I get about that from teaching one semester a year. I save it in a separate account and go on a yearly girls trip. If I threw it in with everything else it wouldn’t feel as extra to me.

If you work out a gym membership to a really nice gym, getting my hair done as often as needed rather than pushing it out as far as possible, and other personal care options. otherwise I’d save it in a free checking account and use it as needed for extras that I might not otherwise buy like a $200+ copper tea kettle that I love but cant bring myself to buy.

I have an extra 700 a month. I don't have too much time to really spend extra. I do treat myself to a massage weekly when my DD has an activity. I am also taking the family on an extra trip or two. Nothing too crazy but I don't feel as pressed to find the cheapest rates or feel guilty about spending on hotels and whatnot.

Give myself a treat (dinner out, show, book buying spree, etc.)

Donate to church/charity

Stick the rest in savings/investments so it could grow until I found something I really wanted. Maybe in a few years I could take more time for vacation, buy something big, etc.

Get hair salon color treatments once a month, give charity to 2-3 causes, buy clothes for my toddler nieces.

Pay for extra help around the house- an extra house cleaning or yard work.

I'd get more mani/pedis and blowouts, and donate some to charity.

I would do two sessions a month with one of the good therapists who don't take health insurance. Even if I thought I didn't need it. To talk through midlife stuff, parenting stuff, work stuff, hopes, anxieties, whatever.

I’m the same age and relate to your struggle to spend money on luxuries for yourself. Before I had kids, I made way less money, but I had tons of free time to shop, have fun with friends, just be out and about, so I was always finding opportunities to spend money. When you’re busy with family responsibilities and are accustomed to saving, you have to go out of your way to think of something you want to buy.

I have a ton of anxiety about AI making my job obsolete, so I would save any extra money. But if I didn’t have that anxiety, I would spend that money on upgrading a vacation (not accommodations but destination. E.g. Italy instead of Florida.) Or I might treat myself to a monthly massage and weekly yoga class and put the rest toward savings.

I don’t care about clothes and accessories anymore, but if I did, I’d be more inclined to save the $500/mo up to buy a big ticket item like a fancy piece of jewelry or handbag, rather than buy clothes.

Donate to a charity important to me

I would save it up to go on a nice solo trip. OR buy something related to my hobby. What are your hobbies, OP? Can you spend it on that? Or take a for fun class in something you're interested in?

What about upgrading existing vacations? Nicer rooms/dinner out, etc.

I was like that in my 40s, but now that my kids are older I am treating myself more. I got a bonus at work and bought a handbag with it.

It's really hard to say without knowing your baseline spend. But maybe a monthly spa day?

I recently took on a temporary, 24+ month-long clerical side project at work. It’s something I’ll do in a few hours a month in my spare time, and it comes with a separate paycheck that will net about $500/month after taxes.

Our regular finances are already pretty locked in, we aggressively save for retirement and college, and we contribute monthly to a liquid savings account, so this isn’t money we *need* to plug into anything. Since it’s tied to extra work I’m doing on my own time and it’s not a permanent raise, I was thinking it might be nice to use it for something just for me.

The problem is that I’m weirdly uninspired about what that might be. I’m in my mid-40s and have honestly never really had “fun money” like this before. For example, I thought about travel, but I don’t magically have more vacation time. At the same time, it feels a little wasteful to just let it disappear into random wants.

If you suddenly had about $500/month earmarked for something personal or meaningful, what would you do with it?