No. of Recommendations: 10
It is advice to spend on things you enjoy. Not for the sake of spending, but because you enjoy them.
Be assured, we do. It just seems that our preferred excursions tend to be free, along the lines of pickleball with friends, kayaking in our back yard, hiking across the street in the National Forest. And we travel about 3 months a year, but it tends to be by car and renting apartments, not 5 star hotels. I personally hate hotels. YMMV. We have gifted to the kids and have picked up the tab for the Roth contribution since they started at 14, not to mention paid in full for two college educations. We let them fund the 401K.
Our kayak van is a 2004. Looked at replacing it, but the Sienna has changed to the point that a new one wouldn't allow us to throw our kayaks in the back of the van, and decided instead to spend more in repairs than the blue book value of the vehicle. Heck, the personal property tax alone on a new vehicle would have been almost as much as the repair, and that tax is an annual expense. Our other vehicle is a 2013 that we bought off someone's end of lease in 2016. I am content with it. A faster car only brings more speeding tickets.
Told DH to stop buying me jewelry years ago, and am not a clothes fanatic, though I may allow myself to become personally familiar with Lululemon. I liked what I saw when I went in a local store to check out the company. My one "weakness" is real estate. Since I see no point in being in one place all the time, but prefer to live at home, I tend to accumulate residences. DH tends to balance that out with his resistance to them, though.
Next trip starts end of this month, with 9 days in Montreal, 7 days in Old Quebec, and a month in Portland, ME before heading home again. Was supposed to be a three month trip this Summer, but life got in the way. Very excited to practice French, eat good food, visit with son, and get my city side satisfied before we head back to the country. Between VRBO and FurnishedFinder.com, our apartments are about the same cost as owning, and I don't have to eat out 3 times a day.
I confess, it came as a surprise how far our funds go in retirement. We have been retired since 2018, (54 for me and 58 for DH,) and our net worth has increased, not decreased. Contentment is how we amassed what we did, and it is how we will continue to grow it. Contentment is not deprivation. Not by a long shot.
IP
