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Fun is vital

April 15th, 2011 at 11:10 pm

This morning for some reason I woke up with awareness that, if we gave up a lot of things, we could basically be debt free AND probably have a good chunk of AA's college education funded in less than 10 years. (Well, it's not like new information, but just a new way of thinking about it.)

But almost as quickly, I knew that just isn't how I want our lives to be right now. We have a really good income, and we work very hard for it. We're making progress on our debt, progress on our retirement and progress on AA's savings. As a general marker, I like the 50/30/20 goal (50% of total income toward needs, 30% toward wants, 20% toward savings). Our allocations of regular income are 55.84% to needs, 21.52% to wants, 22.64% toward either long-term savings or extra debt repay. That's pretty good.

It's true that anything could happen and we can't count on our lives or incomes staying the same, but as long as we're being fairly reasonable and not throwing all our money away, I usually feel comfortable the way we are. We've definitely expanded the luxuries side of our lifestyle as our income has grown and debt has shrunk; when I started here I think we put closer to 30%-35% to savings/extra debt repay. And I think that's OK. But it's good to be conscious and know that these are choices we're making. There's more than one way to live one's life, and we have the power to change if we decide we want to. (Not just with shrinking "wants" in order to tackle debt harder, but also if we someday want one of us to stop working and stay home for a while.)

Anyway, I'm going to take off soon. I had a hard couple days of work but they weren't irritating, with project managers of ill-timed projects jockeying for my time. So I feel much less drained than I usually do by Friday!

When we first contemplated having a baby, one thing we repeated often was that, since there were 3 of us, it would be easier for 2 at a time to go out on dates while the other played babysitter. That doesn't happen as often as it should; we're often tired or busy outside of work, and sometimes it may be a matter of feeling slightly guilty at leaving someone home with the baby.

But one of NT's favorite annual events is coming up in May, and one of AS's favorites is happening tonight, so that's spurred us to make date nights happen! AS and I are going to her event tonight, a fashion show/concert at a local nightclub. And NT and I are going to his fave, an all-day outdoor hip-hop music festival, at the end of May. Now AS and NT just have to figure out what they're going to do for their date!

So now I've got to go home and see if I have any clothes that I think are cutting-edge fashionable. I haven't been to this fashion event in years, and though I try to get nice clothes, I definitely don't take as many style chances now that I don't go out as much as I did in my 20s! And of course my postbaby body is heavier than it was during my nightlife days. But hopefully I'll be able to scrape something together. Smile

Hope you all have a great weekend!

4 Responses to “Fun is vital”

  1. creditcardfree Says:
    1302912070

    Nice post! Concious decisions are so important.

  2. laura Says:
    1302912169


    I had the day from Hell resulting from a difficult encounter with CoRoomParent who is very similar to that awful coworker you had awhile back. I'm feeling awful that someone can be so mean to me (shouldn't take it personally as I'm just another person added to the list of those she's harrassed). Anyhow, DH is taking me out for a beer tonight at a local bar where my brother's band is playing. No cover. Reserved table with my parents stage-side. My girls are babysitting. I AM SO EXCITED I CAN HARDLY WAIT. We definitely need to have dates more!! Have a great time!

  3. LittleMsMom Says:
    1302916340

    Thank you for the reminder. I really really need to start more "fun" spending.

    The only debt I have at age 34 is my mortgage, but for the life of me I cant get myself to spend money on FUN stuff. Trips, Vacations, that sort of thing.

  4. patientsaver Says:
    1302965601

    I need to also have more fun in my life. That Puritan work ethic usually rules my life. I think my ratios would probably allow for about 10% of income for "fun" spending at the most.

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