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<p>That is a very silly comment, because nobody living today is guaranteed tomorrow.</p>
<p>I am not saying you shouldn’t enjoy your life and spend some money, but to say “well I better spend all my money in my 20’s and 30’s just because I might get sick” is a foolish thing to think.</p>
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<p>It is scary? I am telling everybody else how to live their lives? Can you point out where I told people what to do. I am just giving my opinions.</p>
<p>If you read the entire thread, there are actually people that agree with me, so I am not alone in this.</p>
<p>OP - I don’t think you would be a very fun person to hang out with. What do you do for fun? Do you travel?</p>
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<p>Why do people write things without reading first?</p>
<p>First post: “I don’t get paid a lot, I eat out, spend money on my hobbies, and go on the occasional trip.”</p>
<p>OP…you know what I get from this thread (and yes, I was foolish enough to read each entry)?</p>
<p>You asked for opinion & information, and then argued each opinion & information. </p>
<p>Perhaps if you were really interested you would read the responses and use terms like, “that’s interesting” or “I never saw it that way” or “hmmm, that’s a shame” or any variation of showing that you’re not just trying to pick an issue apart.</p>
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<p>Are you sure you read every post? I agreed with people on here. I guess you missed those parts.</p>
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<p>Isn’t the whole point of a message board to pick issues apart?</p>
<p>OP - you have saved 40K, you are 24 and make 20K (after tax I presume). Assuming you saved half of it while you were in college and saved 20K from 22-24 (2 years), that means you lived on 10K a year. How does someone live on 10K a year? I know I paid 15K for my kid’s room&board while in college. On top of that, I had to pay for her clothing, travel, and other incidentals. What did you do for fun?</p>
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<p>Actually I saved around $25k before I graduated from college, so I saved about $15k the past 2 years (therefore living on $12,500).</p>
<p>It’s very easy if you know what you’re doing. I have a roommate so that helps. Rent is around $3,600 a year. Food per year is around $2,500. That’s $6,100. Gas/car insurance is about $3,000. That’s $9,100. That leaves me $3,400 for clothes, incidentals, vacations, etc. </p>
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<p>Go to concerts, plays, musicals, sporting events mostly. </p>
<p>Like I said before if you know what you are doing and can find deals, you don’t have to spend a lot of money.</p>
<p>Expedia had a deal last year where you got a $200 rebate when you book a 5 day vacation.</p>
<p>Airfare and hotel at the Radisson came out to $150 to Arizona.</p>
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<p>I assume that was for 9 months and didn’t include the summer? Almost $1,700 a month. Sounds expensive.</p>
<p>So you pay $300/mo for rent? Do you see why that’s not really realistic for a ton of people out there?</p>
<p>Just check out most of school’s COA and you could see how much they charge for room and board.</p>
<p>I can’t imagine paying 150 for flight and airfare to Arizona. It costs D1 $200 for a train ride to see her BF each time. More power to you.</p>
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<p>It isn’t realistic? Even if I paid $500 a month I would still be doing great. I would just cut down on going out to eat and I would be even better.</p>
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<p>Again, you failed to read what I wrote. It was a special promotion where I got a free $200 rebate. Total cost was $350.</p>
<p>Expedia is a great way to find discounts. When you do a package hotel/airfare, you save a lot of money.</p>
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<p>Well, no, according to your budget. If you went from 300/mo to 500/mo, you’d be looking at an additional 2400/year. Your entire food budget for the year, as it is, is 2500. So you’d be down to 100/year for food in order to stay on budget. So actually, you would starve to death.</p>
<p>Of course, even 500/mo is still unrealistic for a huge number of people. In the city I live in, there aren’t really any places where I could do 500/mo, roommate or not. Maybe if I shared out my bedroom with a few people…</p>
<p>To be honest though, I don’t see your problem. If you believe everyone else is irresponsible, that’s fine, but why do you care? Their choices don’t affect you. If anything, you’ll be in a better position, since you’ll be competing with phenomenally poor people throughout your life. So I’m not sure I understand why you’re making this into a religious issue. Are you attempting to become a preacher for financial responsibility, or something like that?</p>
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<p>You must not have read what I wrote because the budget was for me to save $7,500 a year. Even if I spent an additional $2,400 a year, I would still be saving $5,100 a year (while still having $3,400 for clothes, incidentals, vacations, etc.)</p>
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<p>Again, did you read the thread? I never said everyone else is irresponsible. Actually I never even said that I cared. I used the word baffled.</p>
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<p>Life isn’t a competition.</p>
<p>Hmm… According to your budget you don’t have internet nor cellphone… How do you manage without them ?</p>
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<p>But now you have a gigantic drop in your savings rate - 33%. If you remember your initial $200K figure you were proposing for your friends, apply the same drop and now you’re talking about $133K. Add a change or two like this one, and we’re down to a more realistic savings figure - $50K or less.</p>
<p>$300 would include all utilities, I assume.</p>
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<p>Internet/cable is in the incidentals. </p>
<p>I don’t text or do anything else that cell phones have. I buy a $20 prepaid phone at Walgreens and that’s good for 3 months. I don’t even use the free 250 minutes that I am given. lol</p>
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<p>Everything except for water. I included that in the incidentals.</p>
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<p>Again, did you read the posts? My cousin and his wife make double of what I make. </p>
<p>That’s why I was baffled that I am 10 years younger than them and have more than their combined savings. </p>
<p>Even if I just save $6,000 for the next ten years, I will have $100k in savings. That’s the figure I was exactly expressing ($200k for my cousin and his wife since they are two people).</p>