How to find a balance between saving for your future and living life.
Some people spend their whole lives working hard and saving, only to have their savings ripped away from them. There are numerous cases where people work SO HARD for their retirement for 30+ years, only to have something happen and *flash* retirement is gone.
Most have seen firsthand how the unexpected can change your life forever. Whether that’s an unforeseen medical condition of you or one close to you, or an unfortunate circ*mstance that undoes years of progress.
This can affect your thinking in 2 ways: 1. Life is short, spend your time with loved ones now or 2. Save for your future now so you don’t have to spend 30+ years working and can enjoy more of your life with loved ones.
Life Is Short
Life is short. Why bother planning for the future when you aren’t guaranteed one anyway? When I hear about a sudden tragedy, one of my reactions is “let’s stop saying no to what we want and just do it.”
If you choose this route, you miss out on one of life’s greatest lessons: discipline. It takes discipline to say no to yourself. It takes discipline to work hard. Who or what is going to fund the “just do it” lifestyle?
Doing only the fun things under the guise of “life is short and we’re not guaranteed tomorrow” will set you up for a rude awakening if you do wake up tomorrow.
Save For A Future Now
Instead, retrain your thinking to: work hard now, become financially set, and enjoy the rest of the time given to you.
But this can be taken too far as well.
You could become so focused on saving money that that’s all you think/care/talk about for years on end. Taking a high paying job that you absolutely hate will just make you miserable. Sure, you’ll have money, but you’ll probably spend it all on things to make up for how miserable you are.
The Balance
How do we reconcile “life is short” and “save for a future”? Don’t make the goal solely about money. Money is simply the tool to achieve your purpose. You want financial freedom because _________. Being set financially is not the end goal. It’s what learning that discipline allows you to do that is. What would you do if you didn’t have to worry about money? What would you do if you were set and didn’t even need to work?
The most important thing, and arguably the hardest, is to find balance. It is possible to enjoy life while living frugally. Whatever journey you’re on – debt free, financial independence, building wealth – enjoy the process.
Lifestyle Change
Commit to the lifestyle and change your mindset. Living frugally is a lifestyle change and not a fad diet. The goal is sustainability. It’s not practical to cut all fun, travel, eating out, etc. out of the budget for the sake of saving. You may just crack.
Reevaluate Focus
Don’t be so focused on monetary goals that you and your family life suffers as a result. When you’re working and saving, you are going to have to say no to a lot of things. Instead of keeping your head down, saying no to everything, and wondering why you don’t have any friends in 5-10 years, suggest more cost effective alternatives. If you can’t/don’t want to spend the money to go out every weekend, plan a game night at your home.
Visiting family often involves travel. This is fun and yes, one could argue that money could pay off debt or go to retirement. But, traveling to see them lines up with our overall goal of being with family. If we were to never visit during our journey it would be a miserable x amount of years. Traveling once a year is our reward also helps us stay motivated.
Check in Regularly
Check back in with your goals every few months and years. Are you on track? Readjust according to your timeline. You may start out “gazelle intense” while in your debt free journey. Cutting most corners out of the budget is okay when it’s very temporary and you’re committed to paying off debt. No more than 1-2 years tops. Once the debt is gone, start building those corners back up. Transitioning from debt payoff to saving for financial freedom requires a reevaluation of the budget.
It’s important to reevaluate the budget once the debt is paid off. You need to make a plan for the money that is now yours instead of the lender’s! It’s time to save an emergency fund of 3-6 months of expenses. Then, add savings and retirement back into the budget. This is not the time to go crazy buying everything in sight or resuming the habits that got you into debt in the first place. But do take time to celebrate that you have worked incredibly hard!
It is possible to enjoy life while living frugally. Finding a balance can be tricky. You need to ground your motivation in something other than money for the sake of money. It’s also wise to reevaluate your goals regularly and adjust as needed. Work hard and take breaks to recharge and reward yourself. Then, you will be well on your way to achieving balance!
