No fun until finances are perfect?

hopefulfirefly · #1 (**permalink**) 07-24-2008, 10:07 AM

Dh and I are currently working to build our EF. We have no CC debt. It will take a considerable amount of time to build our EF to a full 6 months. Yet, I still want to enjoy things until the EF is fully funded, such as vacations. How does everyone decide what things are 'ok' to splurge on while they are still building up their EF and other necessities?

We're recently married and plan to start a family in the next few years. I want to be able to enjoy kid-free vacations, but I also want to take advantage of using this time to save.

Snave · #2 (**permalink**) 07-24-2008, 01:19 PM

In another thread someone put that you need to make sure you budget for these "fun" things or there is no way a budget will work. I completely agree. It is one thing to cut everything out if you have lots of debt, etc... I would go ahead and make a budget category for vacation/fun and also one for your EF. Each paycheck, money goes in these buckets. That way, you will be able to enjoy a vacation or a splurge of sorts and still be working toward your EF. While the site is about saving, you eventually will spend some of those savings. The goal is to save enough to not compromise your financial future when you do your spending. That's what personal finance is to me. Hope that helps.

Caoineag · #3 (**permalink**) 07-24-2008, 02:25 PM

Fun money is an essential part of the budget. Only you can decide how much is enough for you though. It took me about 3 months to figure out an amount that didn't make me feel deprived but allowed me to save a lot of money.

tedbundy · #4 (**permalink**) 07-24-2008, 02:52 PM

I guess it's all about finding that balance.

Broken Arrow · #5 (**permalink**) 07-24-2008, 04:43 PM

I think it's dangerous to go into a budget without setting a little bit of money aside for fun.

Living on a budget isn't the most exciting thing in the world, and the beginning is always the hardest adjustment period. That's why it's important to reward yourself for the effort.

How much to set aside is up to you. I don't recommend too much, but just enough to keep you motivated and stay on budget.

maat55 · #6 (**permalink**) 07-24-2008, 05:55 PM

If you have secure jobs, I would get it to 3 months then reduce(but not stop) your effort to allow for other wants and needs.

stressedmama · #7 (**permalink**) 07-25-2008, 09:33 AM

There is no point to working and having 0 fun. Make it a priority to fund both your EF and a vacation/fun account. Definitely plan to get your EF where you want it before kids, b/c once you have children it definitely gets harder as you will have a lot more expenses in your budget!

Like2Plan · #8 (**permalink**) 07-26-2008, 06:39 AM

Quote:

No fun until finances are perfect?

I doubt we'd ever have any fun if we had to wait until finances were absolutely perfect.

An African proverb: You must eat an elephant one bite at a time. There are some things that just can't be done in 1 year (paying off a mortgage, fund a college education, fund your retirement). Whatever is important to you, should be prioritized.

We set goals and milestones. The goals are 1 yr, 5yr, 20 yr (or longer). Fall is generally when a lot of soul searching and planning is done for the upcoming year. This is because this is when we have to lock in our choice of health care at work, set flexible spending account levels and figure out how much to contribute to retirement accounts so the funding is level throughout the year. So, it is a good time to review everything else.

During the year, we see tweak the accounts over which we have control to make sure we are on track.

Tree0164 · #9 (**permalink**) 07-27-2008, 04:53 AM

Do schedule vacations, have fun or you may totally back track.

You should have some spending money each week that you can spend going out to eat or getting something for your hobby.

You should also have a line item on your budget for vacation money it maybe $100 a month or $200 what you can afford with comfortably still funding your EF.

It's all about balance

osadg · #10 (**permalink**) 07-28-2008, 11:36 AM

Oh you have to plan for fun! There's nothing to keep you motivated in your savings if you aren't getting any rewards from it (outside of the savings). You should plan for things, just like you're planning for your savings. There are always great deals and money saving travel tips out there for anywhere you want to go. My husband and I keep two savings accounts just for that purpose-one is for all of our "actual" savings, and the other one is our fun account that pays for our all the other good stuff-like our vacations!!