4 ms·

Currently I have about $85,000 in the bank. Most of that showed up in the last couple months. Another $15,000 has been earned, but not transfered over to my acc

Currently I have about $85,000 in the bank. Most of that showed up in the last couple months. Another $15,000 has been earned, but not transfered over to my account yet. The trip to Europe took quite a bit of money, so I didn't have much around July or August of this year. I'm not sure what I'm saving for, but the more money I have, the more reluctant I am to purchase things. For example, I have wanted to buy a Lotus Elise for a long time. My theory was I would get a used one for about $30,000. I convinced my wife that I could buy one when we had $100k in the bank. Now that we are close to that number, I don't want to spend it on something so frivolous. We'll probably continue saving for a house. For now I am going to do some more traveling and continue to live as inexpensively as possible. For example, my current rent is $650 a month.

mgkimsal 14y ago
Your goalposts are moving, and I've noticed that in myself. I have freelancers I work with who tell me: "I'll just be fine when I've got 2 months of expenses in the bank". I tell them they probably won't, then they laugh, then eventually some of them see what I mean. Sounds like you've got about 2 years of 'runway' in the bank - with no income and stable expenses, you could go for 2 years. I'm in a similar situation, and have found myself wanting less and less to spend any money. Some of that comes from simply remembering the effort it took to build up that amount, and then spending it literally in an instant on anything feels weird now. Yeah, I'd like a bigger TV (ours if 42" but 7 year old "ED" TV, not HD), but see little point in it as this one still works. Newer car? Yeah, would be nice - I can pay cash for a nice used car, but will probably hold on to this 8 year old one for another year or two. The only things I'd like to buy, I want to pay cash for, and I'm still a long ways away (things like a private airplane, much larger house, etc). We do travel some - my wife will be going to Australia and I'll be going to Russia - buying those sorts of experiences with our families is one of the few things that we agree on spending money on. Outside of that, just continuing to pile up cash until there's a compelling case for spending it (or a true emergency need) is probably all you can do.
- nathanbarry 14y ago
  Yep. I will readily spend money on experiences like travel, but think really hard about about spending the same amount of money on a possession like a car. Both our cars are older (7 and 13 years old) and have been paid off for some time. Not having a car payment is great!
  - tellarin 14y ago
    Same here, the more I save, the less I want to spend on these things. The one huge exception is traveling. I even set myself a goal of visiting at least one new country per year. The interesting thing is that with the years this has also affected other broader considerations. Nowadays I don't really think about buying a house anymore, as it is too big of a 'money and time' commitment and also because it would make it harder for me to move somewhere (which I've been doing quite often now). Same applies to having a car. While I agree that having one can be incredibly convenient (and, sometimes, even necessary), I feel so much better not having to worry about gas, taxes, or maintenance.
    - mgkimsal 14y ago
      It's harder to move having a house, certainly (which I do), and where you live or move to will affect whether you need a car or not. In some ways, by not having a car, you're limiting your experience by saying "I'll never consider living in these places". That's OK, but it does have an impact. Likewise, if you wanted to have a car, you're sometimes restrained by the cost of parking the car in certain locations. Gas - certainly a concern, but so is bus/subway fares, which replace gas if you don't have a car but still need to move around. Taxes - for 2 cars we pay about $150/year. Insurance - possibly $1000 per year. So... maybe $100/month for taxes/insurance on 2 cars - for most people this won't break the bank. This also allows us to live in a more rural area with a somewhat lower cost of living (lower taxes for a start). Maintenance - yeah, some. I don't think we worry about it, much like you don't 'worry' much about your electric bill or internet bill. It's a factor in life - there are repairs that come up, but again, the ability to be mobile when we want, in areas that aren't otherwise served by mass transit - is, for us, a plus right now. Replacing gas/tax/insurance with monthly subway tickets, which I'd probably need to do if I lived in a major city, seems like it might be about the same (IIRC, a two week pass in Moscow cost be about $50?).
ahoyhere 14y ago
We recently bought a car in cash ($27k all told) and it HURT. I really didn't want to do it, but we couldn't get a loan for various reasons (namely we didn't have PA driver's licenses yet!). This was when we had over 6 figures in the bank. And it HURT to write that check. Common sense would suggest that having a load of $$$ would make you free with your money, but instead (if you're smart), it makes you feel very protective of it.

mgkimsal 14y ago

Your goalposts are moving, and I've noticed that in myself. I have freelancers I work with who tell me: "I'll just be fine when I've got 2 months of expenses in the bank". I tell them they probably won't, then they laugh, then eventually some of them see what I mean. Sounds like you've got about 2 years of 'runway' in the bank - with no income and stable expenses, you could go for 2 years. I'm in a similar situation, and have found myself wanting less and less to spend any money. Some of that comes from simply remembering the effort it took to build up that amount, and then spending it literally in an instant on anything feels weird now. Yeah, I'd like a bigger TV (ours if 42" but 7 year old "ED" TV, not HD), but see little point in it as this one still works. Newer car? Yeah, would be nice - I can pay cash for a nice used car, but will probably hold on to this 8 year old one for another year or two. The only things I'd like to buy, I want to pay cash for, and I'm still a long ways away (things like a private airplane, much larger house, etc). We do travel some - my wife will be going to Australia and I'll be going to Russia - buying those sorts of experiences with our families is one of the few things that we agree on spending money on. Outside of that, just continuing to pile up cash until there's a compelling case for spending it (or a true emergency need) is probably all you can do.

nathanbarry 14y ago
Yep. I will readily spend money on experiences like travel, but think really hard about about spending the same amount of money on a possession like a car. Both our cars are older (7 and 13 years old) and have been paid off for some time. Not having a car payment is great!
- tellarin 14y ago
  Same here, the more I save, the less I want to spend on these things. The one huge exception is traveling. I even set myself a goal of visiting at least one new country per year. The interesting thing is that with the years this has also affected other broader considerations. Nowadays I don't really think about buying a house anymore, as it is too big of a 'money and time' commitment and also because it would make it harder for me to move somewhere (which I've been doing quite often now). Same applies to having a car. While I agree that having one can be incredibly convenient (and, sometimes, even necessary), I feel so much better not having to worry about gas, taxes, or maintenance.
  - mgkimsal 14y ago
    It's harder to move having a house, certainly (which I do), and where you live or move to will affect whether you need a car or not. In some ways, by not having a car, you're limiting your experience by saying "I'll never consider living in these places". That's OK, but it does have an impact. Likewise, if you wanted to have a car, you're sometimes restrained by the cost of parking the car in certain locations. Gas - certainly a concern, but so is bus/subway fares, which replace gas if you don't have a car but still need to move around. Taxes - for 2 cars we pay about $150/year. Insurance - possibly $1000 per year. So... maybe $100/month for taxes/insurance on 2 cars - for most people this won't break the bank. This also allows us to live in a more rural area with a somewhat lower cost of living (lower taxes for a start). Maintenance - yeah, some. I don't think we worry about it, much like you don't 'worry' much about your electric bill or internet bill. It's a factor in life - there are repairs that come up, but again, the ability to be mobile when we want, in areas that aren't otherwise served by mass transit - is, for us, a plus right now. Replacing gas/tax/insurance with monthly subway tickets, which I'd probably need to do if I lived in a major city, seems like it might be about the same (IIRC, a two week pass in Moscow cost be about $50?).

ahoyhere 14y ago

We recently bought a car in cash ($27k all told) and it HURT. I really didn't want to do it, but we couldn't get a loan for various reasons (namely we didn't have PA driver's licenses yet!). This was when we had over 6 figures in the bank. And it HURT to write that check. Common sense would suggest that having a load of $$$ would make you free with your money, but instead (if you're smart), it makes you feel very protective of it.