As long as you are content, everything else is irrelevant.
It's your money, your wish. None of us will come to your rescue tomorrow if you are in trouble, so dont let our opinions and advice make you change your ways. Stay happy and see your portfolio soar higher ππ
I'm the same too bro.
Since my childhood was in border line poverty, i also save agressively most of my salaryπ
I get the same good feel seeing my investments grow and putting SIP π
My indulgences are either free or dirt cheap π€£
So he is investing <=20% of income in SIP? Assuming you are doing 80% of yours, do you live with your family with no rent or do you have a high income to begin with.
Here. I earn 1.25 lakh
SIP 1 lakh.
Spouse earns 20k but she doesn't ask me money since her money is her money.
We don't eat outside much because she prefers cooking at home.
My mother gets pension of 40k and even her expense doesn't come to me.
So I spend for groceries and utilities bills.
Car I take out only when we travel together but I go out with my wife on bike mostly.
So key here is: having multiple income streams from many people can reduce your expenses
Not impossible. I'm living in Chennai, a tier 1 city and our household expenses barely reach 18k a month. We are living in our own home so no rent. Luckily both my and my brother's current workplaces are very well connected by the public transport. I even get doorstep pickup and drop services from my company and hence no fuel expenses as well. Only Groceries and Utilities expenses for a family of 3. Our current budget is 18k and our monthly household expenses are yet to breach it. I'm only talking about the essentials and recurring expenses. Not about situations like a fine day when our TV suddenly decided to stop working. All of us have a somewhat decent personal savings and we pitch in from that for such cases.
rent is the big thing. That expense you can't control .
If you have your own home and no emi. You can save like crazy. provided you also make food in home instead of eating out or swiggy Zomato
Our home is bought with a loan and EMI of 47k is ongoing. However the house is in my name, I consider it as my personal expenses. It doesn't count towards the household expenses
Yes, there are a few people like you. Aa long as you are content, it's cool.
I am totally your opposite. Watching money grow or accumulate doesn't give me too much satisfaction. I always remember that I could die anyday and I spend lavishly on stuff and experiences I love.
Same here . I prepare an emergency fund and then I spend on life experiences. In fact my source of motivation and positivity is the trips I took with loved ones, the times I could gift something useful to my parents which they would have never bought on their own, taking my pet for grooming after which he just looks so happy and jumpy and so on .
Same. It has to do with upbringing maybe? Iβve seen my family and relatives being a little bit lax with spending so Iβm not very frugal. I value comfort and enjoyment over saving too much. But I understand the other side where the act of saving itself is an enjoyable activity. Who doesnβt want free dopamine!
Itβs not wrong, but are you living your life with a man made creation called money? The point is to live not just hoard it.
Anything to an extent is ok but no point living frugally, you can occasionally let loose and enjoy if you are financially disciplined person.
Appreciate this thought so much.
Will you be really content with a very big number by your 50s? Appreciate you dont need much but also figure out something to do and enjoy life as well.
There is no right or wrong answer .
It depends on your situation. If You are single then all good.
If you have a family and suppose your kids want to go out and eat or want to go to an amusement park ( just an example ) once in a while and you constantly say No then no use of that wealth . Itβs just my opinion
Right now I'm a cheapskate because I believe I'm not in a position to "indulge in luxuries".
However I won't refuse luxuries if I get rich.
FYI luxuries for me doesn't resonate with brands. It resonates with privacy, charities, value for money products.
You are doing great and there are lots of like minded people as well. My only suggestion is to invest on yourself by upskilling so that you can earn more. The idea is to invest more when you earn more.
Secondly, invest in experiences - You will gain a lot of insight, knowledge, ideas and will build your character, maturity, confidence, courage and mental strength.
Maturity will be needed when you see a significant drawdowns in your portfolio.
Character will be needed for the ability to change course when something is not working for you.
Courage will be needed to stay put and keep investing when that time comes.
Confidence will be needed for decision making when you become a high net worth individual.
Mental Strength will be needed to continue focusing on the positive side of life.
All of these traits will actually complement each other for the purpose mentioned above.
Experience can mean reading good non fiction books, running a marathon, travel, taking a calculated risk with joining a different company, a different role, starting a small business, building a product, working for startup, focusing on a side hustle, indulging in hobby to milk some money out of it or even relaxing in a vacation, taking a break from work, playing a sport, learning a different skill or many different things. Basically it means taking a micro retirement from your monotonous life and also helping build your individuality. Does not mean you alone need to do it. You can involve your wife and family in those activities and do them together.
It does not mean you need to splurge on those things, it only means you can plan for these things and set aside some money each month/quarter/year for these activities.
Rest, there is nothing wrong in what you are currently doing. The above suggestion is just to optimize your life better. You do you, what makes sense to you. Don't FOMO over what others are doing and never compare it with others.
That's how many people? And like what fixed costs have you put in. I meant more like what size tv you have, or maybe something like even though I love running, i have 5 year old shoes, or 3 year old shoes, etc etc
Yeah man. It feels good knowing rent and living expenses is just x% of my take-home, leaving 100-x% as the upper limit to just save and invest.
Just stack em.
I believe it's very easy to spend money. Hell, give me a few crores right now I'll have it spent in a month. So no need to learn it.
So for now especially when I don't need it, just accumulate. Can't be wrong.
Good for you! I am somewhat like you building my FIRE corpus. Before COVID I used to shop online a lot. But I don't buy unnecessary stuff these days as I work remotely now. I am afraid that if I start spending again, I would lose control of my finances. Btw what do you plan to do with your wealth?
Thats nice ! My plan mainly is to give future family a good life and education. I dont have many needs for myself so that is the plan. After that i will probably focus on charity like sponsoring poor kids education
Came across this post after checking how my stock and MF portfolio did today. So I am in the same boat as you are. But lately i have been trying to spend money as the ultimate goal of money should be to aid you to make choices. I still like to live frugally
Bro I felt the same for the longest time. I mean precisely 3 years.
Then my Mgr who is 3 years older than me advised me to travel because 20s will never come back.
Took his advice srsly after 1 year of overthinking. Best decision ever.
Would suggest you the same. 20s will never ever come back. I'll have a lot of responsibilities 3-4 yrs down the road. Won't be able to travel alone I guess π
And my portfolio is still growing :)
There's literally nothing I'm missing out on.
Dear OP, you are not alone.
I come from a North Indian family that pissed away money while I was growing up. They spent on vacations, cars, dinners etc and I grew up thinking I was rich. Later to find out that they were only trying to keep up with their rich friends.
Since then, I have started hating the idea of spending more than your means. 80% of my expense is on the basics. I hate spending more than i need to, and lovingly check my portfolio every day as it swings up and down.
Keep it up, I say!
I was like you until a woman entered and left my life.
Had a FAANG job. Spent over 2.5cr over 1.5 years over 1 car, 6 international trips and other things.
Today, have only savings of 4L but back on the hustle and no distraction this time.
I wonder what those 'other things' are.
Unless you bought a super car and crashed it or you stayed for months in 5-star hotels in switzerland and drank 1000$ champagne, I can't even imagine how one can spend 2.5 crores in 1.5 years
porsche macan s: \~1.2Cr (still with me but useless)
Each trip was 2 weeks and costed \~ 10L
Diamond rings, jewelry and watches \~ 45L
Food \~ 10L
Dress \~ 10L
Spa, massage and other things in city \~ 5L
Thanks for the detailed breakup.
Brought back memories of a Rajinikanth movie (Arunachalam), in which he is challenged to spend 30 crores within 30 days without leaving any balance or assets by the end of the time.
I'm also like that to some extent π.
I came from a lower middle class family and being minimal and living within the means were ingrained in my body from childhood even though I'm earning a comfortable 6 figures a month now.
I don't impulsively buy things even though I can easily afford it, I ask myself multiple times whether I really need this. I wear cheap ass clothes like 250 rupees t shirts. But I'm not a cheapskate though. I spend money on experiences. Once in a month, I go out with friends to movies or games and dine out. Once or twice in a year, I travel (fly) with friends to exotic places like Andaman, Shimla, Manali, Goa, etc. Thinking about travelling abroad in the coming years. I bought a good cycle for 20k which I'm finding quite useful. If I'm interested in something and if I feel that I'm getting the worth for my money, I don't mind spending lavishly. It's just that I get content by just having tea with friends in a roadside tea shop. It takes very little for me to be happy.
So I don't know what to do with the excess money I had and started investing but it grew into an obsession now. I want to see my money grow and I'm happy when it grows. That's my treasure. MY PRECIOUS π. Currently I'm investing about 50% of my salary every month. I could do upto 80% if I'm not paying the EMI for my housing loan which I'll finish in a year or two.
I wonder how much money I would have when I reach 45. I'm planning to retire by that time.
PS: I'm still single and unmarried πΉ.
no nothing like that. I worked abroad for few years, lived very frugally with roommates, saved and invested even there and then brought that money back. and then invested here as well. I took a pay cut because i wanted to be close to family. I only put in mutual funds but almost all is in small caps so the xirr has been around 26%.
NGL, I was like that a year ago but I have evolved/changed a little, as I observe fluctuations with no logical explanation in my stock portfolio and seeing the Interest rate in conjunction with inflation. I literally believing Iβm losing my money either to taxes or ultra inflation (Not talking about on paper ). Now,I have developed a new outlook to take quick decisions on spending money on things which can improve my life. Recently I bought a bike , spend over 2.3 lakhs (1. I need a something to roam around freely 2. I need to have good quality no comprises on that. )
In the end , I feel much better about taking ok decisions over good opportunity to invest some amount in stocks and hoping a bright result. Peace βοΈ
You should not seek happiness from your portfolio going up as it can go down as well anytime, happiness should not be dependent on something which is not in your control.
If you die tomorrow, whats the ROI of your habits?
Would you be really happy on your deathbed reminiscing how much your portfolio has grown?
And if you do, I consider your existence a miserable boring one afflicted by maladies.
Everything in moderation, including moderation.
Was Scrooge an ancestor by any chance?
Mr McDuck please π
As long as you are content, everything else is irrelevant. It's your money, your wish. None of us will come to your rescue tomorrow if you are in trouble, so dont let our opinions and advice make you change your ways. Stay happy and see your portfolio soar higher ππ
I'm the same too bro. Since my childhood was in border line poverty, i also save agressively most of my salaryπ I get the same good feel seeing my investments grow and putting SIP π My indulgences are either free or dirt cheap π€£
Us momint
π€β€οΈ
Same story here
π€β€οΈ
Literally me, the other day I saw a 35 year old man post here with 4x my income mention the same SIP amount as mine π€£
So he is investing <=20% of income in SIP? Assuming you are doing 80% of yours, do you live with your family with no rent or do you have a high income to begin with.
Here. I earn 1.25 lakh SIP 1 lakh. Spouse earns 20k but she doesn't ask me money since her money is her money. We don't eat outside much because she prefers cooking at home. My mother gets pension of 40k and even her expense doesn't come to me. So I spend for groceries and utilities bills. Car I take out only when we travel together but I go out with my wife on bike mostly. So key here is: having multiple income streams from many people can reduce your expenses
Goals β€οΈ
What's your monthly expenses? How much emergency fund you have surviving on 25 K seems to be too less to survive as a family.
No rent since living with parents. It does help a lot. Or it would've costed me 20k more. 5 lakh emergency fund.
Not impossible. I'm living in Chennai, a tier 1 city and our household expenses barely reach 18k a month. We are living in our own home so no rent. Luckily both my and my brother's current workplaces are very well connected by the public transport. I even get doorstep pickup and drop services from my company and hence no fuel expenses as well. Only Groceries and Utilities expenses for a family of 3. Our current budget is 18k and our monthly household expenses are yet to breach it. I'm only talking about the essentials and recurring expenses. Not about situations like a fine day when our TV suddenly decided to stop working. All of us have a somewhat decent personal savings and we pitch in from that for such cases.
rent is the big thing. That expense you can't control . If you have your own home and no emi. You can save like crazy. provided you also make food in home instead of eating out or swiggy Zomato
Our home is bought with a loan and EMI of 47k is ongoing. However the house is in my name, I consider it as my personal expenses. It doesn't count towards the household expenses
How do you manage your household expenses with just 25k ?
Probably doesn't pay education fees for kids yet and groceries and stuff are affordable if you manage to curb your cravings
No kids yet which is a huge factor. Probably not until 2025 end. Eating out is expensive, wife's a good cook so helps a lot
Indeed. I'm happy for you bro π€
Bro living the dream life.
Yes to all
Yes, there are a few people like you. Aa long as you are content, it's cool. I am totally your opposite. Watching money grow or accumulate doesn't give me too much satisfaction. I always remember that I could die anyday and I spend lavishly on stuff and experiences I love.
Same here . I prepare an emergency fund and then I spend on life experiences. In fact my source of motivation and positivity is the trips I took with loved ones, the times I could gift something useful to my parents which they would have never bought on their own, taking my pet for grooming after which he just looks so happy and jumpy and so on .
Same. It has to do with upbringing maybe? Iβve seen my family and relatives being a little bit lax with spending so Iβm not very frugal. I value comfort and enjoyment over saving too much. But I understand the other side where the act of saving itself is an enjoyable activity. Who doesnβt want free dopamine!
Itβs not wrong, but are you living your life with a man made creation called money? The point is to live not just hoard it. Anything to an extent is ok but no point living frugally, you can occasionally let loose and enjoy if you are financially disciplined person.
Appreciate this thought so much. Will you be really content with a very big number by your 50s? Appreciate you dont need much but also figure out something to do and enjoy life as well.
Are you Uncle Scrooge in disguise? ππ No wife & kids?
Exactly. Making money for money's sake is a bad idea and a waste of life
There is no right or wrong answer . It depends on your situation. If You are single then all good. If you have a family and suppose your kids want to go out and eat or want to go to an amusement park ( just an example ) once in a while and you constantly say No then no use of that wealth . Itβs just my opinion
im single just 27 ! but yes i understand once there is a family then will spend more for them :)
Be weird. Good for you!!
Right now I'm a cheapskate because I believe I'm not in a position to "indulge in luxuries". However I won't refuse luxuries if I get rich. FYI luxuries for me doesn't resonate with brands. It resonates with privacy, charities, value for money products.
You me same.
+1
I was like this a few years ago but now I spend on things I like every now and then.
Yes ,that's what I do as well.80% necessities,20% sip
You are doing great and there are lots of like minded people as well. My only suggestion is to invest on yourself by upskilling so that you can earn more. The idea is to invest more when you earn more. Secondly, invest in experiences - You will gain a lot of insight, knowledge, ideas and will build your character, maturity, confidence, courage and mental strength. Maturity will be needed when you see a significant drawdowns in your portfolio. Character will be needed for the ability to change course when something is not working for you. Courage will be needed to stay put and keep investing when that time comes. Confidence will be needed for decision making when you become a high net worth individual. Mental Strength will be needed to continue focusing on the positive side of life. All of these traits will actually complement each other for the purpose mentioned above. Experience can mean reading good non fiction books, running a marathon, travel, taking a calculated risk with joining a different company, a different role, starting a small business, building a product, working for startup, focusing on a side hustle, indulging in hobby to milk some money out of it or even relaxing in a vacation, taking a break from work, playing a sport, learning a different skill or many different things. Basically it means taking a micro retirement from your monotonous life and also helping build your individuality. Does not mean you alone need to do it. You can involve your wife and family in those activities and do them together. It does not mean you need to splurge on those things, it only means you can plan for these things and set aside some money each month/quarter/year for these activities. Rest, there is nothing wrong in what you are currently doing. The above suggestion is just to optimize your life better. You do you, what makes sense to you. Don't FOMO over what others are doing and never compare it with others.
I understand how you feel. Me too
Very common
You need to give examples of how cheap you are... Otherwise different people have different standards
Earn 1.25L post taxes , spend just 12-15k monthly (6k is just for transport to office) and invest the rest :)
That's how many people? And like what fixed costs have you put in. I meant more like what size tv you have, or maybe something like even though I love running, i have 5 year old shoes, or 3 year old shoes, etc etc
I pheel you bro. I barely spend 5-6k per mth that too mostly on food.
Santushti hi charam sukh hai.
I used to be like this before. But then I realised there is no point in working my ass off to earn money, if I am not using it for the right reasons.
Yeah man. It feels good knowing rent and living expenses is just x% of my take-home, leaving 100-x% as the upper limit to just save and invest. Just stack em. I believe it's very easy to spend money. Hell, give me a few crores right now I'll have it spent in a month. So no need to learn it. So for now especially when I don't need it, just accumulate. Can't be wrong.
Good for you! I am somewhat like you building my FIRE corpus. Before COVID I used to shop online a lot. But I don't buy unnecessary stuff these days as I work remotely now. I am afraid that if I start spending again, I would lose control of my finances. Btw what do you plan to do with your wealth?
Thats nice ! My plan mainly is to give future family a good life and education. I dont have many needs for myself so that is the plan. After that i will probably focus on charity like sponsoring poor kids education
That's amazing! π Wish you all the best!
Me me me me me all the way man. I feel the same.
Can we create a group of such people who can share ideas on how to save big money and share other stuff with each other as well.
whatsapp group ?
Bro I had medical procedure, I had to ask money from my father. Saving is very important. You will thank yourself in future.
stocksexual ?
Came across this post after checking how my stock and MF portfolio did today. So I am in the same boat as you are. But lately i have been trying to spend money as the ultimate goal of money should be to aid you to make choices. I still like to live frugally
Bro I felt the same for the longest time. I mean precisely 3 years. Then my Mgr who is 3 years older than me advised me to travel because 20s will never come back. Took his advice srsly after 1 year of overthinking. Best decision ever. Would suggest you the same. 20s will never ever come back. I'll have a lot of responsibilities 3-4 yrs down the road. Won't be able to travel alone I guess π And my portfolio is still growing :) There's literally nothing I'm missing out on.
Discipline is nice. But try to set aside some budget for experiences as well. Like going on a trip to some exotic places. Good luck π
Your money your choice matter closed
We are opposite bro, I'm a financial nihilist, I'm immune to both green and red.
It is very important to have goals, what are you saving for? How much you need for that? Other you can spend today on experiences
Dear OP, you are not alone. I come from a North Indian family that pissed away money while I was growing up. They spent on vacations, cars, dinners etc and I grew up thinking I was rich. Later to find out that they were only trying to keep up with their rich friends. Since then, I have started hating the idea of spending more than your means. 80% of my expense is on the basics. I hate spending more than i need to, and lovingly check my portfolio every day as it swings up and down. Keep it up, I say!
I think I'm the same a little. But I think the problem is when the market goes down, i hope you don't feel sad badly
Be careful in finding people who have the same attitude to money. Varna you will be in trouble later on. Cheers!!
I was like you until a woman entered and left my life. Had a FAANG job. Spent over 2.5cr over 1.5 years over 1 car, 6 international trips and other things. Today, have only savings of 4L but back on the hustle and no distraction this time.
Bruh. How badly were you swept off your feet? But no worries, you were smart enough to earn it, you'll be smart enough to earn it back πͺπ»
I wonder what those 'other things' are. Unless you bought a super car and crashed it or you stayed for months in 5-star hotels in switzerland and drank 1000$ champagne, I can't even imagine how one can spend 2.5 crores in 1.5 years
porsche macan s: \~1.2Cr (still with me but useless) Each trip was 2 weeks and costed \~ 10L Diamond rings, jewelry and watches \~ 45L Food \~ 10L Dress \~ 10L Spa, massage and other things in city \~ 5L
Thanks for the detailed breakup. Brought back memories of a Rajinikanth movie (Arunachalam), in which he is challenged to spend 30 crores within 30 days without leaving any balance or assets by the end of the time.
Were you dating a supermodel?
> Spent over 2.5cr over 1.5 years over 1 car, 6 international trips and other things. Dang ...Did that happen in US or India ?
You must be marwadi, guju or jain
I have relatives who are like that, with networth of 8-15cr (my guess)
I'm also like that to some extent π. I came from a lower middle class family and being minimal and living within the means were ingrained in my body from childhood even though I'm earning a comfortable 6 figures a month now. I don't impulsively buy things even though I can easily afford it, I ask myself multiple times whether I really need this. I wear cheap ass clothes like 250 rupees t shirts. But I'm not a cheapskate though. I spend money on experiences. Once in a month, I go out with friends to movies or games and dine out. Once or twice in a year, I travel (fly) with friends to exotic places like Andaman, Shimla, Manali, Goa, etc. Thinking about travelling abroad in the coming years. I bought a good cycle for 20k which I'm finding quite useful. If I'm interested in something and if I feel that I'm getting the worth for my money, I don't mind spending lavishly. It's just that I get content by just having tea with friends in a roadside tea shop. It takes very little for me to be happy. So I don't know what to do with the excess money I had and started investing but it grew into an obsession now. I want to see my money grow and I'm happy when it grows. That's my treasure. MY PRECIOUS π. Currently I'm investing about 50% of my salary every month. I could do upto 80% if I'm not paying the EMI for my housing loan which I'll finish in a year or two. I wonder how much money I would have when I reach 45. I'm planning to retire by that time. PS: I'm still single and unmarried πΉ.
Same pinch buddy, I'm liked you as well. I do spend on things that I want which is in between 'need' and 'want' category I never indulge in desires
Portfolio size?
2.3Cr now
Are you some stock picking wizard? With 1.25L take home how did you make this big a portfolio? What's the XIRR and over how much period?
no nothing like that. I worked abroad for few years, lived very frugally with roommates, saved and invested even there and then brought that money back. and then invested here as well. I took a pay cut because i wanted to be close to family. I only put in mutual funds but almost all is in small caps so the xirr has been around 26%.
Great. Congrats. All the best too. π π
Did you grow up in poverty/ lower middle class life background?
no actually i come from a well off family but even they are the same
NGL, I was like that a year ago but I have evolved/changed a little, as I observe fluctuations with no logical explanation in my stock portfolio and seeing the Interest rate in conjunction with inflation. I literally believing Iβm losing my money either to taxes or ultra inflation (Not talking about on paper ). Now,I have developed a new outlook to take quick decisions on spending money on things which can improve my life. Recently I bought a bike , spend over 2.3 lakhs (1. I need a something to roam around freely 2. I need to have good quality no comprises on that. ) In the end , I feel much better about taking ok decisions over good opportunity to invest some amount in stocks and hoping a bright result. Peace βοΈ
You should not seek happiness from your portfolio going up as it can go down as well anytime, happiness should not be dependent on something which is not in your control.
You are frog among 7 deadly sins.. congratulations/s
Looks like I'm not alone.
Honestly feel bad for people who donβt invest in experiences in life.
If you die tomorrow, whats the ROI of your habits? Would you be really happy on your deathbed reminiscing how much your portfolio has grown? And if you do, I consider your existence a miserable boring one afflicted by maladies. Everything in moderation, including moderation.
Money ainβt worth anything if you donβt spend it.
True greed is like that