Should you spend your money while you can?

Yes, if you have enough saved/invested for retirement, emergencies, kids' college, etc. No, if you don't. But, rich or poor, it's still best to learn to love the free and cheap pleasures in life. To my way of thinking, after too many years of extravagant living and getting into huge debt to pay for it, financial security and freedom to do whatever I want whenever I want is the greatest luxury of all and worth adopting an extremely frugal lifestyle, which I finally did to get out from under my monster debts. I wrote about that in "How I Paid Off $50,000 of Debt in One Year" at http://shanelyang.com/2008/04/23/how-i-paid-off-50000-of-debt-in-one-year/

I would not feel happpy spending $100 on a meal. After the last forkfull and when the bill came, I would start to feel ill. However, seeing a nice, plump bank balance makes me smile--stock portfolio goes up, I get giddy!! I guess it depends on how you grew up. People with parents (like me) or grandparents who lived through the Depression would not look favorably on this notion of spend now and to heck with later. And the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

I agree. . .it IS all about balance. I'm trying to live that way now. Pay the bills, save money, and use money wisely. I'd much rather save up for a beautiful night out than fritter away money on fast food and coffees. By the way, I count a night at Chez Panisse as one of the top ten meals of my life. That was well worth the price tag!

I think there has to be a finite balance in everything a person does within the realms of his or her life. My husband would "spend it all" on a few whims and short lasting bliss; I would plan and coddle and run it over a thousand times in my head before purchasing a simple tee shirt wondering if the guilt of buying a necessity would come back to haunt me. Then we realized the necessity of spending and saving without guilt and without shame. If there is something that is not a necessity, we find ourselves asking "Do I need it? Will it make me happy? Will it make me a better person?" And these three questions are all we need. We love to travel and will always travel no matter how little or how much money we have. So, I don't really see spending on travel as endulging, I guess it has just become a way of life for us and is unconsiously built into the budget. We enjoy good food and by good I mean if my husband "the chef in engineer's clothing" can't dish it up, there are a select few restaurants we are willing to spend the cash. But then again, if you go out to eat daily then the appeal is gone and it is more of a chore than a pleasure.

Inflation is likely to be 10-15% for the next decade with the governments bailout monetary policy. Therefore, the dollar could loose 70-90% of its value. Spend your dollars while they still have value.

I have different budget categories for current and future expenditures. This way I never feel guilty spending for current fun because I've budgeted for that in addition to retirement and future repairs and replacements of things.

I like your point about how the world changing means that you should spend now on things that may not be around in the future (specific restaurants and performers also fall in this category and perhaps also things that require a lot of gas like going overseas) but it also means that that you should save for things that are not available now but will be in the future. (If I had been retiring 20 years ago, I wouldn't have known specifically to save for a personal computer, but it would still be good to have a fund for that sort of thing.)

Other things that change are us, our friends, and our circumstances. I'm always trying to take advantage of odd opportunities to do things that might not be at the top of my list such as visiting a friend who got a postdoc in Switzerland or going on the family trip to Disney World. And of course do things with friends and relatives while they're still around and friendly. And do things with your kids while they're still around. Also, I bet some movies would be more enjoyable to watch now than they will later, out of context (especially the special effects ones). There certainly some good books that I feel I'm not able to appreciate but could have if I'd read them as a kid.

Finally, some things are easier to do at different ages or different times in your life. Learning languages is easiest as a kid. Wearing braces works better when you're younger, too. Starting a business might be best either when you're young with no dependents or when your older and wiser.

Well since you have to spend almost all of your younger years working the choice is already made. You must spend your money when you can't. The financial services and health-care industries thank you for your business, although I doubt even they get to enjoy your money.

That notion might have worked when I was in my 20s but I've shopped, dined, and traveled enough to know that spending more money won't necessarily make me happier. Some of that activity actually made me less happy. And so I save my capital for the day when I come across something that would be really meaningful.

It's too easy to seize the day and to hell with the consequences. It may then turn out that the 5 years you spend living it up, cause the next 25 years to spend in drudgery. Isn't it much better to just be content for your whole life?

I think there are different stages in a person's spending. When you are young and not get married as some peoples here said, you should spend what you earned money to have some funs. But when you have a family, you may think a little bit more about your kids and your future. After your kids move out door, you get free again, you may spend a little more in yourself and have enough funs by a good planned retirement life, a good golden year.

This article is silly. Being frugal was never about being a scrooge. Frugality is about know what you value and being financial wise about pursuing those things you do value. So, I love books, which means I don't care if I buy used things or buy very little of other things because I have more money for books (edwardrhamilton.com). I also like to have investments and savings. I don't want to work an inflexible 9-5 job so I find creative ways to be a big saver instead of a big spender. This article is silly and stupid. Economists and Slate magazine have to be taken with a grain of salt. Frugality not sillyness never hurt anyone. No one is trying to be a miser.

...spend it

If you have the cash (not credit) to pay for things, I don't see the big deal. Once children enter the picture- if you just make more money you will not have a problem with enjoying your hobies and passions. Having a child did not make a difference in our financial lives. We are still able to vacation and eat out at restaurants

http://www.moneymonk.net

Yes, Yes, Yes

We should absolutely spend money to make our life better because life if futile and it makes NO SENSE to hoard it. There is always more money that comes to a person... it is only a tool.

The fear of spending is because the strong financial industry that makes everyone feel poor, even the people who are doing really well financially.

I worked in financial services for 15 years, and much of the advice given is flawed, edging on the unethical.

We always travelled with our kids everywhere: Europe, Caribbean, Hawaii.... and we don't make a lot of money,... but if you want to go have fun you always find ways to accomplish it.

I just can't imagine myself 60 year old doing some of the difficult hikes we've done with kids... so I say YES - SPEND YOUR MONEY _ ENJOY YOUR LIFE