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April 18, 2012 By Kimberlee Leave a Comment

Reader Question: What Would You Do With $100,000 More A Year?

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Q: “I’ve been reading your series ‘Living On Less Than $28,000 A Year‘ and I have a question for you. We have been blessed with great jobs right out of college, but I don’t want to get in the habit of spending money unnecessarily just because we have it. Hypothetically speaking, if you made 100k more a year, what would you do differently? the same?”

 

A: I love this question!  I don’t often think about having more money, but this gave me an opportunity to consider making a lot more and how we would manage it.

 

The first thing that comes to mind is giving more. We would love to be able to give to projects we believe in, like stopping human trafficking and improving the lives of children living in poverty through education and work programs. We have friends in various areas who do non-profit work work on a support basis and we would like to send them more money as well. We would also love to be able to take our family on “humanitarian” trips outside of the U.S., especially to Guatemala. We have been able to go on one trip as a family (some of our new friends are pictured above) and it really changed and bonded us.

 

We would probably also increase our lifestyle somewhat. I would like to spend a little more on groceries so that we could purchase grass-fed beef and organic fruits and vegetables. We might also go out to eat as a family more than once or twice a year, which is our average right now.

We would probably also purchase a second used car. While it has been a blessing in some ways to have one car, we are at a stage where our children would like to be involved in a few more activities. It would make life a little easier to have a second car available rather than taking my husband back and forth to work when we need the car.

When I asked my husband, his primary goal would be saving for retirement. I think we would also have a bigger emergency fund.

 

Some of my tightwad ways are so ingrained that I would probably continue doing them. I would probably still hang my laundry to dry, buy sale items at the grocery store, cook from scratch and run all of my errands on one day. I just hate wasting money. 🙂

 

The key to managing money (whether you have a little or lot) is to plan it on paper and then find ways to work your plan (using cash envelopes, a second account, etc.). I would definitely stick with our money managing system (click here to read more) as our income increased, so that we could make the best use of our money.

Great question, thanks for asking!

If you have a question you would like to have answered, use the Contact Form here and type “Reader Question” in the subject line.

I can’t answer every question, but I will try to get to as many as possible.

 

next post: Mind Games

Click here to see all the posts in this series.

 

What would YOU do with $100,000 more a year? Leave a comment. 🙂

 

 

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Comments

  1. gailete says

    December 28, 2013 at 11:40 pm

    Let me think, first off we would get hubby cornea replacements which is around $30-40,000. Since my physical health is so poor, I would have cleaning ladies several times a week to cleaning and keep the dishes washed instead of just every 2 weeks (at a big financial sacrifice). I would also love a gardener to plant and care for my flowers, in others words those things that I can’t do for myself I would love to hire someone to do. I too would love to give more especially to programs around the world helping women learn to sew and do needle crafts so earn their living so they aren’t forced into prostitution (or to get out of it). Considering our earned income last year was under $20K an extra $100,000 a year would be huge!

    Reply
  2. Jeanette says

    April 4, 2013 at 2:55 am

    I’d give half my income to the wounded warriors foundation. And send many many care packages to my marine buddies that are stuck on deployment.

    Reply
  3. Jessica says

    August 13, 2012 at 9:46 pm

    We would be saving up to buy a house!

    Also: I just started reading your posts, and I’m nearly in tears at this point. My fiance and I are living in a rough place financially, though honestly probably not any worse than yours when I compare family sizes. He’s working full time on servers wages and tips, and I can’t find a job while being able to stay home with his daughter on the days we have her. (We’ve done the math, and me working would just go to pay for her going to daycare, and we’d no longer qualify for the daycare assistance if we included my income) But I digress. We are barely hanging on, we’ve been balancing paying rent one month and utilities the next, and falling farther behind on both. Your blog posts have given me hope. Even though I’m sure some of your tips and tricks won’t work for us, now I know we can catch up, and stay caught up, even without an income increase. Thank you so much for posting your experiences.

    Reply
    • Kimberlee says

      August 13, 2012 at 10:40 pm

      I am sorry that you are having a difficult time, but so glad I could encourage you. Let me know if you have specific questions. 🙂

      Reply
  4. Heather says

    August 8, 2012 at 1:11 pm

    We too make over $100K but there are a couple of caveats (right word?) – we don’t see it all monthly because my husband earns quarterly bonuses (which get taxes heavily so we don’t get the rest until our tax return). We also have huge student loan debt.

    My husband and I earn as much as we do because we have degrees that we had to pay for ourselves. I worked full-time while earning a Double-Bachelors and a Masters degree. My husband was laid off after the birth of our second daughter so he decided to stay home with the girls and finish school. Our student loans cost us approximately $1,500 per month! This is $18K a year.

    So what do we do with all this money? First we tithe, a way of worshiping God and thanking him for our blessing. We have our normal bills (mortgage, car insurance for 2 cars, car payment for one, internet, cell phones, water, gas) and we do try to cut back on groceries and utilities. I have been using 2nd account for non-regular bills like vehicle tax, birthdays, etc.

    But we decided years ago that making memories was important. We take a family vacation every spring break (nothing fancy, we stay in cabins at KOA in Myrtle Beach) and we go on a vacation for our anniversary every year. I spend weeks researching VRBO.com for a cheap rental homes instead of a hotel and I plan cheap and free ideas for activities.

    One thing I want to change by learning from you is increasing our emergency savings and our retirement savings. I don’t have more than $25K in retirement savings right now and my husband just turned 40 and I’m only 3 years behind him. We’ve started to rely on his quarterly bonus for car repairs, sport registration fees, vacations, home improvements, etc. but we don’t set aside much if any of that to hold us over until the next bonus.

    I also want to set aside extra money so we can remove that car payment.

    You have definitely motivated me!

    Reply
    • Kimberlee says

      August 8, 2012 at 5:37 pm

      I think taking vacations as a family is so important. We have “splurged” a couple of times over the years (usually $500 or less including all food, accommodations and travel) and those are some of my favorite memories.

      I am so glad that I helped to motivate you. 🙂

      Reply
  5. Kat says

    July 10, 2012 at 5:52 pm

    Thank you Kimberlee! Such kind words. I also wanted to add that I read your depression series and while I was not abused I also went through that same trial of not being able to get out of bed and having your four (very young) children running around the home. It is (literally) hell and I admire you very much for coming out of it. I know how difficult it is.
    Blessings to you and your family!

    Reply
  6. Kat says

    July 9, 2012 at 1:59 pm

    We do have a $150k income and I thought it might be interesting to know how it is spent. I am a SAHM with my own business that I started from the ground up last year. It is crazy successful and has been a blessing. I work VERY p/t and make f/t money because nothing is more important than my job as a mom.
    We have 4 sons 14 and under with one on the spectrum. We have two cars..one is a year old (bought new) and the other is 11 years old. We purchased new because the gas mileage and neither is a “prestige” car. We save 10% for retirement and fund the kids college funds each month. We are building a new house on 8 acres so we can become more self-sufficient. The house is not fancy..no “formal” anything, one story with a basement, no granite and much of the finish work we will do ourselves. All the interior stuff: kitchen, wood floors, marble, travertine, Trex, etc, was all purchased at building material auctions for, literally, pennies on the dollar. It cost us less than the cheap stuff would.
    We go out once a week, buy local/organic/grassfed, give 10% to charity, etc.
    We never pay full price for clothing although my kids wear Hollister, Aero, Abercrombie, Hilfiger, Polo, Ekco it is all purchased at 75% off or more. The only exception to that rule is their school shoes. I allow them to pick them (yes even the $150 Jordans) but they must wear them the entire school year and they have been fine with that and the reason I allow this is until two years ago all their shoes were Goodwill, clearance, yard sale and they were always fine with it but as they are moving into the teens I have given a little in that department. All their church shoes are from Goodwill as are many things around here.
    Our couch has two big holes but we are getting it recovered rather than purchase new. The frame is superior to what you can purchase new (unless you pay thousands) so we are keeping it. Our dining set it 12 years old and works just fine.
    The kids furniture is all donated or garage sales and they don’t care. The two oldest have iPhones but they were on a special ($99) and one was a birthday gift and the other was paid for by the child. The monthly bill is worked off through chores and if they neglect that they pay out of pocket or it is confiscated.
    We own a house that we built new 8 years ago (it is being rented out next year) and it is nothing special. It was always meant to be temporary so we added niceties (wood floors, travetine, fireplace) as we could afford it and the materials were purchased at auctions.
    Last year my oldest son and I were able to take a trip to England/Scotland with our bff’s who are English and live near Manchester. It was amazing to be able to have that experience with my son. I paid for this trip with my business earnings so it was all cash.
    My husband and I take at least two trips a years alone. One is to a film festival in Ohio where we meet up with my entire family (adults only). Occasionally I will go with him on a business trip but I am deathly afraid to fly so that is rare. We usually will take one other weekend trip in the Fall.
    Our children are in public schools and they are wonderful schools.
    My clothing is always purchased at deep discounts and TJ Maxx is my favorite store although I have many things that were thrifted. My only big expense for wardrobe is my shoes. I had a bad back and really weird feet that are not easy to fit. My boots normally cost $100+ but I wear them forever and buy high quality for my health and investment.
    Until I started my business I was a coupon Queen but then I just didn’t have enough time. Since then we have moved away from processed food so I buy bulk foods and cook from scratch for not much more in price.
    I have a twice a month housekeeper although I am bumping that up to weekly next month. It actually costs me more to clean my own house rather than work. In the summer I go very p/t because the kids are home so every other week is fine right now.
    We still have credit card debt from 2001 when the economy crashed. We had to make double mortgage payments when our renter stopped paying and trashed our house. We were in another state and after the payments we lived on our credit cards because we refused to let the house go into foreclosure. It eventually sold but it cost us over $50,000. We also had a bad business investment a few years back that cost us around $30,000. We should have all this paid off this year and then no more credit card debt EVER!
    We are not at all flashy people, nor are we trust fund babies. We worked our way from starving students while keeping me home with the kids. It wasn’t easy and many times I though about working but daycare would have eaten everything. Dh has been with the same company for a decade and is very, very good at what he does. He has worked his way up the corporate ladder and we are so very blessed by his hard work.

    I hope this gave an insight into what it is like to have a 6 figure income. It isn’t swimming pools (can’t afford one) and mansions (don’t want one) but we are grateful for the things it provides and we are very aware of how blessed we are.

    Reply
    • Kimberlee says

      July 9, 2012 at 2:37 pm

      Thanks so much for sharing your story Kat. It’s great that you are so careful with your money. Based on the statistics in the Millionaire Next Door book, you are living like most truly rich people, not the people who want others to think they are rich. It’s helpful to see how more money can be wisely spent. 🙂

      Reply
  7. PJ says

    July 5, 2012 at 2:22 pm

    Pay off debt.
    Save for children’s college.
    Save for retirement.
    Send our parents money.

    Reply
  8. Jessica @ The Abundant Wife says

    June 20, 2012 at 1:39 am

    I would pay off our student loan debts ($26,000) and then move on to financing our retirement and the rest of Dave Ramsey’s baby steps, including college funds for our kids, and paying off our mortgage. In the meantime, it would also be great to purchase a car with more seats. Four of us in a pick-up truck is getting a little crowded!

    Reply
  9. Lana says

    June 19, 2012 at 5:12 pm

    This is a great blog! What I love most is nothing is super extreme about your lifestyle. My husband and I make a good salary and we live in NY where everyone eats out and socializes by going out.

    The way we save is pretty simple too…

    1. We set up a “splurge” account where a portion of our monthly funds go to for big ticket splurge items like a new TV or a vacation – if the piggy bank doesn’t have enough, we can’t afford it
    2. We have an automatic transfer from each paycheck for bills/rent – this way, we don’t even touch the money that has to be paid out every month
    3. This is the most important for me: You save in one area and splurge in another. I believe that you need to have a savings account and need to be frugal but at the same time, I think you can really have it all – how? By splurging on what matters most and saving on what doesn’t. For example, a new mattress that was super comfortable was very important to me but the actual bed made no difference, so we went with an expensive mattress and a cheap bed. Overall, our savings were about $1,500 (with purchasing during a “holiday” weekend and bargaining on delivery charges.

    Thanks for this blog! I’ll keep reading

    Reply
    • Kimberlee says

      June 19, 2012 at 6:26 pm

      Thanks Lana! #3 is our philosophy as well: Save on what’s unimportant to spend on what is. What is important varies from person to person and family to family. The key is to make your finances work for you, right? 🙂

      Reply
  10. Matt says

    June 19, 2012 at 3:25 pm

    No matter how much you make, you should strive to live on as little as possible and still be comfortable. And once you think you’ve hit that level, continue to challenge yourself to spend less still. For example, try the “30 day challenge”: give up some regular pleasure for a month, try biking to work for a month, drip-dry instead of machine-dry your clothes, etc.

    Spend some time to read about financial planning an retirement. Look at the statistics on savings rates in the USA. Quite literally, the overwhelming majority of people will *never* be able to retire, or at a minimum, will have to adjust to a significant lifestyle change when they start collecting social security.

    When you retire is quite simply a function of the percentage of take-home pay that you save. If you can save 75% of your take home pay, you can literally retire in seven or eight years. Obviously this is easier if you make more money, but the math works out the same: if you make $100k/year, you need to live on $25k/year; if you make $50k/year, you need to live on $12.5k/year: in both cases, the time to retirement is the same. If you can’t save 75% (a lofty goal for most people), your time-to-retirement horizon is longer.

    But a 0% (or worse, negative (i.e. debt)) savings rate means you can never retire.

    I use the term “retirement” loosely; what I really mean is “financial independence”, or “FI” for short. FI means you don’t have to work if you don’t want to. But the real benefit is that you can pick and choose your work based on environment, vocation, interest, etc, rather than worrying about if the paycheck is big enough.

    I recommend the book “Your Money Or Your Life” by Vicki Robin; it talks about achieving FI in great detail. See also the blogs “Early Retirement Extreme” and “Mr Money Mustache”.

    Reply
  11. Kimberly says

    May 14, 2012 at 4:37 pm

    Purchase a partially wooded tract of land, with water on it, (a large pond or small lake) and a reasonably sized ranch home right in the center! Become MUCH more self sufficient, and teach the children some gardening skills. (We live on a shale shelf now…can’t dig down more than a few inches without hitting a barrier). Build an outdoor oven for summer bread baking. Perhaps a small barn for chickens and a cow. Invite our kids scout troops to have the run of the place! 🙂 Longterm: Build a rustic cabin or 2 for above mentioned scouts to enjoy (as well as friends and family)

    Reply
  12. Georganne says

    May 14, 2012 at 4:10 pm

    Ditto to all the savings plans. There are also a few things we get along without now that would be nice to have, like a bigger van for our family of 7; if you include my dad, there’s 8 of us. If I had even half that much a year, I would travel more and do at least one missions trip a year. I have a friend who travels to Africa and Asia doing projects for orphanages and safe houses. I’d sign up to be his personal assistant in a heartbeat. Great discussion.

    Reply
  13. Dottie says

    May 14, 2012 at 3:40 pm

    I’d give more to my church, pay off all the bills, then look into finding a house that met my requirements or find a contractor who will help me design one. I need a craft room / office for my sanity and a “safe” room for my son, who has moderate to severe autism. Meltdowns aren’t fun so he needs a place to cool down and gather himself when he gets frustrated. I’d also start buying organic foods and grass fed beef.

    Reply
  14. Lacy says

    May 2, 2012 at 12:42 am

    I would pay more toward my mortgage and definitely invest in a new car. (Currently driving a 12 year old Jeep that I’ve replaced the motor, radiator, and driver seat in!)
    If I made $100,000 a year I would also start trust funds for my niece and nephews. I don’t have children and won’t be having any, but I would like to see them have good lives in the future.
    And, of course, pay more towards retirement.

    Reply
  15. JJ says

    May 1, 2012 at 9:41 pm

    Save, save, save! I’m like you in that I like to be conscious on how my money is spent.

    Maybe instead of that last save I would spend money on some experiences like travel. I love to travel and it provides long term enjoyment. I enjoy the planning and anticipating, then the vacation, and finally the memories. It creates shared experiences with my family and makes new connections and friends.

    As I increased my income over the last 10 years, I’ve realized there is no magic number for happiness or where you have enough. There are always people who have more so it can’t be about spending it but rather finding a way to enjoy what you have.

    Reply
    • Kimberlee says

      May 1, 2012 at 10:22 pm

      “As I increased my income over the last 10 years, I’ve realized there is no magic number for happiness or where you have enough. There are always people who have more so it can’t be about spending it but rather finding a way to enjoy what you have.” That is so profound. Thanks JJ!

      Reply
    • Libby P says

      June 16, 2013 at 4:33 pm

      Agree with JJ!

      Our family makes much more than is discussed here, and we try to live our priorities. Priority one, give back. Priority two, safety and health (safe house in decent neighborhood, clean eating (at home), reliable cars). Priority three, future (retirement and education, emergency savings). Priority four, experiences (travel, the arts, music). Priority five, well, nothing else is a priority and therefore not discussed nor purchased (we have made plenty of mistakes here).

      We have regular family meetings to discuss the priorities. Kids have learned so much – they are currently on an international trip that we saved for. Extravagant but in line with our priorities. Getting to eat in the coffee shop where Harry Potter was “born” because we didn’t eat at Chili’s here. That’s almost funny!!

      My husband was layed off for nine months last year. We didn’t change our lifestyle – we were already living far beneath his income and had plenty of savings. I stay home. Hubby hopes to retire early so that he can volunteer more. We aren’t perfect and make lots of mistakes, but we sleep well at night.

      Comparison is the root of money problems. Don’t compare yourself. Focus on YOUR priorities. Be content. Be content. Be content.

      Reply
      • Kimberlee says

        June 17, 2013 at 10:04 am

        I seriously love your perspective Libby! I believe the best way to “budget” is to determine your priorities based on your values. In other words, live what you believe in your finances and other areas.

        Good for you for seeing the value in giving your children real life experiences rather than spending money on things that don’t matter in the grand scheme of things!

        Reply
  16. jerilyn says

    April 22, 2012 at 7:14 am

    I’d pay off any bills I had, then completely fund emergency fund and any other savings we wanted (kids’ college funds, replacement car funds), but I’d give the rest away: to the church, charities, adoption funds, scholarships for our childrens’ school. Making more and having more would only tempt me to live on more and I don’t need more.

    Reply
  17. Manddi says

    April 19, 2012 at 8:49 pm

    I have to agree that my one of my first changes would also be purchasing more healthy foods-more fresh vegetables, grass-fed beef, and hormone free dairy products. It makes me sad that to think that I can’t afford to make the very best food choices for my child. I am very fortunate to have parents who garden abundantly and who not only share but have taught me how to freeze and can my own produce. Huge time vacuum but great money saver. I applaud my parents for sending me out into the world knowing how to cook using fresh produce and meat. I am amazed at how many people in their 20s, like myself, have no idea how to prepare a meal from scratch. Okay, so thats my rant! The food situation in our society makes me sad and angry.

    Reply
  18. Alicia says

    April 19, 2012 at 3:58 pm

    $100k additional income annually is a LOT of money. I’m not sure I can really fathom the kind of things that an additional $100k EACH YEAR could buy. For starters, we’d save for a down payment on a new home. While we love our current home, it would be nice to have a yard for our dog, a bigger kitchen, a second bathroom, and an extra bedroom and renovate the house to be exactly what we wanted. We’d definitely increase our giving to charity, maybe picking up a few new causes. I’d quit my third (summer) job! I’d probably even quit my second (afterschool) job! We’d buy a new car. We’d probably plan some international (and domestic) travel. I feel like that wouldn’t spend an additional $100k annually though, so I guess we’d just save or share the rest with the people we love.

    Reply
    • Crystal @ Serving Joyfully says

      April 22, 2012 at 2:06 pm

      lol…I know! If we had $100K in a one-time installment we could tithe, get out of debt, and still have money for savings…and if we didn’t have the $900/month debt payments (mortgage and graduate school loans), we’d be breathing much easier even on our meager income. I’m like you, can’t even imagine what we’d spend $100k a year extra on!

      Reply
  19. Leah says

    April 19, 2012 at 11:41 am

    Probably be a stay at home mama. Have two kids instead of one. Look more into fertility treatments to have even one. Find a way to add a garage onto our house, air conditioning, fix my husbands car, a retirement fund, and a college fund. And travel.

    We think about this on occasion, usually when talking about the lottery-which you have to play to win, but you can still dream. We’re happy with our life pretty much the way it is.

    Reply
  20. Crystal @ Serving Joyfully says

    April 19, 2012 at 11:35 am

    Rich Mullins was a Christian artist who lived on the median income for the country at the time and donated the rest. That’s what I would want to do. I believe that our simple lifestyle is what God has called us to, and we would live that regardless of our income. However, here are some other things we’d like to do with an additional $100,000.

    -Get out of debt! If we could get out of debt, we’d have an extra $900 a month between our mortgage and student loan payments, so that would be a nice cushion.

    Otherwise, there isn’t anything we really need. We are content in our simple lifestyle, although it would be nice to be able to spend more at the grocery store and stress about it a bit less (our grocery budget is less than $50 a week for our family of 4), I would never want to get to the point of wasting money on frivolities. I believe that our money is God’s, and as such we should be good stewards and spend it in ways that are honoring to Him, and edifying to His kingdom. We are learning this lesson more and more…and the more we let the world go and grasp on to that instead, the happier and more content we are…imagine that 🙂

    Reply
    • Kimberlee says

      April 19, 2012 at 12:12 pm

      “I believe our money is God’s…”–good point of view Crystal!

      Reply
  21. ShannonH says

    April 19, 2012 at 11:21 am

    Oh, get out of debt is top of the list. Next is save for the future. Also, we would get 1 year supply of food stored in our home. Our church advises this and I can say from experience, it has sure comes in handy when you lose a job or an emergency strikes.

    Reply
  22. Diane says

    April 18, 2012 at 5:13 pm

    Well, we live below our means but not nearly that much so! Pay off the house, front load our daughter’s college fund and our retirement would be first. We would continue to increase our giving, too, that is a big goal of ours, while we’re giving 12% now it would be good to give more. I probably would, like you said, buy more organic produce and healthier meat but not go too overboard because I know there are still so many people who have nothing to eat and I’d rather give to them.

    Reply
  23. Jen says

    April 18, 2012 at 4:47 pm

    Give. Pay off my mortgage (my only debt). Adopt or fund an adoption for someone else.

    I’m currently in the process of adopting and am pinching every penny to scrape the money together. I’ve been chosen by a birth mom and the baby is due at the end of June! I’m so excited to meet the little one God has chosen for me to raise 🙂 I’ve lived the frugal life for years but have still been able to cut back and save more than I would have imagined for the adoption. God has shown up BIG TIME with resources and incredibly generous gifts from friends and strangers alike!

    Thanks for all of the tips and encouragement!

    Reply
    • Kelli says

      May 14, 2012 at 4:32 pm

      Like you, my husband and I are adopting and have been SHOCKED by the amount of money we have been able to save in the last year. We are careful with our budget and have received gifts from friends (and strangers) in the form of an almost complete nursery. Unlike you, we have not been chosen by a birth mother and are still just waiting (been on “the list” for just over 9 months). It is amazing to me how God can multiply blessings for His purpose.

      If we made $100,000 more….we would pay off all debt (which is my school note and our mortgage). Maybe we would add on to our home and adopt again. And we would take our kids to see things. Not just trips to Disney….but to experience things….Grand Canyon, Niagra, and do mission work in other cultures and countries…

      Reply
    • Tabitha says

      June 4, 2012 at 7:17 pm

      I work with a few millionairs, and I have asked the question of how they did it several times. First guy did nothing but save, and save, much like the author of this blog. His family would take any extra money and invest, and keep on top of the investing. Everyday I get the updates to the stock markets from three people. I am now paying some close attention! Second guy takes every extra $100 dollars in his paycheck and has the bank automatically purchase Series EE bonds from the government. Now these take time to “mature”, but his wife found his stash of bonds (at the time close to 5,000 $100 bonds) and had him take them to the bank. The bank reccomended cashing these bonds incrimentally, as some have a larger or smaller interest rate and maturity time. The last guy has taken the time to purchase a house at every location he has lived in, and maintaned the property as a rental. He has maintained the upkeep of each and has improved each place, netting him some serious cash when he sold three of them. I hope this helps you out for the future!

      Reply
  24. Dianna says

    April 18, 2012 at 4:43 pm

    I would love to be able to give more, buy about 25 acres with cash to start a farm on in the northern part of our state closer to my parents. Like many, so many of our ways are stuck and I would do them no matter what.

    Reply
  25. tracy dickinson says

    April 18, 2012 at 4:20 pm

    i would also increase our giving and save more for retirement. like you i would continue to be frugal by making my own laundry detergent, making meals from scratch and using cloth diapers. i would also probably elect to send my kids to christian private school rather than homeschool!

    Reply
    • M.M.H says

      June 10, 2012 at 5:55 pm

      We are in this situation now and although we thought we would save and invest every extra penny, instead what happened is we got too comfortable and spent too much. It was gradual. It didn’t happen immediately, but over time it just seemed to slip through our fingers.

      You may not think you can conceivably spend an extra 100K a year but it blows by quickly. We know. We were dirt poor for years and then, about a year ago, a sudden (much deserved) job change with a much higher salary meant we had just about an extra 100K more than we had been used to.

      Up until 3 weeks ago, we were living almost paycheck to paycheck, never worrying about how much we spent and dipping into our savings account for things like eating out 7 (SEVEN!!!) times a week, new clothes, new shoes, and general frivolity.

      It was eye opening to finally look back over our expenses and see that we were spending more on eating out per month than we were our substantial mortgage payment.

      We have our finances back in check and we are working back toward just spending for the essentials so we can begin saving again.

      Reply
      • Kimberlee says

        June 10, 2012 at 8:12 pm

        Thank you so much for posting this comment. I think most people have the mindset that money is spent in huge chunks, but it is usually the daily things that catch up to us. Daily discipline is difficult, but key.

        Reply
  26. Andrea says

    April 18, 2012 at 3:47 pm

    Hey! Great answer!
    The only thing I would add is pay more off on our mortgage. This provides stability for future years (especially those retirement years!).

    On another note – thanks for your blog – somedays, I get discouraged as our income is significantly lower than many of our friends but your blog helps me remember where are priorities are and that we are lucky for what we have and hope that,I can stay home with our kids sometime in the future! Thanks!

    Reply
    • Kimberlee says

      April 18, 2012 at 4:19 pm

      You are very welcome Andrea!

      Reply
  27. Alexandra Howard @ The Howard House says

    April 18, 2012 at 3:47 pm

    We are about a year away from facing this same question! 7 1/2 years since we were married and we are finally moving from schooling to career. My husband has finished medical school, is a doctor, and is about to finish up his residency. We went from school loans, to making a little money, to next year making a huge salary. It is kind of an overwhelming feeling. We have a wonderful life and are very blessed…..3 kiddos(so far), a lovely home, one car and no debt besides medschool loans and our mortgage. The thought of adding a lot of money to our picture has us really having to stop and plan. We are frugal now and we have no want for our money to change us or how we live.

    We do want to pay our loans off ASAP – no raise to us until they are gone.

    We will most likely be relocating for my husband’s job, so we will most likely have a mortgage to pay off asap as well. Even though we want to find a house with some land this time arround, we have no want to live extravagantly.

    We are a small homeschool family now, but we hope God will be sending us more littles soon, so obviously that will cost a little more.

    We have savings, but in the future we want to save for retirement, some nice trips, and to help with college for some of the kiddos.

    Most importantly, we want to be able to give and serve. This is a time and money goal. My husband is going to most likely be working 2-24 hour ER shifts a week, so we can work as a family in ways that God is calling us too and also have the money to spend where the Lord guides us!

    It is truly a huge responsibility! Many people see it as fun time to finally splurge but while it is a blessing, we also realize that “to whom much was given, of him much will be required.” Luke 12:48

    Reply
    • Dana says

      June 6, 2012 at 10:18 pm

      Alex-we are in a similar boat. We have lived frugally for many years and are now debt free with the possibility of my husband’s salary increasing incrediably in a few years (or it may not…we will see). Even if it doesn’t our current salary + no debt is overwhelming for me. I grew up in a modest household and it is really scary to be responsible with the money. I know that the Lord is entrusting us with a ton and “much will be required”.

      Reply
  28. Maureen says

    April 18, 2012 at 3:46 pm

    I love your answer! If I had more money, not only would I donate more of it, but I’d donate more of my time to worthy causes (instead of spending that time working for the money I do now). I’d also love to be one of those who does random anonymous things for people. I do them now, just I’d love to do more lavish things.

    And I’d pay off my parents’ bills and give them anything they want. They sacrificed it all to raise and to send their six kids to college. I love them.

    And I’d eat even more veggies and fruit by splurging on the ones I love in the off-seasons.

    Reply

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