The biggest reason I save, besides for retirement, is travel. DBF and I try to take one big vacation every year, alternating years out of the country and in the US. So far we have been to a slew of national parks (Yosemite, Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Arches, Canyonlands, Grand Staircase, Bryce, Zion, etc), the rainforest and barrier reef of Belize, and Antarctica. We still have a very long list of places to cover. At any time we generally have a long weekend type trip in the works as well - currently planning for a weekend in Yosemite to do the Half Dome hike with a friend. My next big goal is to take a 3 month sabbatical in Peru, spending about 9 weeks in a Spanish immersion program, and the rest traveling the country to see the sites. That is on the calendar for 2010. While traveling is certainly not a necessity, it is an extremely high priority want for me and I'm therefore willing to give up a lot of things I could afford in order to save enough to fund my next trip. Fancy cars, designer clothes, diamond jewlery, and a big house don't stand a chance against a trip to Alaska or the Galapagos in my eyes.
I could save more by forgoing these trips, but don't see the point. DBF and I have wonderful memories from our travels and are looking forward to many more in the future. Our retirement accounts are well funded, we have adequate emergency funds, and we aren't lacking any basics of life. I think we have a pretty good balance of enjoying life now and saving for our future, which should be the real goal IMHO, not just saving for savings sake.
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