It’s funny being a personal finance blogger as I feel like I have to almost hold myself to a higher standard in my daily life when it comes to spending money. Although it’s mostly in good fun, I’ve gotten some double takes from friends of the blog when I buy a coffee, eat out or perhaps take a nice vacation. I sometimes lean into a little bit as myself or others will make comments about certain purchases not being “YMF Approved”. However, I do spend money and I do enjoy it! I wrote about this idea last year and it was a huge hit! So, as a follow-up, I wanted to do a post on how I like to spend my money! 

How I budget to spend money

Ha! If you thought this was just a fun post all about spending money instead of saving it, you’re wrong! A budget in my opinion is probably the most important key to financial success; it’s both your roadmap and your plan! So, before any discussion on what I spend my money on, it’s important to discuss how I budget for it!

In my budget, which I do via a spreadsheet (#oldfashioned), each month I have different buckets for how I plan to spend my money. (PS if you want my template you can download it free here). Of course I may go over in some areas and adjust by going under in other buckets but on the whole I budget for every dollar and I either save, spend, invest or give away my 2 monthly paychecks (plus Mrs. Money’s 2 monthly paychecks). I have two types of buckets: fixed and variable. Fixed are important bills that are generally the same each month; these are buckets I cannot afford not to pay. Examples are: the mortgage (gotta have a place to live), our phone bills, and utilities (which technically change month to month but not by a ton overall). Outside of that I then have buckets for: General Living, Fun, Gas, Travel and then Savings. Sadly we don’t always hit our savings goals, but I do purposefully set the goal high vs low. 

For the variable buckets I’ve got: General Living, Fun and Travel. General Living is things like groceries (so many groceries as of late), Fun is for really anything else, and travel is a bit of a legacy from pre-COVID but we love travelling and would have a bucket for travel each month. We wouldn’t always use it as we wouldn’t travel each month, but would roll it over each month to save for our bigger trips. It’s a good system for us and helps us think through and keep track of how we’re spending our money. 

How I determine where to spend my money

Money isn’t good or bad, it’s simply a tool that can be used to benefit or hurt you in life. I use money as a tool to not only live my life (paying for mortgage, utilities, groceries, insurance) but to also thrive in it (fun, travel). I aim to thrive not only now but also later in life, which is why I’m saving so hard for retirement (15% of my income). Living my life is fairly straightforward: mortgage/rent, groceries, bills, insurance etc. It’s how I aim to thrive with my money that’s the fun part! 

For quite some time now, I’ve really been focused on the quality of the things I purchase vs. the quantity, and also focusing on accumulating experiences vs. stuff. Looking back over my young professional life I remember much more the nice dinners, the vacations and the events instead of the ‘stuff’ I bought. Stuff fades away, accumulates dust and eventually gets thrown out or donated. Experiences last forever and that’s where I like to spend more of my money! 

How I spent it pre-COVID

Ah, the pre-COVID world; will we ever return to you? Pre-COVID, Mrs. Money and I enjoyed spending our money on those experiences I was mentioning prior. Whether it was eating out with friends (or date nights) at restaurants, going to events (breweries, concerts, shows, movies, sporting events) or our favorite place to spend money; travel! We enjoyed travel so much that we had a budget category for it, and even though we didn’t travel each month (#goals), we would roll that money over month to month. 

How I spend it during COVID 

There’s a big part of me that is having trouble letting go of my travel goals so we’re still saving up points, miles and part of our monthly budget category saves up. To be fair, we have taken a mini trip to the beach earlier this summer and have another one planned coming up. We’re doing an AirBnB in condos, which feel safer than hotels, and are trying to go a bit more off-season. We’ve also been investing in our new house with various projects. Finally we’re still spending plenty on food, just through takeout and DoorDash! There’s not much else to spend our money on so we do look forward to the weekly or twice weekly meals out! 

Summary

There’s a lot of good that money can do, and when used properly and responsibly it can bring a lot of joy in your life. Definitely spend your money, just not all of it! Also spend your money in areas that create lasting experiences or to purchase quality products that’ll last in your life (#newbidet). Even personal finance bloggers like me spend money and I always try to do so in areas that make my life better!