1 an hour for entertainment.
I struggled to choose to buy it. I’m basically Coastfire, still invest 15-20% and pay down my mortgage.
Here is the real kicker, I worked an extra hour of OT last week so I won’t even notice the difference in my bank account. Sometimes the practice of saving and investing becomes too ingrained in you. Live a little.
Treat yourself, dude. just don’t spend beyond your means. life is for enjoyment too, not just saving.
Spend money on therapy first to figure out what’s going on