Are You....

[FarmerChick]

so worried about day to day, next week to next week, year to year expenses etc and the ecomony--THAT YOU DO NOT live your life?

just wondering how ya'll feel about spending money to enjoy life a bit vs. always saving, always worrying, always looking for free fun and all that mess. LOL



edited to say everyone's life circumstances will differ, but can ya part with a dime to pay to enjoy life a bit?????

 

[Bubblingbrooks]

so worried about day to day, next week to next week, year to year expenses etc and the ecomony--THAT YOU DO NOT live your life?

just wondering how ya'll feel about spending money to enjoy life a bit vs. always saving, always worrying, always looking for free fun and all that mess. LOL



edited to say everyone's life circumstances will differ, but can ya part with a dime to pay to enjoy life a bit?????

Spending money is not a requirement to enjoying and living life for us.
Would be a sad way to live if I had to spend money to be happy.

 

[gettinaclue]

We go out very rarely. It isn't that we don't like to, but it just isn't in the budget. I know a lot of people say you can go here for free, and do this at a discounted price, but mostly those things/places aren't for people with schedules like us - we miss that stuff while we are at work or doing something around the house/yard/garden that can't be put off anymore.

Also, my kids are 7 years apart in age and it can be difficult to find things to do that all of us will enjoy.

That being said, we did all go to the dirt track for my birthday. We haven't been for 8 years. We all really enjoyed it and will hopefully being making a trip back in October - if we can swing it.

Occasionally we'll go bowling, but it's to expensive to bowl more than one or two games and only go every 3 or 4 years.

We mostly just do stuff at home and that works for us.

 

[PamsPride]

I have taken the kids to the drive in TWICE this year! $34 each time, plus stopped and bought snacks at DG! We are lucky if make it once in a year. We took the kids to the county fair and blew through $100! (It was all a gift from a grandma though.) But I resisted the urge to pay bills with it or use the money to stock up and I just went and had fun! I wanted to take the kids to a minor league baseball game too but time just not worked in our favor for that.

But I am still on the look out for 'free' fun! I say 'free' because to go anywhere we have to add in anywhere from $10-$30 just in gas to get the free activity. Just to go 12 miles away to a nice pond for free swimming takes 2 gallons of gas in our van. That adds up if we go twice a week. We want to go to our one friends house and have a cook out and go swimming in their nice pool this Thursday...they live almost 40 minutes away, one way!

In the back of my mind I justify the gas money by saying to myself "If the SHTF we will NOT be doing any of this stuff so we better do it now while we have the chance!"

 

[Marianne]

We don't really spend money to do 'fun' stuff. Once in a while DH will have an opportunity to go to a sports event out of town with one of our grown kids and I always tell him to have a great time. But we're pretty much okay just staying home or visiting friends.

We still enjoy life, don't worry about the economy, politics, the news, SHTF, whatever. Also don't feel like we have to spend money to be happy.
Our kids are grown, so that makes it easier.

 

[calendula]

Most of the things that I enjoy doing just happen to be free for the most part. I like birdwatching, hiking, gardening, reading, camping, star-gazing, playing cards, crafting, etc... Most of these things can be done for free or a very low cost. It's not that I'm worried about spending my money so much, it's just that the stuff I like happens to be cheap.

 

[Marianne]

Most of the things that I enjoy doing just happen to be free for the most part. I like birdwatching, hiking, gardening, reading, camping, star-gazing, playing cards, crafting, etc... Most of these things can be done for free or a very low cost. It's not that I'm worried about spending my money so much, it's just that the stuff I like happens to be cheap.

What a great way of stating it! My thoughts exactly.

 

[MyKidLuvsGreenEgz]

There are so many responses swirling around in my head, I'm not sure what to say.

I don't do much for fun. I have doc and therapy appts for me and the kid, and puppy training. Then there's homeschooling, library and grocery trips, etc. We like movies but that gets really expensive.

To the question: am I worrying about the future instead of living? Answer: partially. I'm concerned about keeping my critters happy, healthy and safe. I'm concerned about my son and helping him get to where he can have a somewhat normal albeit limited life. I'm concerned about my marriage and if I can't get my hubby to be more onboard with good parenting then my kid, the puppy and some of the chickens and I will be moving to an apartment which I REALLY don't want but will do for a little less tension and more peace-of-mind.

Sorry, I babbled. I'm listening to Obama talk while typing. It's not good.

But .. good point. I need to start living again.

I think I'll go read a book. A chapter at least.

 

[SSDreamin]

Our friends think we're weird because we only go 'out' on special occasions/birthdays. We decided to go to the movies earlier this year- the first time in years. It was so funny! We all left feeling ripped off- my 11 yr old son got in the car and said "Do you know how much popcorn and DVD's from the library we could've rented with the money we just spent? Years worth!" He was right. We recently went to a very nice restaurant for our anniversary and agreed that my cooking was far better, hands down (which made me feel pretty good). My youngest begged for a store bought cake for his birthday last year, so we went to a raved about bakery and paid way too much for one of their 'basic models'. He took two bites and asked me to remind him how awful and dry that cake tasted if he ever asked for another store bought one!

For us, it isn't a matter of not being able to afford to go or do- we would reallocate the money towards it if we agreed it was important: We've just come to the realization that not only have our priorities changed as a family, we want real value for our hard earned money. It seems, to us anyway, most of the things people love to spend money doing these days holds very little value to us.

I don't think we've stopped living. If anything, we've started living more fully and less materialistically.

 

[aggieterpkatie]

We are very careful with money but we also spend money on entertainment. Sometimes we'll go out to eat (or order a pizza), and even though home cooking is way cheaper (and often times better), sometimes we just want a break. We took a vacation this year with tax refund money. Yeah,that money could have gone to bills, but the kids are young and we want to create family experiences and I want them to grow up knowing what family vacations are like. DH's family NEVER went on vacation and I want the kids to know what it's like.

We don't HAVE to spend money to have a good time, but you can't always *just* do free things.