Tag Archives: spending

How My Money Perspective Has Changed From My 20s to My 30s – What Would I Do Differently? (If Anything)

Leave a reply

As I reflect about my life and my relationship with money, I would definitely say that my approach to spending, saving, and investing has radically changed over the years. Am I just becoming older and wiser or does the current state of the economy have any impact on my views on money? It can be a combination of things but I do believe that with life experience comes more knowledge. I have always had a passion for building wealth and that is something that has not changed since my 20s but my perspective is definitely different now and there are many ways in which I view money differently than I did a decade ago.

Having Money In My Bank Account Means More Than Spending It – I have always been a rather good money saver but over the years, I have become an even more aggressive saver. Why? As I have aged, it is just more satisfying to have a bigger bank account than to spend money on material goods or going out. I am much more willing to sacrifice my desires and wants now than I was able to in my youth. It comes more natural for me to say no to unnecessary purchases and to just save my money instead. For me personally, it just feels good to have a lot of money stored away in a bank account than to spend it.

Spending Money on Clothes Doesn’t Excite Me Anymore – I have always had a love for fashion and wearing stylish and flattering clothing. That would also mean having the nicest shoes and handbags to go with my outfits. Fast forward to the present moment and I now do not care about clothing like I used to. Over the years, I have accumulated a wonderful wardrobe of classics and staple pieces that still fit and look great year after year. This is why there really is no need to go out and constantly buy new clothes unless it is an item that is worn out and in need of a replacement. I also want to point out a valuable life lesson: No one really cares what you wear more than yourself. So there really is no need to overspend on clothing or feel the need to impress anyone because no one really cares about the clothing you wear. That is not to say that you should totally neglect your self image but to consciously make an effort to be less vain because at the end of the day–no one cares what you wear!

I am Obsessed With My Retirement Savings – When you are in your 20s, you do not really think about retirement enough unless you are taught the importance of compound interest and investing as early as you can. Fortunately, my mother had me open an IRA account at the age of 18 years old. While I was making contributions to my IRA as much as I could at the time (which wasn’t too much), my biggest regret is not making a conscious effort to max out my IRA contribution every single year. When I turned 30 years old, I made the conscious effort to start doing that and have really seen the increase over the years which is very encouraging. This motivates me to keep investing into my retirement and watching it grow over time.

My Time Is More Valuable Than Money – Despite how much I prioritize working and making money, as I have gotten older–I have tried to have more of a balance between my work life and personal life. In other words, I cherish and value having quality time as opposed to working nonstop. Sometimes you have to take the time to say no to work and actually enjoy living your life. I would rather just work less and make more as opposed to feeling like I need to work constantly. In the past, I would push myself to work as much as I can, even if that meant less free time to do the things that I loved. Although I still would consider myself a hard worker, I have toned down the intensity and have made having free time more of a priority over work.

Booking a Vacation Is Worth Every Penny – I have been an avid traveler since my mid to late 20s when I started to make a high enough income to allocate money towards one of my biggest passions in life–international travel. To this day, I still believe that travel is money well spent and something that I would never regret spending because the memories that are created are so worth it. While not everyone might have a love for travel, it is important to find something that you love and allow yourself to spend the money on your desired category of choice with zero regrets. I spent the money on travel then and will continue to spend my hard earned money on travel throughout the course of my lifetime. It can be an expensive hobby but it is one that I will always justify as an essential expense.

How to Cut Spending Without Feeling Deprived

3 Replies

I haven’t really written a financial related blog in quite some time and I feel that while this is always a topic of interest, proper money management is also a much needed life skill. As important as it is to amp up your salary or to find multiple streams of income, someone can make all the money in the world and not know how to manage it or overspend it where they do not have much money at all. That is why it is beneficial to know how and when to cut spending but to do so without feeling deprived so that you can still live your life in abundance.

Which leads me to the point that although it sounds like an oxymoron to preach about having an abundant life but then you have to cut back on spending money, the truth is that you can actually do both at the same time. For one, it is important to be thankful for what you currently have because practicing gratitude actually attracts more abundance into your life. Also consider that if you are happy with what you have, you will likely be spending less money on things that are not a true necessity which is a good thing because that means that you will be spending less money on things that you do not need.

Everyone has different areas in their lives that they are willing to spend more money on and things that they do not care about or prioritize as much. I would suggest establishing what areas that you can cut back on and the ones that you are willing to splurge on. For example, for me personally, I think it is a waste of money to buy lunch all the time or to purchase coffee daily so I do not spend much money on these items as I prefer to save the money and make my food and coffee at home. On the other hand, I know that there are people who find it to be quite enjoyable to buy their lunch and/or coffee on a daily basis because it is a luxury to them and just makes their lives more convenient. My point is, what I might label as a “waste of money” might be something that is very valuable to another individual so that is why I said that everyone needs to determine what they like to splurge on and then what areas that they can save their money on. This way you will have a balanced approach to your spending where you can have the things that you really care about but then you can also save money as well by cutting back on the things that are not essential to you personally.