Do you find it harder to spent money once you are debt free?

[jspoole]

My husband was saying last week that it seems it is harder for us to spend money now that we have everything paid off but our mortgage. Where before when we had debt we did not seem to think about spending $50 on this and that. Is anybody else like that.

For example, we are going to get a Roku box to try and see if we like it so we can cancel satelite, but we do Swagbucks and are waiting till we have enough free amazon gift cards to pay for it with before we order it. You know the roku we are looking at is only $99, but its hard to let go of that money.

 

[perpetualplanner]

It's good that you're thinking more carefully about your purchases. You don't want to get back in the hole again. It'll probably always be a little harder to watch that money go out than it was previously - but that's not a bad thing.

Congratulations of being debt free.

 

[IUTBAM]

Yes, definitely. But it's a good attitude to have, IMHO.

We've been debt free (except for mortgage) for 8 years. We pay cash for our vehicles, and we think twice (well, make that three of four times, lol) for every major purchase (heck, I think twice when I'm putting things in my cart at Target or Walmaert). We do spend $$$ on vacations, but I always search for the cheapest flights (or in the case of our trip to DLR this Christmas, we've decided to drive), and I use rewards points, etc. for hotels when I can.

What I've been told is unusual about our lifestyle as well is that when I was single, and also the first 10 years or so of our marriage (we've been married 24 years) when our income was only about 1/3 of what it is now, I was MUCH more spendy. It's crazy. I wouldn't think twice about heading to the mall and buying this, that or the other. But now that we are financially comfortable income-wise, I hate shopping! There's a long list of things I should buy for our house (we've lived here 2.5 years, and while I'm not much of a decorator anyway, in some ways it looks as if we just moved in a few months ago) I just can't get motivated to spend the $$$ to do so. I have promised myself I'm going to the furniture store NEXT WEEK to look for a new breakfast area table. We've needed one for over a year. It's crazy.

 

[Patience]

Absolutely and it's a good thing too. You know how hard (and expensive) it is to pay off debt. Congratulations on paying off your debt! You're free!

 

[Gr8t Fan]

Absolutely!!! We have only 1 more payment on our mortgage and we'll be 100% debt free and we're seriously reconsidering our WDW trip for next year. We always thought that we'd plan one humdinger of a trip after we paid off the mortgage, but can't seem to make that leap. The trip we have planned is at a moderate with FD for two weeks, but we're haing a hard time stomaching the price tag. We never anticipated feeling this way, but it will work itself out I'm sure.

 

[StitchBuddy]

Yes, I think if you worked hard to become debt free, then you think twice when spending money and really start to question is this a need or a want? I know I am consumed right now with wanting to pay off our house. Every time I see something I would like to buy, I talk myself out of it. Because, I think we could use that money to pay off the house. We are so close!!!

 

[MrsPete]

I don't spend as freely as I used to.
It's not self-discipline or lack of money; it's that I don't want to spend as much as I used to.

But I don't think it has anything to do with being debt-free; rather, I think it comes with age. When I was younger, I wanted a whole bunch of things: I went to the mall frequently, which led to buying more clothes; I wanted a big, fancy house; I bought more kid-stuff because my children were younger and outgrew clothes/toys faster.

Now I genuinely want less stuff. I have everything I need, and I feel less desire to "upgrade" the stuff I have. I think part of it is that we've accumulated all the basics that we need, and we've experienced the fact that buying more, more, more doesn't really "add" to our lives -- it just means we give more to the Salvation Army. Maybe part of it is that I've plenty of times bought "the perfect item" only to realize that the glitter wore off in two weeks, and I no longer cared about it.

Typical? I don't know.

 

[Abbeys_mom]

We are still working on it - this is our first year of the plan - but I get it! We are not the mass consumers we once were, mostly because it is not in the budget. Don't they say it takes 30 days for something to become habit and the underlying behavior to change? Well, think about how long you have been spending with a purpose - now it is behavior and second nature to you.

As for our Roku, it cost one month's worth of satellite, so we saved $$ starting month two. From a budgeting prospective, it was easy to see the math.

 

[crisi]

I agree with Mrs. Pete. I've said this before - when I couldn't afford a new kitchen, I really wanted a new kitchen. Hate my cupboards. Lusted after granite countertops. Now that I can afford a new kitchen, I don't really want it. I still don't like my cupboards, but it isn't worth tens of thousands to pull them out, replace them and the countertops.

Some of its age and the realization that "stuff" does not necessarily make your life better, some of it is that once its "affordable" some of the luster of owning it wears off. Its sort of like high school - where when the guy you liked was dating someone else you really liked him - and once he was single it was "you know, he isn't all that."

 

[dvcgirl]

I agree with Mrs. Pete. I've said this before - when I couldn't afford a new kitchen, I really wanted a new kitchen. Hate my cupboards. Lusted after granite countertops. Now that I can afford a new kitchen, I don't really want it. I still don't like my cupboards, but it isn't worth tens of thousands to pull them out, replace them and the countertops.

Some of its age and the realization that "stuff" does not necessarily make your life better, some of it is that once its "affordable" some of the luster of owning it wears off. Its sort of like high school - where when the guy you liked was dating someone else you really liked him - and once he was single it was "you know, he isn't all that."

This is very, very true. There's a contentment that takes hold eventually when you're completely debt-free. "Stuff" matters much less. I think maybe the OP is new to it, and so they're just feeling a bit freaked out....maybe afraid they'll end up back in debt. Eventually, that feeling fades and you really develop a new mindset.

 

[robsmom]

I think that there are a few factors in play.

1. I think it is probably even more fun to watch savings grow than it is to watch debt go down. Now when you don't buy something you get to keep that money.

2. I think that is is like dieting. the thinner you get the harder it is to lose weight and so you have to try harder. I think that the more people have saved, the more money they need to save in order to really make a difference to their savings. If you have have $1k in the bank and save another $1k that feels really great. 10K in the bank and save $1K that is a nice increase. If you have $100k in the bank and save $1K it doesn't create the same impact.

3. Agree 100% with Mrs. Pete and others that as we get older we just don't want as many things. We don't need much and see other long term priorities.

4. As we get old, college for kids or retirement seems more real. Knowing I need the college money in 5 years, makes me think more before i spend money.

 

[MSSANDRA]

I think once you are debt free, you know how good it feels to not be stressed over all those bills and how great it feels to know everything you have is really yours!!!

We had to make good choices to become debt free and we try to continue to make those same choices even though we have a lot more expendable income.

 

[friskykitten]

I think that there are a few factors in play.

1. I think it is probably even more fun to watch savings grow than it is to watch debt go down. Now when you don't buy something you get to keep that money.

2. I think that is is like dieting. the thinner you get the harder it is to lose weight and so you have to try harder. I think that the more people have saved, the more money they need to save in order to really make a difference to their savings. If you have have $1k in the bank and save another $1k that feels really great. 10K in the bank and save $1K that is a nice increase. If you have $100k in the bank and save $1K it doesn't create the same impact.

3. Agree 100% with Mrs. Pete and others that as we get older we just don't want as many things. We don't need much and see other long term priorities.

4. As we get old, college for kids or retirement seems more real. Knowing I need the college money in 5 years, makes me think more before i spend money.

We are 2.5 years into working toward being debt free after a major financial wake-up call. If all goes as planned we will be debt free in about twenty more months. Spending money when you are trying to become debt free is hard so I can imagine what it would be like to get out of debt and not want to risk getting back into it. Even with little purchases.....b/c it can add up quickly.

I will add that when you work your way out of debt you tend to REALLY simplify your life. And you tend to enjoy that simplified life without missing any of the old complications that came with everything we used to deal with. Life is much easier now and I would prefer it stays that way. That means keeping it simple and not filling our life with things that we have to maintain or constantly take care of. This in turn saves a lot more time for planning a nice future vacation staying well within our budget once we get this debt whittled down to $0!

 

[Colleen27]

For me I think it was just the opposite. Without a clear goal (for us, paying off the mortgage) I'm not as focused/disciplined and more inclined to feel like we have room in the budget for things that we want but might not need. I don't shop recreationally or buy things on impulse, but if Joanns has a good sale I'm going to add to my fabric stash, I've been picking up some of the seasonal home decor items that I've wanted for a while but kept putting off, and other odds and ends like that.

 

[Lucky4me]

Yes, but for us it's been a forced thing since our income is half of what it was three years ago.
It's amazing what we can do without and not even miss it.
We have no credit card debt, have retirement savings and our house will be paid off in a couple of years. It took getting honest with ourselves, a little hard work and a little luck (hospital forgiving a large medical bill)

I think we will always be frugal unless we hit the Power Ball. Then all bets are off, I'll be a spending fool.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

YES!!! It really makes you stop and think about the purchase. Such as do I need this, how much use will I get out of this, is this the best price.

 

[MrsPete]

A couple more thoughts:

I think as we get older, we know ourselves better, we know what makes us happy (and are less likely to repeat wasteful choices that we now know didn't please us for long). To add to Crisi's kitchen example, years ago I knew exactly what I wanted in that regard: I wanted a BIG kitchen with miles of counterspace and an island in the middle. I wanted a built-in desk and a bay window with a breakfast table. Today we're planning our retirement house, and I could have that very kitchen. Instead, I'm planning a bank of 10x12 L-shaped cabinets with an island. We'll have an eating area on the island. And we'll have a HUGE walk-in pantry that'll hold all my kitchen stuff. See, I've realized a couple things: If I have lots of counterspace, I'm going to fill it with clutter -- and that makes me unhappy in the long run -- so having floor-to-ceiling shelves in a pantry is a great place to store my 4 crock pots, etc, etc, etc. I've realized that a pantry's cheap to build, whereas cabinets are expensive.

Also, I think having choices leads to happiness. It's not having the item so much as knowing that you COULD have it, if you decided it was worthwhile. I think it's the same thing about working/staying home with your kids -- the happiest people are the ones who can choose what they want.