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Old 07-23-2008, 07:03 AM
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MonkeyMama MonkeyMama is online now
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It depends. If you are able to pay your bills and meet your savings goals, then no, I wouldn't find it too liberal.

My spouse and I each take $50/month for "fun" and date nights we don't spend much on the date since we will easily pay $50 to the babysitter for a night out. We try to go out once a month. So strictly comparing to us, you spend much more on dates and fun money. (We net about $5k monthly).

BUT I think this is one area where people get confused. They look at my tight "fun" budget and think I am just a deprived saver.

Whereas, slowly over time we have implemented many things important to us. My lifestyle is night and day to where it was a few years ago. We have cable and lawn service and preschool for the kids (all things we couldn't justify financially at one point or another). We moved somewhere else to considerably cut our housing costs (& get a much nicer home to boot). & almost everything we do financially is so my spouse doesn't have to work.

Am I deprived because I only have $50/month left over for "fun"? Obviously not. It's such a small piece of the big picture.

On the flip side one could live a total miser otherwise and easily spend $1000/month on fun. & they could do rather well financially and be happy.

But yeah, I seem to have no problem splurging on myself, overall.

I do think it is important to earmark something in the budget for "fun." No matter how small. If it's $5/month, then it's $5/month. But it is nice to have some money to not have to answer to anyone or anything. That is where our $50 comes in, for us.

Last edited by MonkeyMama : 07-23-2008 at 08:12 AM.
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