Another post about dying…always interesting to me.
BAM
There’s a simple smack-you-in-the-face saying that I’m understanding better.
“If you don’t fly first class, your kids will.” Or if you don’t fly first class, your kid’s spouses will.
If I don’t fly first class, my niblings, charity execs, and government leaders will. I’m NOT thrilled with the HOGs feely spending my decades of deferred spending.
I am not a good practitioner of this use-it logic. There have been flights where my wife is in first class (because she’s smart) and I’m in an economy seat or premium economy seat a few rows behind her. My logic (sucks) is that I saved enough on one economy flight to pay for a week of the rental car, gas, etc. I’m pretty stupid, I know.
Impact
I was driving home thinking about the farmer’s market and how I should go this weekend. I then thought about how I don’t usually buy much at the market because things cost more than other stores. I realized that spending $5, $10, $20, or $30 more would be inconsequential to our financial plan. It would actually be nice to support those businesses more directly. “Be better to others.”
Enjoy
My thoughts have been shifting toward—what do I value? What do I truly enjoy, want, or desire? What have I done without that the saving/waiting period is now over. What impact would those purchases have on our finances vs my enjoyment?
I don’t really want much. I don’t desire most things. I have always researched what I want and then buy the selection that seems to make sense and make me happy, and it usually does for a lengthy period of time.
But, is this delay, or lack of desire limiting my life in any way? Yeah, it probably is in many ways related to aging.
Doing things now is only going to be easier than when we are older.
Doing things now may only build on themselves with more opportunities to do more. Spending is a muscle.
Seasons
Missing the window of opportunity, or season of life, can be absolutely disheartening once it’s no longer available. My mom is quite sad at times for missing the window to travel abroad. We are missing much of that window now by staying close to my mom to help her with her aging. She would be upset that we’re letting our seasons pass by.
Soul
Retire TO something. You hear that often. “What are you going to do in retirement?” is a common question.
I wish everyone would step back—at any phase of life—and ask “what do I truly love to do that makes my soul happy?” Do those things NOW. Do one on Tuesday night. Don’t wait for retirement, or even the weekend.
Spending Muscle
As for me, I have been bashing on my guitars and my Marshall amps more often than ever. I have a new Marshall full stack on order from England. It makes ZERO sense to get an arena-sized amp, but I can, FI Bucket. Actually, I’m using my playcheck in the FIRE lifestyle/tech categories for the amp so it isn’t even part of our retirement plan spending/retirement spending plan.
Spending my Playcheck is a requirement. It’s non-negotiable. Spending the Fun Bucket is a little harder, but I’m getting better…following Kathy’s lead. I’m starting to ask “Would there even be a negative financial impact 40+ yrs from now?” In 99% of the cases, probably not at all.
I think I need to make a “shopping list” on my Don’t Forget List to dream and spend. I don’t know if I ever talked about our year-round Xmas list, where we buy our Xmas gifts for each other all year long with off-season deals when possible. Maybe I already have a good list, but I need to add dream items…this requires I first need to dream better.
Dumb Ass Husband
Oh, as for our last flight together from Florida to AZ, I was booked 2 rows behind Kathy’s 1st class in extended legroom economy (assigning the money I saved for our car rental category) and with 3 days left in Florida I checked the upgrade price and it was $126 for 4+ hours of seat time. I upgraded to the seat next to her (we booked Kathy with an open aisle seat by her just in case).
Maybe I was lucky to get the seat and a deal, but would a few hundred dollars of our pretty infrequent flights have been a big deal? No.
(Interesting update: I didn’t lose the extended legroom upgrade money I’d paid; the airlines refunded my credit card a week later for the $86 extended charge. Even the airline knew I was being stupid/cheap)
Lesson to all—don’t be a dumbass.
*** Nothing in this article is to be construed as financial advice. I am not a financial planner, nor do I pretend to be. You should always consult your own professional when seeking advice. This post is not a piece of literary mastery, just a random thought I had.