Hard time spending money

[skives]

In the last few years I’ve had a hard time spending money on things for enjoyment. We have been in save mode so long I am having a hard time moving away from it a bit. We currently take home about $50,000 a year and my wife and I budget 1% each a year for whatever money. Money we each can spend no question asked. Well with good deals coming up for the holidays I kind of want to buy a Nintendo switch but it would be outside of the whatever money we budget. We have our $20k EF and each contribute 15% to retirement. Also we save $500 into an online savings account. Am I over thinking this and just need to loosen up a bit?

[cypher1]

If you've got your EF covered (which it sounds like with 40% saved in comparison to your annual salary), I I say get the gaming console. It may be a splurge for you, but can be a cheaper form of entertainment in comparison to going out.

[disneysteve]

Maybe the two of you need to revisit the 1% figure. On a 50K income, that's only $500/year or less than $42/month. Is the $500 into savings monthly, and is it designated for anything particular? Assuming no debt or well-managed debt, if you're meeting all of your needs, it sounds like it's time to loosen up a bit. I totally understand how hard that is but sometimes the occasional splurge, within reason, actually makes staying on track with saving easier.

Do you guys have a household budget? Does it have an entertainment category? Could some of that money go toward the Switch (and don't forget the cost of games)?

What about holiday gifts? Could it be her gift to you, or are there others who would be giving you gifts like family members or friends? Maybe they could contribute to it. Get you a gift card to Target or Amazon or wherever you intend to buy it.

[Jluke]

A Switch is $200. Then accessories and games I don’t see you exceeding $500.

another vote to reconsider this restriction in your budget.

[bjl584]

I'd loosen up a bit.
Looks like your financial house is well in order

[scfr]

I like the gift idea. Is it something you'd both use? Could you gift it to each other?

Could you and your wife do some side hustle gigs together to earn a little extra $$ to cover part of the cost? You might enjoy working together towards a concrete, short-term goal. Lots of places are looking for extra help over the holidays.

Have you shopped around for a used one at a lower price? Also, you said you "kind of" want to buy one. Is it something you really want, or just something you're thinking about a little bit?

In any case, it's good that you're planning and thinking ahead.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

loosen up. build in the fun.

[Drake3287]

Your problem with spending money after saving for so long isn't unusual. I could have written your exact same post and I even have more money than you but still think about it daily. Hard to go from years of saving for the future to all of a sudden spend, spend, spend. Just this week we took a short trip to Disneyland which probably cost us $1,000. or so. When we entered the park it was raining so we paid for one of those $7.00 metal lockers incase we needed it later in the day after the weather improved. Sure enough I never used it and wasted the $7.00. Small amount but it still bugged me to throw money away like that. Luckily I did find $2.00 lying on the ground!

[Jazzmint98]

Like others have mentioned, I would loosen up a bit too.