Are you spending, saving or paying down these days?

[Southernmiss]

We are doing both.

We don't have a mortgage or car notes.

Our family bought 2 used cars for dh and 1 son in May of 2020.

Went to Disney last summer- big 7 day trip for 7 of us.

Paid for a new deck in November 2021.

Had to buy another used car in February 2022.

We've been saving and putting $ aside for each of these.

Our youngest of 4 graduated high school in May 2020. Dh thought pre Covid that we would be traveling and remodeling our home. But Covid changed our plans.

We also had a college graduate son move home who works odd hours in an ER. So we are not remodeling until he moves out.

Dh and I have been eating out more as a couple, went to Garth Brooks concert in April and have plans for a weekend in New Orleans in August.

Hoping to buy me an auto and take a trip up the east Coast in the fall.

In between it all, we are at home, enjoying our deck and saving $

 

[dvcgirl67]

Well, a bit of both...no debt in our lives and our regular monthly discretionary spending has been down for well...a bit over two years. So we've saved more than we usually do over this time. Our vacation fund was flush with a refund from a big international trip that we did not take, and then a trip to Puerto Rico that we cancelled so had that airfare to use. So two big trips for us this year...to Mexico soon (Los Cabos), and to Costa Rica for the first time in December...which is effectively the refund we got back for the trip we didn't take to South Africa. Can't wait to go....really need a nice vacation!

 

[focusondisney]

I had to pick “other”. I’m not quite sure what we’re doing yet. I retired at the beginning of April. Technically less expenses since I’m not driving downtown, paying into SS or paying for parking, union dues, meals at work, disability insurance etc. I did start my pension in May, but I won’t get my 1st SS payment til next week. My DH decreased to a part time consultant position last year. I know our income numbers on paper, but haven’t lived with our new finances yet. Although we spent the last 40+ years saving, so I’m pretty sure we’ll be saving less from now on.

We do have a few major home improvements we’ve wanted to get done. We didn’t want to start them as things were unsettled in 2020, then supply chain & labor issues had us waiting. Now contractors are so busy, we figured we may as well wait & see how things go the next 6 - 8 months. But it will be major spending when we get to them.

We took our usual WDW vacation in April/ May & have another planned for Labor Day week. I do plan to downgrade from club level to moderate & regular deluxe stays. But that is a planned change due to our retirement, not so much the economy. We have been going out less than we did prepandemic. And we are looking to get rid of “stuff” so we don’t spend a lot shopping. I think the next few months will give me a better idea of what our spending/ saving will be. But it will be based on our new retirement status more than anything else.

 

[fla4fun]

I didn’t have any debt, so nothing to pay down. However, until I find a new job I am spending when I would prefer to be saving. I am just doing it prudently. It’s good practice for retirement!

 

[ronandannette]

It's nearly impossible if something unexpected comes up. Recently, my phone died and I had to buy a new one. The $250 dollars that I had to spend for it nearly derailed me. Okay, so I had to take it out of my Disney trip money-some people might say that was a luxury to begin with. But I have been saving for this trip for nearly two years. I should be able to save a couple of hundred a month for a vacation and still have money left over to bank. But it's hard. I'm not complaining about my check or anything, but sometimes it's difficult when you don't have savings to fall back on.

You seem to do remarkably well on a fixed income and I greatly admire you for it. Under your system would it be possible to just start socking cash away in your sock drawer for future use, rather than keeping it in an account where the balance is monitored?

 

[georgina]

Catching up on some traveling so spending more. Fortunately we have no debt to pay down. Retired so nothing to save, our income at the moment is less than our expenses so managing out of savings/investments until DH takes his SS at age 70.

 

[LuvOrlando]

Most people seem to be being very responsible.

 

[barkley]

kind of a mix of spending/saving b/c we've spent a chunk this year but it will save us in the long run. no mortgage or other debt so we save as much as we can so that we can cash-flow expected/unexpected expenses. we tend to do one major purchase/project (and back when travel was more to our taste) or vacation per year-this year we've done 3 projects all at once but it worked out financially better for us to do it this way. #1 was slated to be done last year but by the time a bid was done it was too late in the year what with the weather so when i got a call in early spring that the contractor was available i jumped on the opportunity (so it was already saved for). #2 and #3 were projects we figured would be done in separate calendar years but b/c there would be crossover between different tradesmen i figured i would have them each bid out doing each project individually (their portion) as well as a bid for 'all at once'. the 'all at once' worked out to be a substantial savings with today's costs so with anticipating those costs rising/some materials being scarcer to find we opted to do 2 years of projects at once. still paid in cash but we'll plan on taking next year off from anything planned major expense wise.

day to day spending-watching where i can save day to day: stocking up if something non perishable is on a good sale, doubling down on figuring out the true cost of day to day household goods (a great sale on paper goods at costco isn't great if i'm spending 2 gallons of gas to go there, saving on gas by ordering online an item shipped from target or walmart isn't a savings if they've jacked up their ship to home prices to be more than spending the gas money and going to my local grocery store...).

 

[BlueStarryHat]

You seem to do remarkably well on a fixed income and I greatly admire you for it. Under your system would it be possible to just start socking cash away in your sock drawer for future use, rather than keeping it in an account where the balance is monitored?

Thank you. My room and board, wifi, life insurance, and phone payments are half my check. I usually have about $400 left over to last me the entire month. I would be struggling if not for my aunt, who took me in and pays the household bills. When I'm not saving for Disney I usually do put aside a couple hundred for myself and leave the rest in the bank in case I need to make an online purchase or have a bill that comes out of the account, like my monthly Photoshop fee. By the end of the month there is usually nothing left over. Unexpected bills, where I haven't budgeted, can be a disaster.

My 'sock drawer' usually has money in it, just not much these last six months. It's probably my last WDW trip. I can't keep up anymore with the expense; I really struggled since January to get money to my sister to pay it down. I do believe they've finally priced me out. I never had trouble before and could always justify the money with careful budgeting-but not this time.

 

[tasha99]

Saving more, mostly because we've quit traveling and doing things outside the house. We aren't in a rush to pay our mortgage and student loans off because inflation will make them seem smaller.

 

[Prince John Robin Hood]

Spending more due to inflation. Gas prices are crazy and DW drives to work. Groceries are noticeably more expensive and kids are growing so eating more. Not as much money left over each month lately.

 

[Coonhound]

Probably saving more. Haven’t been taking any Disney trips!

 

[LuvOrlando]

Saving more, mostly because we've quit traveling and doing things outside the house. We aren't in a rush to pay our mortgage and student loans off because inflation will make them seem smaller.

That's an interesting perspective, are your loans fixed? This sort of hedging only works if you are betting that rates will go above where you are and you expect you'll eventually be able to enjoy the difference between your fixed rate and where the rates might go. If the rates you are paying are variable, it doesn't work because what you pay will just rise along with the market like in the 80's & if the rates you pay are high you may or may not get there often, or at all.

 

[LuvOrlando]

Most people spending more seem to be spending on their homes or vacation, or they have families and the jump in necessities is gobbling up what is available.

 

[kanerf]

Trying to pay stuff off as I enter the retirement zone. Could not help myself with buying some more DVC contracts in the past year.

 

[LuvOrlando]

Interesting that I'm not seeing splurges for vehicles, jewelry, electronics and other luxury stuff like that which was done in the 80's and just before 2008 with brands and prestige items, maybe there was a reboot.

Seems people are focused on spending for things that could impact long term quality of life like finances, furniture, home care, bucket list & family experiences so the consumers head is not where it was before & I'm right there with everyone else. We're all gathering the things we think we'll need for the next 'whatever' & we went from grasshoppers to ants in the moral. Curious very curious, can't help but wonder how the next few years will play out.

 

[georgina]

Interesting that I'm not seeing splurges for vehicles, jewelry, electronics and other luxury stuff like that which was done in the 80's and just before 2008 with brands and prestige items, maybe there was a reboot.

Seems people are focused on spending for things that could impact long term quality of life like finances, furniture, home care, bucket list & family experiences so the consumers head is not where it was before & I'm right there with everyone else. We're all gathering the things we think we'll need for the next 'whatever' & we went from grasshoppers to ants in the moral. Curious very curious, can't help but wonder how the next few years will play out.

We have 2 older vehicles and would like to go down to one car, where we live now we can walk most places and being retired could manage with one. Just waiting for supply chain issues to resolve some. I have never splurged on jewelry or luxury goods, my parents and DH's parents grew up during the depression and we were both raised to be frugal and savers. It is sometimes hard for us to spend on travel, but we are getting more comfortable with it!

 

[SandyinMonterey]

At the moment, we are spending more. Something is always breaking at my house. Most recently, the house alarm, irrigation system, washing machine and the pool (again & again). We paid off husbands Tundra very early, so that's nice. I hate car payments. So, all 4 cars are paid off. Gearing up for last bedroom/bathroom remodel and painting the kitchen. People are out where I live. Roads are even busier than usual and that's saying a lot around here. Traffic has always been horrible but now...UGH!

 

[bjscheel]

Little bit of everything and income has been good enough to support doing that. DH has bought some toys in the past year. Paid off mortgage last year, but still have a Heloc. I have a car loan, but it's ahead. Last tuition payment is next week. We got DD20 a Jeep but she will take over the payments in January. It will help as she becomes independent by end of year. Had a bigger vet bill this spring. I try to stash some money in our savings account a couple times a month, and make an IRA contribution at tax time.

 

[Fitzwoman27]

Similar thinking here, not just saving for ourselves but to be a family buffer. We're in the mindset of helping our children reach financial independence faster than we anticipated was necessary when they started school because all the guardrails seem gone. 5 years ago I never would have considered making sure our forever home would have extra room to accommodate adult children and future families but now, after seeing what we and other families needed to do, spare rooms that can be converted for sleeping are definitely part of my expectations, we know so many families who have done this since 2019.

Same. We have adult daughter. Intelligent , caring, and completed college. She can’t afford apartment on her own. Converted our house into her own studio. Family most important thing. Unfortunately that still leaves us paying extra water and electricity but we know anything happens to us she is first one there. She is going back to school for nursing.