[Chris]

How do you strike a balance between spending on experiences, like travel or hobbies, and saving for long-term financial freedom?

I’ve been trying to find that sweet spot where I’m enjoying life but still staying on track with my FIRE goals.

With so many people advocating for “living in the moment” and others stressing the importance of future security, it can feel like a challenge to manage both.

What approach do you take when deciding how much to spend on experiences that enrich your life versus setting aside money for financial goals like retirement or investments?

Do you have specific strategies or rules that help you maintain a balance between enjoying the present and preparing for the future?

I’d love to hear how different people navigate this!

[Dan]

Here’s one way I view it – I can always make more money but I can’t make up for missed opportunities with my family.

As long as you’re not being financially irresponsible, go for it! I greatly doubt you’ll ever regret that on your death bed.

[Linda]

We just determined a savings percentage goal ahead of time and then feel no guilt about spending what is left over on what we want, including experiences.

This number will be different for everyone.

[Melissa]

Finding that sweet spot is a muscle you have to develop. It’s weak at first but the more you work at it the strong it becomes and the more confident you are that you are making the right decisions.

[Paul]

Find the cheapest acceptable option for what you’re looking for

[Lacey]

For me it’s about drilling down on
key questions that qualify “experiences” worthy of spending on. What experiences are a high priority?

What experiences are time sensitive?

I will spend on high priorities/values… and then be frugal and minimal with everything else that isn’t that.

And I plan for those priority/value expenses in my cashflow plans.

Outside of FIRE, my two “live-life-now” priorities are:
(1) anything that involves quality time and making memories with my aging parents.

My time with them in their years of decent mobility is limited.

So, when my 75yr old mom casually mentions she wants to go deep sea sport fishing, well, making that experience happen for her while SHE still can is absolutely my priority and a “worth it” expense.

(2) Motorcycle Adventures. *This is the one thing that makes me feel alive.* I use my vacation time to take motorcycle trips and I am usually moto-camping somewhere remote on any given weekend.

I’m currently saving for a big multi-continent moto trip, so I bake that “savings expense” into my cash flow, after retirement savings.
That’s it.

If it ain’t those two things, the experience probably isn’t worth it to me, and I don’t spend on it.

So I would define what your personal “worth it” experiences are. And then fold those into your spreadsheets alongside the FIRE plan.

[Grant]

You are only young once. Don’t be so frugal as to miss out on the fun and important things in life.

[Christina]

We put money into retirement, brokerage, savings first, then whatever is leftover is free to be spent on whatever we want.

[Marty]

Yep just have a great financial goal and spend the rest. If it delays you retiring for a few years who cares.

If you pass away at 58 you want to look back on so,etching besides spreadsheets

[Kim]

If my kids were age 2 or 3 or frankly under age of 6 I would not take them on a European vacation. My kids have very very few memories of our trip to France we took when kids were 6-7…

in-laws invited us to stay at their vacation rental with them but airfare and everything else was our cost. So, some trips just don’t make sense.

I however had always reminded myself there are only so many family vacations together before they go off to college and kids are all on different schedules. So, take the trip now while you can

[Jocelyn]

Try watching Ramit Sethi’s podcast or spreading his book •I Will Teach You to Be Rich.

It talks about cutting back mercilessly on the things you don’t care about so that you can spend extravagantly on the things you love.

He encourages have a guilt free spending amount/percentage and using that so that you don’t feel guilty.

I have a % that I do not feel guilty about spending whether it is on shipping my favorite ice cream in overnight or traveling with my loved ones.

[Jana]

Read a lot of different perspectives on Money Mindset. I think it helps to look at the more extreme sides (MMM versus Die with Zero) and find your sweet spot.

Know what is important to you, what you truly value.
Then set your goals and automate everything.

What is left is there to be spend and you now know where to spend it for maximum ROI.

I do like the picture of a muscle though. It does get easier over time.

[Justin]

This question appears to equate enjoying life with additional spending. I have found that what often makes for an enjoyable life (e.g., spending time with family and friends, hiking, reading) does not cost much if anything.

Even for traveling the world our family leveraged 13 home exchanges (i.e. free lodging and low-cost eating) and travel rewards points to enjoy fun nearly free vacations in Barcelona, Prague, Iceland, Ireland, and other interesting places.

Closer to home we camped in state and national parks inexpensively and made wonderful family memories.

During my FIRE journey (I’m retired now), I had a wonderfully enjoyable life without stalling my savings rate as spending a lot of money was not essential to doing fun experiences.

I am thankful for all of the shared ingenuity in the FIRE community that helped me and my family have or do essentially the same as most Americans on day-to-day expenses (food, cars, housing, phones, furniture, books, etc.) without spending nearly as much.

[Breanne]

Set a fixed savings rate. mine was 30% for many years. Even when a bonus or windfall came in I put 30% away and we enjoyed the rest (fun vacations or major home improvements).

Maybe your number isn’t 30%, but find the number that works for you.

[Charles]

Personally, when we started this journey we cut aggressively. Once we hit the point of feeling like we were missing out we pushed the spending back up a little until we felt like we were being frugal but still getting to do everything we wanted to.

At that time we were in a HCOL area with a moderate income.

We managed 30%. Since then with moving and pay increases we got it up to 70% at our highest income point.

Additionally feel comfortable with adjusting as you go.

I upper our food budget a few years back due to increased grocery costs and recently added a dedicated travel savings.

We are on the downslope and we have allowed a little bit of lifestyle creep but it’s mostly optional spending that we can cut if needed.

[Audrey]

Figure out how much you need to retire in whatever year you want. Figure out how much you have to save every month to get there. Anything after that is yours

[Bill]

After all your expenses are paid, I would calculate the money you have left each month and allocate between 25-40% to today’s spending and the balance to retirement.

Don’t miss experiences today for a future that may never come.

[Sharon]

We try to put a value on each, then weigh them both, and go with the one we feel or value more strongly. Seems to work so far for us.

[Jule]

We prioritize our savings goals and anything that is leftover after that and paying the bills, we are free to enjoy. The savings goals must be met, that’s not negotiable.

[Author]

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