I'm as frugal as they come but if we made 360k yes I'd get a new car, go on a nice trip, or do a home renovation.

If you really want a car or a new bathroom and you can afford it, go for it.

I agree with most of this. No sense in being miserly, life is too short, but don't go overboard either. A few small treats to keep you motivated (in my case, a new watch and maybe a nice new suit, and maybe some personal training or massage sessions), but no new cars or new vacation houses, etc. Pay down debts, rebuild savings, maybe buy more investment properties, that sort of thing ...

I've only been making a decent salary for the past 1.5 years. So all bonuses go towards my student loans or a down payment. I would probably have a nice dinner after getting a big raise, but that's it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I won a $200 in my fantasy football league this year and I used it as proof to my dw how all those hours spent researching players was all worth it!
So it was more a moral victory...

So what are you spending it on?

next years buy-in (and to pay for the previous years).

Also the best advice I've received from partners at my firm is that when you get a major promotion / salary increase try to make no major changes for 3-5 years. This lets you get used to the new taxes, make sure you like the job, lets some of your equity vest, etc. That way if you do go buy a house at double the cost of your current one, buy a fancy car, etc. you don't get in over your head.

We budget for our base salaries only. My bonus can be $3k or $30k. 80-90% just goes into savings since we already max out tax advantaged retirement vehicles and employee stock purchase programs.

When we have a big year, we agree on an amount and spend a little more on vacation or Christmas gifts than we normally would.

Anonymous wrote:Do you have an emergency fund with six months to a year's worth of living expenses in it in case you get laid off again? Are all your debts (other than mortgage) paid off? Are you on track for saving for retirement and sending your kids to college (assuming you have kids)? If so, then treat yourself away. If not, particularly if you don't have an emergency fund, you might want to wait a year or two.

If you are genuinely planning to replace the SUV with something that gets better mileage and is a reasonable cost (Toyota or Honda, not Lexus or Infiniti) that could pay off down the road. If you don't have a solid emergency fund, how about buying a car that is a couple of years old?

I would try and make the current car last a little longer if I could, but I agree with this advice in general. It's not advisable to treat yourself with any big items until you have re-secured your long-term interests. Have a special dinner to celebrate instead.

Anonymous wrote:I'm a saver, I don't usually splurge after getting a bonus but if I really want something like a new handbag or designer sunglasses I will buy it. I cut back everywhere else and save almost my entire paycheck. But a big splurge no I don't I'm a saver and having money in the bank is more important to me.

How do you save 'almost your entire paycheck'? What about rent/mortgage, basic clothing, taxes, food, transportation........?

Savers does not mean misers. Know the worth of money but also know the worth of being kind to yourself. An occasional indulgence and reward keeps you motivated and living well.

I'm a saver however when we are doing better financially, we are more likely to take a vacation to a nicer place. We will still say at the same types of cheap places but will go to a nicer destination ie Paris versus CA.

Hmmm, we have spent a bonus/raise on a home improvement. I think part of that is because we either have to have cash or take out a home equity loan which we wouldn't want to do for a want vs a need. Also, depending on the improvement it could increase the value of our house and make a huge difference in daily living.

I'm not a car person and neither is DH so we wouldn't drop crazy money on a car. Maybe in the distant future when the kids are out of the house and we are looking at retirement and the house is paid off if I want to drive a luxury car I might consider it in the sense of for once in my life I want to drive X type of car and I literally don't have anything else I want/need to spend money on. You certainly can't take it with you but you can't get it back either if you end up needing it and blew it on something that lost 25% of the value when you drove it off the lot.

if I were planning to replace the car anyway, I would still look in the price range I would have pre-bonus and replace it when you would have pre-bonus. I would only do it now if I thought I could get a better deal now versus maybe in the fall. I might upgrade the package a little with the bonus money or pay cash iinstead of taking out a loan and put what would have been a car payment towards the master bathroom fund. I wouldn't add my full bonus amount to the car price range I.e. look at cars 20K more because I got a 20K bonus.

With my 2.5% raise last year I bought a couple of shirts at Costco and an outfit/shoes from Kohl's (I usually shop at Walmart for clothes so this was a splurge).

Anonymous wrote:I won a $200 in my fantasy football league this year and I used it as proof to my dw how all those hours spent researching players was all worth it!
So it was more a moral victory...

So what are you spending it on?

I'm a saver, I don't usually splurge after getting a bonus but if I really want something like a new handbag or designer sunglasses I will buy it. I cut back everywhere else and save almost my entire paycheck. But a big splurge no I don't I'm a saver and having money in the bank is more important to me.