It is Time to Splurge a Little – Here is Why

I just paid $699 for an upgrade to a business class seat from SFO to Newark.   It’s the first time I ever paid so much for an upgrade “I don’t need.”  I had a “perfectly practical” economy class window seat near the front of the cabin.    Splurging a little on myself was actually a difficult action to take for me.  I have been frugal and practical all my life.

Why have I Been so Frugal?

I grew up with nothing and always thought I needed to save for the future in order to have financial security.  When I came to the US at 12 years old, my parents and I lived on my dad’s income of $1000 a month as a Stanford PHD student.  My parents drove an $800 orange Toyota wagon. We bought clothes at Goodwill or yard sales.

My first bike was only $2 and didn’t have a seat cover :-(.  I was constantly hazed by middle schoolers about my poor looking bike. I used to wait after school until everyone has taken their bikes home before getting mine to avoid the repeated harassment.

Since then I vowed to work smart and focus on accumulating wealth and financial security so my kids do not have to experience that in the future.   This means always spending below my means!  39 years later, I’m still fairly frugal.  While I do splurge on 4 star hotels and eating out at times, our family also still love buying clothes/toys on discount and focus on getting the most value with our money.

What is changing now?

I am not saying, all of a sudden I will spend more than I make.  However, after reading the book “Die with Zero,” I realized I am a bit addicted to accumulating wealth.   I like seeing my Mint asset numbers and want it to always go up.   However, I am not going to live forever.  I am already witnessing the slow down of my parents.  It’s sobering.  I am only 28 years behind them.

In the book, it talked about the “go-go” years, the “some-go” years and the “no-go” years.  Because we don’t want to think about death; we sometime assume we will be in the “go-go” years forever- being able to move around easier and do stuff. However it’s not true.   My parents are in the latter part of the “some go” years. My dad has some pains walking so need to rest often.  My mom also gets more tired easier. Both need two hour naps in the middle of the day as well.

At 79 years old, this is normal.  In 5 years, they will be even less mobile and will likely into “no go” anymore.  By then for them and for any of us at that age, all we have are our memories and experiences of the past and some intermittent visits from the younger generations.   It’s a more grim prospect than I would like to dwell on but it’s reality.

I am still in my “go-go” years but for how much longer?  I am healthy so perhaps for another 20 years. Sounds long but it’s still finite. It’s time to make these next twenty years count for myself and with my parents, my hubby, my kids, plus my friends.

Splurging is easier said than done.

Do I have enough for my kids college? Yes.
Do I have emergency funds? Yes.
Do I have enough to retire now? No.
Will I have enough when I stop working?   Probably.
I like working and I have marketable skills.  The combination means I should be able to earn good money for awhile even if I get laid off tomorrow.

Then splurging, spending on business class for example should be an easy decision. It is not, at least not for me.  I still try to get lunches for $10, clothes for $20-$30, flights in the hundreds of dollars.  To fly to Europe in business class is easily $5k+ for 30 hours round trip.  That’s about 3-4 times the price of a good economy ticket.  The decision to splurge doesn’t immediately lead to the action to splurge.  Perhaps that’s a good thing.  I am now re-learning the value of money in terms of the experiences and how they can serve me as I get older.

Baby steps towards splurging

Just like anything splurging requires re-training my decision-making logic.    My instinct is to be frugal so I actually have to push myself to splurge on things that I value.   For example:

Step 1: consider upgrading to business class
Step 2: check prices for business class
Step 3: realize outright buying business class ticket still feels too expensive.  Explore tricks to get business class for cheaper.
Step 4: discover last minute upgrade is cheaper.
Step 5: decide to upgrade to business class for $699 for a United Polaris full lay-back seat for a 6.5 hour flight.    This last one took me a few tries to go for it.

Once I went for it, I still felt guilty but I also loved it.  I have never experienced the full lay back seats before.  So the experience itself was worth it.  I had access to the United lounge before hand and also ended up taking two 1 hour naps on the flight.  I also made a friend across the aisle who was also flying business class for the first time ;-).

Why Share this Story?

I am not telling you this story to flaunt that I have money now.   All of us at some point if we have been working smart, and being frugal, will have some money to finally enjoy the finer things in line.

1. Perhaps it’s also time for you to relook at how you spend on experiences.  You have limited time left on this earth.   Experiences and those memories will be more valuable to you as you get older.  This doesn’t mean start spending frivolously.  Just watch out for your addiction to accumulating wealth at the expense of enjoying the finer things in life.
2. Making changes in your habits takes times.   I actually have to practice “splurging a little” on myself and my family.   You would think that I spending more on myself would be easy.  It is NOT!  I struggle with the guilt of the extra spending as I am conditioned for 40 years to save.
3. Sharing this reminds me to keep going on this change :-).   Everything is more real once you tell someone what you are trying to do.  You are helping me in a way by reading this article.  I would love to hear any questions or comments

I highly recommend you read “Die with Zero” no matter how old you are.  It’s one of the few books I read cover to cover and wish I have known about it earlier.  It shares stories about why a 23 year old should also go backpacking for 3 months in Europe even though they don’t have much saving yet.  Believe me, it will apply to you now, no matter your age.

Your comments: Do you already splurge a little?  Are you addicted to accumulating wealth?  I look forward to your questions, stories, and comments

Like this post?  please post it on social media

New to this Site? Start here – Soft Skills – How to Succeed like an Executive

Best wishes,

Lei