Many people go through life spending most of their income if our countries average savings rate is anything to go by.
I was the same until my early 30’s.
A natural spender
Even if I was saving money, it was in order to buy something, such as a holiday or expensive outings. It wasn’t until I decided I wanted to buy an apartment, that I started saving towards that goal. Finally spending money on an asset, not goods and services. I moved back home with my parents and saved aggressively for a few years.
Once I bought the apartment, I made the decision to pay extra on the mortgage. I was still bad with money and if it wasn’t going on the mortgage, it was going out the door.
For those who know my back story, using the equity in the apartment I then moved into a larger house in the suburbs and rented out the apartment. Shortly after, with a now much higher mortgage, I didn’t have the capacity any more to pay extra on the mortgage. Just paying the mortgage was tight. Then I badly injured my back and was in intense pain for over a year, with much of that time off work on ACC cover. As many of you know, ACC only covers 80% of income and I was at the time spending close to 100% of income. You don’t need to be a math genius to figure out I was going backwards.
A good saver
I decided to sell the larger house with a cumbersome mortgage and instead moved into a much smaller house with a much smaller mortgage. Financial breathing room again.
The difference this time being that I had that massive scare from going backwards financially and being worried about how to pay the mortgage. It was during this time I discovered the FIRE movement. As someone that was working a job for the money and not the enjoyment, the time freedom aspect really interested me. I was inspired. I had a new goal to save towards.
I am still a natural spender. I think I always will be.
For me to save money I need a strong vision of what I am saving for. Semi retirement. Semi retirement is not a good enough goal on its own. I also need to know what I will be doing in semi retirement to make that such an attractive option. Not wanting to be in an average job is not a strong enough pull. It may be attractive for a short time but once you realise you have nothing planned for your time, it will grow old quick. I have plans for my semi retirement, including travel with family, volunteering, growing the financial advice business, learning some new hobbies, and just generally being more available for the family to be a active part of life’s moments.
These are the dreams that I prioritise above all else for my money.
Without these goals and priorities, I think I would be spending a lot more as my natural spendiness comes to the fore. Saving has not been natural for me but having strong goals has really helped. Money now goes out towards those goals automatically, much like money for KiwiSaver. It is gone before I know its there. No temptations.
If it weren’t for my bad back and getting dangerously close to not keeping up with the mortgage, I’m not sure that I will have ever discovered or taken an interest in financial freedom. I would have been blissfully unaware of the benefit of having money – independence. Money comes in from work and gets spent on things I like. I wouldn’t have seen a problem. It’s not until that income not coming in, I stopped taking that for granted. I was dependant on that income, and I didn’t like it.
So even if you are a natural spender like me, I think all is not lost. You just need to come to an understanding of what is of upmost importance to you and prioritise your spending on that. As I edge closer to my own semi retirement, I know this will be the best money I have ever spent.
The information contained on this site is the opinion of the individual author(s) based on their personal opinions, observation, research, and years of experience. The information offered by this website is general education only and is not meant to be taken as individualised financial advice, legal advice, tax advice, or any other kind of advice. You can read more of my disclaimer here