Creative Financing

[tvguy]

I really was just trying to point out that people can measure their gross, or their take-home, and either start in very different places, or end up in very different places.

Boy you got that right.

 

[WickstarRunner]

I have the cost of whatever trip we're doing broken down to an amount needed to save per paycheck then put that much aside after the bills are paid. If things go well and if we pay a significant amount of debt off on a given check we can add up to that same amount on top to lower it and/or help cover emergencies. Won't go over that amount under any circumstances. Paying down debt and building long term savings is more important than upgrading vacations.

Also budget certain amounts for gas and groceries and if we come in under those numbers the extra goes toward vacation.

 

[Starport Seven-Five]

Well, my wife and I have never brought home over $100,000 combined income, so if that is "making so much" , so be it. But this is the DIS where some think an individual annual salary of $150,000 is middle class. No, I am NOT bragging. I am cheap* and I make no bones about it. I am also 63 and about to retire so I have had 40+ years to save.
Yes budgeting is a personal matter, but watching the financial shows over recent years, a lot of people don't know the difference between a necessary expense and a luxury expense.

*How cheap am I? Got rid of my family car 2 years ago that I had 31 years. Been in the same house 37 years (instead of the average 7 years, saved me tens of thousands of dollars in real estate commissions).........kept my cell phone 14 years......cut my own lawn, one of the few on my street not spending $100 a month for a gardener. It adds up quickly.

I think people were confused (myself included) by your initial posts because it basically sounded like if you had 3k in your savings, you were okay with booking a 3k vacation. Then when asked about emergency expenses you just said you "pay for it"... which doesn't seem to align with what your initial posts implied unless there is huge amounts of money coming in.

I have a feeling you have a pretty good mental accounting of where you want the savings to be and what portion is acceptable to spend on a vacation before it makes you nervous? Is that a more accurate portrayal of the situation?

 

[tvguy]

I think people were confused (myself included) by your initial posts because it basically sounded like if you had 3k in your savings, you were okay with booking a 3k vacation. Then when asked about emergency expenses you just said you "pay for it"... which doesn't seem to align with what your initial posts implied unless there is huge amounts of money coming in.

I have a feeling you have a pretty good mental accounting of where you want the savings to be and what portion is acceptable to spend on a vacation before it makes you nervous? Is that a more accurate portrayal of the situation?

Wow, guess I have been lucky. Other than the roof I mentioned we just don't have too many major unexpected expenses. My wife did do $1,500 damage to the car by hitting the mailbox, but she did that the same day our $2,400 stimulus money arrived in the bank account. Timing is everything. We just don't have many expenses. We do have a car payment, but the house has been paid off for years. Staying in the same house for 37 years means (in California) that our property taxes are only $2,400 a year.
Come by it naturally. My mom's expenses were about $650 a month until she passed away in 2013. Her $1,250 social security check easily covered that......and our social security benefit will be within $150 a month of what our take home pay is now........so I always wonder when people complain about not being able to get by on Social Security. I guess what we spend is determined by what we earn, not by what we want.