I’m what you might call a bad personal finance blogger. Or maybe just a bad frugal blogger (never said I was a frugal blogger though!) Anyways, yup, I said it. I like nice (and brand new) cars, big houses, vacations, cable and premium TV, and everything else. I don’t really talk about using coupons a whole lot either. I also use loans to my advantage by obtaining low interest rates (such as 0%) instead of paying for things with cash when I have the cash available.
Some of the things that I just wrote seem to be things that some bloggers and readers might frown upon. Yes, I would like to retire early and not have to worry about money. However, I do like buying things and having nice things also. For me, I don’t see it as me trying to keep up with the Joneses, I see it as I work hard for my money, so why not enjoy myself? I’m not the type of person who wants to retire early by being extremely cheap with everything that I do (no offense to those who do this).
I am not perfect, and if I have the income to support the things that I want, then why not? I’m all about increasing my extra income, and a lot of it is used to pay down my $38,000 student loan debt. After that is gone, a lot of it will be funneled towards savings but also for fun things in my life. I hope you all do not hate me by the end of this post by the way.
A couple of months ago I talked about my Budget Busters and My Plans. There are a lot of things on this list that I will be spending money on in the next 18 months. Big wedding? CHECK. Big house? CHECK. Paying off student loans? CHECK. Vacations? CHECK CHECK CHECK. Oh yeah and I plan on getting a new car also.
These girls said it best
I agree with Cait and Leslie. Even though I am definitely not a frugal blogger, I am money conscious and watch my spending. I manage my money well (at least I think so) and make sure that I am able to pay all of my bills. I also make sure that my spending and expenses equal less than 50% of our income.
Yes, I have made mistakes. Probably way too many money mistakes, but I am human, and it happens. I do think frugal bloggers are awesome though. If you are able to save even more money, then why not? That’s awesome!
Being a personal finance blogger to me is not always about saving as much money as you can. It’s about enjoying life and reaching true happiness. If I’m happy with what I spend my money on and have a realistic game plan for retirement, etc., then I’m happy.
I like nice cars and I cannot lie 🙂
Right now my car is okay, not the greatest. But I haven’t told most of you guys something – I plan on buying a new car this spring. Yes, I do realize we just bought the Jeep last summer. And yes I remember that a lot of you were not happy with that purchase. But that’s why I blog! I rely on you guys to keep me in check. If it wasn’t for my blog, I probably wouldn’t think twice. With my blog I’m always double thinking my purchases and trying to think of what others would do.
W now works at a car dealership. He can get me a good deal. And while it’s not the most luxurious, I have been looking at the 2013 Chevy Cruze. He can get us pretty much the at-cost price (this is below MSRP, invoice, employee discount, etc.).
Up until last week, I’m not going to deny it, I was dead set on the 2013 Camaro 2SS. Yes, not the base model or even an SS. I was thinking about the super expensive one that is above all of that. The price was around $40,000 with the extras that I wanted (would be even more expensive if I wanted all of the extras). However, I kept thinking about the bad gas mileage it gets and how the Cruze gets around 2 times better gas mileage (38-42 for the Cruze versus approximately 20 or less for the Camaro).
P.S. Jen recently posted about how she bought a BRAND NEW BMW, I’m so jealous. With careful planning, just because you spend money on a new car does not make you bad with money. Haven’t seen any finance bloggers buy a brand new BMW yet 🙂
I like houses that are probably a little too big
I really want a new house, and W and I decided that 2014 is the year. We bought the house that we currently live in when we were at the young and at the not-so-smart age of 20, and we are ready for something nicer. And bigger.
We decided that we want a decent sized house. Preferably two stories, around 3,000 square feet, with a finished basement, large fenced in backyard, and so on. Right now our house is okay, and yes we could do with less space, but I do believe we would be happier with a nicer house. And if we can afford it, then why not?
I know that for a lot of people, a $300,000 or $400,000 house might be average because of the places that you live (NYC, LA, Vancouver), but in the Midwest, it usually buys a pretty nice house. You can have a pool if you want, half an acre of land, and a brand new 3,500 square foot house. And this is pretty much what I want.
Vacations are always nice and worth it
I like vacations. We all know this though, no surprises here.
Not everyone thinks vacations are bad, but I know that some may think it’s not a good idea to do this when you have student loans. I’ve had great vacations and haven’t regretted a single one.
Cable TV is always fun
My cable bill is around $60. We have HBO and a lot of other channels. Would I give this up? NO! I’m fine with watching it on TV the second it comes out and spending extra money on this.
I don’t know if I’ll ever get rid of cable. It’s a relatively cheap form of entertainment and an easy way to relax. And I’m addicted to reality TV shows that I probably shouldn’t name.
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