I don’t talk to my mum about our financial situation much. But by watching how she spends her money over the years I’ve picked up a few important tips from her. For example, saving to buy the important things rather than the non-essentials. Although she likes to travel all her life, in the past she only took one vacation every few years because she was always so busy looking after the family and working. But now that she’s semi-retired she is spending more time to relax, go on cruises, and all that. Most people can’t afford to quit their 9-5 job in their 50s, but my mom did because of the sacrifices she made when she was younger, so I’ll try to do something similar. Delayed gratification comes at a price but she thinks it is well worth it and I agree. Instead of traveling a when I’m young, I would like to save more money now and travel when I’m slightly older, like maybe in my 30s. Happy mother’s day.
- img src: cloudfront.net
I think that’s great – making sacrifices when you are young to enjoy an early semi-retirement. Who wants to work longer than they have to?!
Certainly not me （＾ｖ＾）
I see a lot of people making the mistake of splurging when they are young. They go on expensive vacations every year, sometimes more than once in a year. Or they waste money on other unnecessary purchases. Sacrifices you make when you are younger though can build up into a lot of extra money.
One of the mistakes frequently admitted by senior citizens is they didn’t start saving early enough. It would do the world well if more young people listened to their elders.
Haha, did you draw that picture? If so, very disturbing lol!!
Starting early is key to letting compounding work its magic!
I haven’t had a vacation longer than a week in the past 5 years!! All my vacations are pretty budget… most recent one I managed to stay 8 days at Disneyworld for under $1400 including flight, Disney Resort, 5 days at Disney/2 days at Universal park tickets, food and souveniors!
lol, I guess it’s the thought that counts but no, I can’t draw that well. $175 per day is super cheap. I’ll probably ask you for ideas next time I go traveling.
This is great! This is what I want to do.
Me too. I think it will really pay off.
The picture is great! I’m also on board with delayed gratification. We’re definitely saving up because we know it will pay off when we’re in our 50’s and everyone else is still trying to get it together.
Especially when people are living longer these days. The earlier we get it together the longer we can live out the rest of our lives with financial stability.
Although my parents weren’t complete financial failures… I’ve also learned what NOT to do from them. They purchased a recreation property… on a line of credit… and could never pay it off. They sold it at a loss years later. They leased their vehicles, spent lots of money on cigarettes and alcohol, and splurged on lots of “adult toys” like hot tubs, 4 wheelers etc.
I remember the day they decided to return their telephone to Bell Canada – because they’d been RENTING IT from Bell since they got married… 20 years earlier. I remember thinking how stupid it was to have been paying $5/month for a telephone… for 20 years. Every time I saw that charge on my bill I would have been motivated to cancel it – but it was like they didn’t even notice it?!?
Yeah, renting a phone doesn’t seem to be very good idea. That’s interesting though because it’s the first time I’ve heard of someone doing that. Hopefully by learning the hard way, they now know what not to do anymore.
That picture is exactly why I’m not having any children lol but as always still enjoying your blog 🙂
Thanks for dropping by again. I don’t want to have children either. Thankfully, I’m a guy, so I never have to worry about that 🙂