Your 20’s are a time to establish yourself as an adult. You are just beginning a career, setting up a household and discovering your interests. Social pursuits, like dinner out with a group of friends, are a regular part of your life. Saving for the future is pretty low on the list of priorities.
Your twenties are an expensive time of life. Setting up a household means buying furniture and all the objects of daily living. You might be searching for that someone special and last time I checked – dating isn’t free. I know from a woman’s perspective every time I had a date or special night out planned – I bought a new outfit. I’d usually buy a new lipstick or other bit of make-up. Even if my date picked up the tab, I would have spent over $100 on the night out.
At some point in your twenties you will be buying a car and probably getting married. You might be buying your first house and starting a family. But there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
I’ve found it easier to save money in my thirties. I’ve done the nightclub scene, the dating scene and run off to Vegas on a whim on more than one occasion. But these things are behind me now that we’re older, we’ll go out but have no desire to do it more than once a week. There is no need to impress Mr. M, he has seen me at my worst and hasn’t run away yet. We still haven’t started a family, and I know that will be expensive, but such adult dreams have changed our spending perspective. Saving and being prepared for the future has become a priority when once it was not.
For the 20-somethings struggling to live for today and save for tomorrow, it does get easier. Eventually you will settle down and hopefully leave your spending demons behind. Some day retirement savings will feel a necessity, usually around the time you realize that spending the rest of your life in an office is intolerable. One day you will stop caring what other people think and start focusing on what makes you happy. It’s definitely easier to get frugal as you get older, eventually you have everything you need. In fact, judging by the number of self storage places we all have more than we need. As I’ve said before to all you 20-something’s, don’t screw up your finances too much. But also relax if you’re not saving 50% of your paycheck and maxing out your 401k. These goals make more sense when you’re a little bit older and for me, saving got a whole lot easier in my thirties.
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6 comments:
That's good Miss M, the older we get, the less we need to buy, and the smarter we get also.
Great post! Thanks for this!
I am a 20-something and often feel like I'm doing doing enough, saving enough, or paying off my student loans fast enough.
It's important to remember to breath (that's what mom says).
Hope to god that's true!!
Also, hopefully you'll be earning more by the time you're in your 30s.
I'll say! By the time I got to my 30's I'd had a good fill of "in denial" fun/spending/craziness. Now it was time to buckle down and look at reality in a new way. Realizing I did not care to work forever, that there are limited funds (numbers don't lie) when you decide to buy a house etc. etc. It was a wake up call. Great Post!
I am not so sure that it gets easier for most people to save money in their 30s. That is the time you have to keep up with the Joneses, right? So, I think it is all in the mindset. One thing is for sure though. As we get older we realize that what really matters in life are not the toys & things we own but the relationships we have. But I don't know how and when that affects spending.
Interesting. I think it may be true, unless you have kids young!
On the other hand, I've been in a serious relationship for years and enjoy staying in. I only enjoy night clubs a handful of times a year. So my biggest "20-something" expenses have been clothes, furniture (and moving 3 times!), and trying new hobbies (backpacking) and travel. Hmm, i guess that is not a short list!
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