#PersonalFinance #SavingsGoals #FinancialHabits
Hey there! 👋 Have you ever gone from being ultra-obsessed with tracking your expenses and setting financial goals to feeling like a careless slacker when circumstances changed? 🤔 Well, that’s exactly where I find myself now, and I could really use some advice!
Here’s my story: I used to be all about budgeting, categorizing expenses, and making sure every penny was accounted for. But then the pandemic hit, and suddenly, my spending habits changed drastically. Now, I’m struggling to get back on track and find a new financial purpose. 💸
So, I’m reaching out to all the savvy savers out there for some guidance. If you’ve been in a similar situation or have any tips on how to rekindle that saving spark, I’d love to hear from you!
Here are a few things I’m considering to get back on track:
– Setting a new savings goal or financial milestone to work towards 🎯
– Finding a budgeting method that works better for my current situation 📊
– Exploring cash tracking alternatives for better expense management 💰
What do you think? Any suggestions or personal experiences you’d like to share? Let’s help each other out and get back to mastering our personal finances together! 💪
Automate your savings (RRSP / TFSA / Downpayment fund / Car fund / Travel Fund)
Absolutely blow throw what’s left.
I was the same way OP i achieved my goal of home ownership at 23 and stopped caring cause it felt like i was light years ahead and no one else cared. Im 27 now realizing those 4 years were careless and im back on the bandwagon of dialing in. Im not as micro on it but i have a set goal of 3-500 per paycheck that i put away.
I dont want to wake up at 40-50 or 55 living in regret and that started to scare me more than just ignoring finance.
Live below your means. Set a comfortable ceiling that includes some fun money that you can do as you please so there isn’t any guilt in spending and living life. Set aside a set amount off each pay and pretend you don’t even have it.
I was like you always being the frugal, responsible one but went a tad bit too far with a second vehicle purchase that became a money pit. Had to sell it and restart and decided to live on the little things for now while saving for a less hunk of shit enjoyable vehicle lol. So far I’m back on track in saving with what I stated above
Honestly, sounds like you’re overthinking things for your situation.
If money is tight, it makes sense to track things on a granular level to figure out how to optimize.
But in your case, it’s not. Keep it simple. Figure out what a comfortable amount of savings is and where that goes, and set up direct deposits accordingly for the day after each pay. Then live your damn life.
A good analogy here is that keeping your room clean is a good thing, but unless you’re performing surgery in there everyday, sanitizing it daily doesn’t make much sense, and will start to feel absurd at some point.
I am in the exact same boat. 2018 to 2022 saved every oenny. Budgeted etc. i dont know what happend to me in 2023 that I just not giving a fuck. Lattes, uber online spending. Zero savings
This is an interesting thought. We often set a goal to be able to retire with a set living condition. But as your income increases you start to experience lifestyle creep while still meeting your current savings goals.
This is why it is important to regularly revisit your goals and ensure that they will still suit your changing expectations.
I used to meticulously track my spending on an Excel spreadsheet for a few years. Not to budget, just so I can understand where my money was going. I was surprised to see that YoY my spending was very consistent, despite not having a budget.
And I can afford that level of spending and still save healthy money.
All of that went to crap when I had my kid. It’s been years since I’ve stopped tracking because I have no time or energy to do any of that.
I basically never overspend what I earn nowadays so I’ve just given up. I track my net worth every month, and if I have a high spend money and my net worth grows slower, then I take note. That’s about it. My net worth has continued to grow faster and faster as time goes by, thanks to my portfolio and higher income. That’s what I go by to gauge how I’m doing nowadays.
Maybe find a goal for savings? Retirement is a goal that many save for, housing is another.
Sorry long response.
Similar thing happened to me. My income jumped and expenses didn’t matter anymore because I’m just generally frugal.
I changed the way I was thinking and started having savings goals instead of tracking expenses. For example, I would set the goal to save $X/month in a HISA the day I got paid. After a year, I move that money to a longer term investment or use it to buy RRSP or TFSA.
This reduced the visible money I had to spend while fulfilling potential future goals. If I still have extra money in the chequing, I would make up another saving goal (e.g emergency fund/fun money/ vacation money/future house fund) in another HISA account but I would only set achievable goals that didn’t impact my daily spending. If I don’t end up using it, then I put it towards longer term investment.
Then I stopped tracking my expenses but kept all the receipts for one year. I would audit my expenses every now and then just to get an idea of my spending.