I have to constantly battle the urge to pay down debt with enjoying myself a bit in the present. My husband helps keep me honest in this regard — he’s more of a spender. On the other hand, I help balance him out in the savings department.

I get some junk food from time to time. Chocolate is always a good way to enjoy the present, health repercussions aside.

Other times, we dole out $15 or so for some alcohol and have a friend or two over for a movie night.

@ Abigail

Small amounts of dark chocolate and alcohol (especially red wine) are supposedly healthy things. : ) We’ve all heard of red wine & resveratrol by now, but dark chocolate has copious amounts of flavenoids which lower blood pressure and LDL (bad cholesterol).

I would say I occasionally have hyperopia. Like right now, with the prices of houses so low I’d LOVE to buy a house, but it’s just not the right time for us. Other than that, I really feel like most of my frugality is really worth it. I’m still pretty young, so I feel like I’ll be in a good spot to relax a little soon enough – all because I’m being extra-careful right now.

@ Nicki,

Being extra-careful is a good thing! I wish more people had your financial foresight.

I think the big trade off with buying a house (regardless of the discounted value) is how much of your income can you guarantee to give to someone else over a 15 to 30 year time period. Somehow, this annoying little question seems to have fallen through the cracks in the last decade.

BTW: Great article this week in the Festival of Frugality.

I tend to overthink purchases, but the upside is that I never regret buying or not buying. We make sure we always have enough money for travel. But things–they always turn up again.

@ Frugalscholar

I’m the same way. I would rather have saver’s remorse than buyer’s remorse. I may regret not buying something or taking a killer vacation, but at least I still have the money which will likely cheer me back up.

Thanks for the great article and I enjoy your honesty. One point about your dog – research shows that the health benefits (reduced stress, healthier blood pressure levels, increased exercise) of owning a pet are excellent. Maybe what you save on stress and high blood pressure related doctors visits outweighs the cost of the new laptop cable? And like you say, you get a good (priceless!) laugh out of most of your dogs antics afterall!

Absolutely Julia! On paper, Sassie is a horrible investment.

Alternatively, if you included how many smiles and laughs I get out of her everyday, plus the forced exercise we get with a minimum of a half mile walk everyday, the “bad investment” argument falls apart pretty quick.

Personally, I’m content with saying she’s worth it, and then some!

I’m completely the opposite – I have regret over all the stuff I have bought needlessly. I’m currently selling a slew of items on ebay each with the disciprtion “like new” or “hardly used.”

I have a barely used ipad, a road bike, and many other items. And after recently listening to “Your Money or Your Life” I can to the stark realisation that my spending was out of control, and I was trying, but failing, to make myself happy with material things.

I actually found your blog by searching Google for “the things you own end up owning you”, which is from the film Fight Club.

Thanks for the info – it is useful!

Thanks LG. I definitely hear ya on the buyers remorse.

I occasionally get this from other things I buy, mainly tech gadgets (Xbox ranks pretty high in this category considering it’s been in a storage box for 2-3 years now), so I know where you’re coming from.

I try to ask myself: 1) can I use it everyday, 2) will it provide significant (real, not perceived) productivity in my life, 3) will the joy I get from the purpose fall victim to the law of diminishing returns.

My debt calendar post has done very well. I get a few emails every month from people who say it completely changed their views on consumerism, so I’m glad to have come up with an in-your-face graphic to burn the image of debt in their brains. Every time I’m about to take on a large, recurring debt, this calendar pops in my head, so I know firsthand how anti-consumer it can be.

Whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing depends upon your point of view.

Thanks again for the kind words.