Saving money vs doing more

Guest2

Guest2

Guest2

Soldato
Joined
6 May 2009
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At the moment I am in a position where I could save around £1000 a month.
I wouldnt be able to do what I do currently such as go on quite a few holidays, buy nice things, go on big city nights out, days away etc. but could save it for a house deposit or something else. I do have a private pension so am saving some which my workplace matches.

Recently I have been to Iceland for 4 nights which was fantastic. Day trips such as glacier hiking, ice climbing, snow mobiling, northern lights and also been skiing in January.

I am in the mindset that I would rather have fun in my younger(ish) years whilst I am able to do these types of things rather than save it all for when I am old and decrepid (or even die a few years into retirement as my grandad did after working hard all his life)

Am I being foolish not saving as much as I could? Do you have the same mindset as me or the opposite? Just curious to hear people views on this
 
Save £500, spend £500. /Thread.

If you have nothing in particular to save for putting something away rather than everything means you can still enjoy life. It doesn't have to be all or nothing.
 
You're in your early/mid-20's? Save now, you can still have fun when you're in your 30's/40's.
Sitting pretty in middle age is nice, believe me.
 
Have fun when you're young tbh... it isn't like you're getting into debt with these activities... perhaps start saving *some* cash each month... tis good to have a decent lump sum stashed in an ISA as an emergency fund

I wouldn't necessarily see it as either save 1k a month or do fun stuff - why not save 500 a month and still do fun stuff... investing 500 a month/6k a year in your 20s could get you a nice portfolio started and/or a decent wedge of emergency cash should you find yourself unemployed for a few months... tbh as you progress at work/get promotions you'll maybe find in a few years you have 2k to dispose of/save each month...
 
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Guest2 said:
Am I being foolish not saving as much as I could? Do you have the same mindset as me or the opposite? Just curious to hear people views on this
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No I don't think you are being foolish. You only get one life so you should make the most of it while you're here. Clearly saving is prudent, but at the expense of enjoying your life ? Imagine the people who tuck away every penny for their future and never do anything but work and sleep and then they fall ill and die without ever spending it. I'm not advocating blowing every pound you earn, but maybe spend some and save a little would be a good balance.
 
Do a mix of both? Put away £500 a month and still go on decent breaks.

Not that I can talk mind you, I do exactly the same thing...
 
Guest2 said:
At the moment I am in a position where I could save around £1000 a month.
I wouldnt be able to do what I do currently such as go on quite a few holidays, buy nice things, go on big city nights out, days away etc. but could save it for a house deposit or something else. I do have a private pension so am saving some which my workplace matches.

Recently I have been to Iceland for 4 nights which was fantastic. Day trips such as glacier hiking, ice climbing, snow mobiling, northern lights and also been skiing in January.

I am in the mindset that I would rather have fun in my younger(ish) years whilst I am able to do these types of things rather than save it all for when I am old and decrepid (or even die a few years into retirement as my grandad did after working hard all his life)

Am I being foolish not saving as much as I could? Do you have the same mindset as me or the opposite? Just curious to hear people views on this
Click to expand...
as long as you live within your means then keep enjoying your self
 
If you've got that much to spare I'd ramp up your pension contribution a bit and save a bit too. Not point saving it all, it's never a good idea to limit your happiness for the sake of frugality as it's not sustainable, you'll cave in at some point and spend a load of it.
 
You said you could save for a house deposit. Are you currently renting? If so I'd focus 50:50 on fun and saving. In the long run buying a place will save you money and the mortgages tend to be cheaper than renting.
Then you can go back to having fun.
 
Life is too short and unpredictable not to have some fun while you can and especially as interest rates are utterly dire at the moment (unless you take a fair bit of risk) saving isn't very tempting.

However personally I'd probably save the whole lot and set myself a strict budget for how much per year to use on holidays, etc. but I know I can stick to that - not everyone has the same discipline with money.
 
Don't get use to the money and shove it in a savings account. Wish I'd done what my mate did 10 years ago, every time he got a wage increase he'd send 80% of the increase into his savings account so he never expanded his spending greatly.
 
Im 30, currently renting. I have some money saved but certainly not ~30k for a house deposit. I also have a student loan of ~17k.
It would take approx 3 years to save for a deposit, however I have no idea where I want to live or even if I am going to stay in UK. I suppose it wont hurt saving half and using the other half - I will just have to have less fun
 
Guest2 said:
At the moment I am in a position where I could save around £1000 a month.
I wouldnt be able to do what I do currently such as go on quite a few holidays, buy nice things, go on big city nights out, days away etc. but could save it for a house deposit or something else. I do have a private pension so am saving some which my workplace matches.

Recently I have been to Iceland for 4 nights which was fantastic. Day trips such as glacier hiking, ice climbing, snow mobiling, northern lights and also been skiing in January.

I am in the mindset that I would rather have fun in my younger(ish) years whilst I am able to do these types of things rather than save it all for when I am old and decrepid (or even die a few years into retirement as my grandad did after working hard all his life)

Am I being foolish not saving as much as I could? Do you have the same mindset as me or the opposite? Just curious to hear people views on this
Click to expand...

do half and half! thats what I think


also, what job is this, i want it :eek::D

as your saving more than i earn a month :mad:
 
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