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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]She probably has someone who cooks for her at home. No way is Suze cooking up a grilled cheese for dinner. [/quote]

This -
[b]She has staff and they cook and serve her. [/b]She probably gets taken out to eat on others' dime.[/quote]

+1000

And she doesn’t have kids. She’s never had to work a 8:30-5, pick up kids from aftercare, then rush home to throw together taco night while the other spouse totes the kids around to sports practices.

So splurging on take out from Uber eats on a Sat. night after the kids go to bed while we watch a Netflix show is how we unwind and enjoy a date night at home. It’s also a drop in the bucket compared to all the years of daycare/preschool costs and what we throw into their 529s.

Lol at maybe $300 a month on takeout having a noticeable effect on our finances compared to childcare, housing, and college savings. Also that $300/month keeps us from totally burning out.

And we do make coffee at home (no Starbucks) but that is because we had the funds to buy one of those fancy machines that makes lattes, espresso, etc. So I would never begrudge someone splurging on an $8 drink on occasion just because they can’t afford an $800 coffee maker. 
[/quote]

I, on the other hand, totally do begrudge someone their $8 fancy drink if they're not also taking care of their financial future. I'm the poster who said I read Suze in my 20s. I never, ever hit Starbucks during that decade of my life. Nor did I drink any alcohol at all. I went out with my friends, but my bill was always lower than everyone else's, because I had paid myself first, and thus I had less income left over with which to splurge. I worked my whole lifestyle around what was left after I saved for my future. A big reason why I did this was the education I received from reading Suze Orman.

Today, our HHI is high and we blow lots of money. After saving for retirement and contributing to the kids' college, we use our income to do fun things like eat out. We belong to a country club. I do hit Starbucks a couple of times a month. I do feel entitled to all kinds of luxuries now that I've worked for decades and sacrificed many of life's little pleasures when I was younger in trade for the great feeling that building a solid financial foundation brought me. Now HHI is high enough that what's left over after saving is still a lot.

I have kept several friends from my teenage years. We are now in totally different financial spots and we're at the age where they're getting nervous about it. I remember feeling incredulous and silently judgy when I'd watch how they spent when we were young. Lots of dining out, lots of drinking, lots of fancy coffee, vacations. Again, don't begrudge anyone these things, as long as they're buying them with the money that's left over after they've saved an adequate amount. That's Suze's point. And that $300/mo that is negligible to you can actually build great wealth for someone who starts saving it early. $3600/year saved for 45 years at 8% growth becomes about $1.4 million. That's a lot more than most people accumulate, and it's because most people waste too much relative to their income.[/quote]

How sad. Sounds like you wasted your 20s, that should be the best decade of your life. If you were more rational you would have smoothed your consumption more appropriately over your lifetime and you could have had more fun and not stiffed your friends on the bill.[/quote]
Sounds like the PP hit a nerve. [/quote]

Not really. I had a lot of fun in my 20s, spent a lot on travel and eating/drinking out, and still ended up with plenty of money, a vacation home etc. If I have any regrets it is that I didn’t spend more when I was younger, eg eating in restaurants abroad rather than having bread and cheese for lunch in my early twenties.

It is really about balance. I just get annoyed by these people who think there is something virtuous about ruining your 20s by working like a dog and deferring all your enjoyment till you are in your 50s and too old to sample life’s pleasures with the same gusto.[/quote]

Find a balance.  You can easily have fun in your 20s without "working like a dog and deferring all enjoyment".  You likely just finished college and lived quite frugally.  So why not continue like that, with a few splurges while you pay off your loans and get on a great footing for your late 20s and beyond.  For us it only took 3 years to pay off the student loans and save downpayment for a house.  Yeah, we lived frugally, but it was a huge upgrade from our "college living".  We picked a mid level apartment lived in by mostly professionals.  Saving $500/month on the apartment meant we could put that towards loans.  I didn't need granite kitchen, fancy appliances---heck I didn't even have laundry in my apartment---but it was in a bldg of 6 apartments and we had 2 W/2D in the basement shared by only the 6 apt.  Huge upgrade from the college dorm/apartments. 
I enjoyed my "packed at home lunches" in the cafeteria with my co-workers---never felt like I was missing out on something---I saved $8+ per day and probably ate healthier.  I would join them every 1-2 weeks if a group went out for lunch.   Would join for happy hour/dinner with friends/co-workers 1-2x/month.  It was more fun to gather at apartments with friends and get takeout, make our own drinks and play games than go to a fancy restaurant.  Really not missing out on much in your 20s if you don't dine out 3+ times per week.

We went on driving vacations where we could explore the country within 5-6 hours from us---many times they were linked to attending a wedding (we were in our 20s).  Was I missing out by staying at a Courtyard by Marriott instead of a JWMarriott?  Don't really think so.  Life was fun.

However, knowing that we'd paid off $60K of student loans and saved enough to own a 10 yo 4 bed/2.5 bath by the time we were 28, in a decent neighborhood was worth it.  Then we could split what we saved between savings and "entertainment/living life".  We were on an excellent financial path by 28---seems worth the being a bit frugal to do that in your 20s so you can splurge in your 30s and beyond.   First trip to Europe at 28 and never looked back.

Now I'm in my 50s, fly first class 95% of time, think nothing of paying $800+/night for hotels while on vacation (but still always looking for a great deal), go out to eat or get UberEats 4+ times/week and some weeks its every day, drive a high end BMW, etc.

Been "enjoying life fully" since late 20s, and enjoyed the early 20s, just at a scaled back level.  Seems worth it to me to get out of debt and onto a good financial track, especially when our 20s was still an upgrade over the past 4-6 years of college and grad school.  [/quote]

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