I save about 20% of my total income, so that I can “splurge” on big purchases that either saves me money in the long run(like good shoes) or makes me happy(like my motorcycle or a nice trip). I understand that this isn’t an option for everyone, but even just 5% adds up over time!
Feels like consumerism disguised as a good message…
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(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
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(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.
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(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.
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I think a lot of people don’t understand basic finance.
Having healthy savings let’s you spend money, figure out how to save for long term so it can accrue interest and give you supplemental income (basic mutual fund, nothing crazy).
If you can afford a trip, you can afford to spend $500 less and put that into savings. Even $10 a week quickly and up and compounds, especially if you start young.
It’s not just about not spending, it’s about putting the extra cash somewhere smart so it goes itself so you’re but sacrificing as much but still having that financial security.
The key is to set rules so you aren’t just “saving forever”. Have a savings goal so you have some liquidity (usually 10k, but maybe aim for more or less depending on your situation), and then after that equally split any surplus after essential monthly purchases for “Fun” and “Long Term Saving/Investments/Paying Debts”.
TFW you realize you realize you posted this meme on the first day of a nationwide general strike https://paydayreport.com/payday-interactive-strike-tracker/
Aaand the default country = the US strikes again.
Whenever I see the noses in this cartoon, I think of him:
I can’t help it, I’m sorry.
The noses are quite distracting aren’t they? It leaves me wondering if the author actually intended that. Do they want people discussing the noses every single time they release a comic?
For me it’s more like I feel that the money could’ve been used better elsewhere. There is also the nagging feeling that I overpaid for something and I end up checking the price for a while after buying the item to see if it gets cheaper. This only gets more maddening with algorithmic pricing.
The urge to save up is definitely strong and it isn’t helped by all sorts of people screaming about how we all need to save for retirement and being responsible with money which is contradicted by the economy depending on spending. If everyone was a big saver, then those companies wouldn’t be reporting high profits and these already unjustifiably high valuations would be even less justifiable.
Money should be a means to an end, not an end itself. I save because I value early retirement highly, but I still spend money on other things to enjoy myself while I’m still young. Constrained spending helps you figure out what is most important to you, but overdoing it drains the enjoyment that would otherwise be there.
i deserve nice things, its just that these disgusting corporations don’t deserve my hard earned money.
we are not the same.
Save it . . . forever? You mean until my monthly car repair, right?
Funny I keep saving instead of spending and yet my savings never grow because the costs of living do instead
See, you gotta spend it before the car needs it. Because, when the car notices you have a little extra in the account at the end of the month…
Ah, so you, too, grew up poor?
The money is going to disappear soon no matter what I do; might as well do something fun.
Consumerist garbage.
Of course you’re allowed and supposed to buy the things you need. Mindless consumerism however
It’s the soft line between “need” and “want” that trips people up.
Do I need clothes? Yes.
But do you need a bedroom-sized closet full of expensive clothes?
Well I need clothes, so…
Buying something you need OR want is not mindless consumerism. Buying something you don’t actually want at all is mindless consumerism.
I don’t need my food to taste good, I just need calories and nutrients. Am I a consumerist whore if I buy tasty food instead of some kind of dirt cheap nutrient gruel?
Me when I buy a bunch of computer parts because my PC is dying and I know for a fact that the prices for components are only gonna get worse. Nearly £2000 down the drain and that’s not even including the GPU!
Oof. The second-hand market is full of stuff that businesses are throwing out since they won’t run Win11, but which run Linux perfectly well. I’ve just recently replaced my NAS / home server with a £20 core i5 mini-PC that if anything is a bit overpowered for the job. Runs Mint desktop very nicely.
I’d imagine that if you’re spending a hundred times as much, then you don’t just have “web and office” in mind, though…
Aww, that blows. Good news is you can recoup some of your costs by parting out your old rig.
you are allowed to enjoy living.
Not anymore. Welcome to the 2020s.
You’re missing the fifth panel where it doesn’t bring the joy she thought it would even after she comes to terms with having spent the money.
It’s okay to spend money to be happy.
It’s also okay to sit there with a full bank account, reading a library book, and smiling about how the marketers didn’t get you this time.
Thing is, with a full bank account the bank is using your money for other shit you might really prefer them not to.
If you’re lucky enough to have more money than you need, then you can still do things like invest in mutual savings societies, local non-profit organisations, direct aid, etc, depending on how little you care about the money.
That is true, and I used “bank account” as a stand-in for what I really meant, which is “financial options”. By not spending money, you have the insulation of not panicking when expenses come up, you have more general leverage over your life, and you get the peace of mind that comes with it. Of course, there are better places to PUT it than a bank account.
It’s also a virtuous circle… if you don’t spend, you don’t have as much financial stress, which means you need less distraction to take the pressure off, which means you spend less money on things you don’t really want, which means you save more.
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The economy is so precarious if you don’t have 6 months of savings, plus retirement, you really should be wary of spending it.
I already know a couple of people that have been job hunting going on 4 months. That’s been very inconvenient for them. Plus let’s not even get into social security insolvency.
Although you are right you should at the very least move it so you’re getting a decent interest rate on your money.
Otherwise, I don’t think many people these days have more than they need.
Not really. We’re violently denied our basic human needs (food, shelter, etc) so we’ll waste our lives serving capital. Any “enjoyment” is off the clock and strictly intermediated by our masters.
Do you have any idea how much dried food that could be instead
The antidote for foreboding joy is gratitude.
