I feel like I have an unhealthy obsession with saving money, and I just wanted other people's opinions. I'm a 30 year old male in Ireland.
So I work a low paying job and earn about €1,500/month. After necessary expenses for rent/food/bills, I'm usually left with €1000/month to do with as I want. But I don't touch any of it, I just hoard all my money and can't bring myself to spend any of it. It could possibly be that up until I got this job, I was unemployed for a few years, but I live the same way now as I did when I was unemployed, my spending habits haven't changed at all. I live very frugally.
I don't mind spending money on other people for birthdays and Christmas, but I can't treat myself to anything. Even if I'm passing a bakery or something and think I'd like something nice, I see a sign that says €2 and I think "nah that's too expensive, I'll leave it". Or if it's raining, I'd rather walk in the rain than spend €2 on the bus. I bring my own cheap lunches into work whereas everybody else spends €10-15/day on lunches and coffees.
I'm currently sitting at €50k savings and while I am very proud of this since my work colleagues only live paycheck to paycheck and save absolutely nothing at all, they're at least enjoying their money. They're going on holidays several times a year, buying lunches every single day, going for nights out a couple of times a week. I don't do anything except just look at the numbers in my bank account increase and I hate seeing it get any lower.
I know if I spent €1k on something, it's not a big deal as I've have it all back within a few weeks again and I wouldn't even notice it going, but at the same time, I feel as if that €1k cost me a month of my life and is this item really worth a month's work. But then again, some people tell me to keep the savings up and in a few years, I can buy a house which is an opportunity that not a lot of people here have, at least not my co-workers anyway. But that's a long term goal, and I wonder if this long term goal should impact my current life so much. Anytime I do spend money, I feel guilty, even if it's only €200 that I know I'll have back within just a few days.
I think I know this isn't normal, but if you were in my position and have €1,000 leftover every month, how much of that would you be happy saving and how much would you spend on unnecessary things like holidays or big purchases? I want to feel better about spending money but also don't want to feel like I'm wasting it or negatively affecting my future. Thanks for reading.
Submitted June 30, 2018 at 09:48AM by charlieseaweed https://ift.tt/2Nb9eHm
