All I Do is Save Money and Never Enjoy Myself, Is This Normal?

We’re always being told to save money, and while some of us are better at it than others, is it possible to be too good at it? In other words, are there ever times in your life when you feel like all you do is save money? Like, you never enjoy today because you’re always worrying about tomorrow? If that’s the case, you may actually have the opposite problem of the many people who don’t save enough — you may be saving too much.

Or you may know how to save money just fine, but you’re saving it in a way that is making the process harder than it should be.

So if you’re wondering if you are saving too much, or just saving money badly, you should ask yourself a few questions first.

This is an important question because if you’re in your 20s and paying off a ton of student debt, you may need to reduce the amount that you save to repay your student debt first. Just don’t ignore saving money. Most financial pros will tell you that if you’re always prioritizing your debt over your savings, you may never save money. After all, you’re going to have a lot of debt in your life. Between student loans, mortgages, car payments, credit card debt or personal loans, if you wait to put away money until everything is paid off, you may never build a savings.

If you find yourself struggling to have a good life right now, because you’re always putting money away for the future, and meanwhile, you’re constantly spending money to repay debt, like paying down student loans or credit card debt, maybe you should give yourself a break and actually save a little less.

This is a very important question. Many financial advisors suggest trying to put as much as 15% of your salary to your retirement accounts and adhere to the 50/30/20 rule. What’s the 50/30/20 rule? That’s when, after taxes are accounted for, 50% of your paycheck goes to your needs, 30% to your wants and 20% to your savings and debt payments.

Of course, it can be difficult to define your needs, wants and debts in a way that keeps your budget adhering to the 50/30/20 rule. You might feel like you need to pay your student loans and credit card debts down every month, and so you mentally put those payments in the needs, when really you need to eat but you don’t need to pay off that credit card debt.

But in general, if you’re concerned that you save too much or too little, reviewing your budget today to see if it’s anywhere close to 50/30/20 is a good place to start.

If you constantly feel deprived and you realize that only 10% or less of your budget is reserved for “wants,” and if more than 20% of your salary is going into savings, then you should probably readjust your budget. If you’re putting away more than 20% towards savings and are happy with how things are going, obviously, for now, don’t change a thing.

Saving money can be extremely challenging, and while it’s very important, learning to balance your spending and saving may help you get more enjoyment out of life. If you only save for tomorrow and spend nothing today, you may miss out on opportunities or experiences.

Likewise, if you save too little, you may seriously regret it during your retirement years. If you aren’t sure if you’re saving the right amount, it’s best to reflect on your financial goals for saving.

Assuming your financial situation is stable, you should be putting your money towards several funds:

This is a lot, but if you can split up your savings into various funds, saving money might feel less overwhelming or depressing. After all, some of the money will be going into accounts, like retirement, that you won’t touch for years, while other funds, like a holiday savings account, you’ll spend every year. Knowing that you’re constantly protecting yourself from cash flow and shortage problems might make it easier to save.

The reason you may feel like you spend all of your time saving money and not living your life could be due to how you save money. Hopefully, you participate in all three of these money-saving techniques, but if you don’t, you may want to consider adopting at least one or two:

If you aren’t, you should start. Look, it isn’t easy to save money, and quite honestly, there’s a decent chance that however you’re saving money, you’re doing it wrong. Maybe you aren’t saving enough, or maybe you’re saving too much. Or maybe you’re doing it just right, but sometimes you go off the rails a little and do some impulse shopping, and then you beat yourself up, which would be wrong. You’re human, and there are all sorts of obstacles in our path every day that can cause us to spend too much and save too little.

Regardless of your current spending and saving habits, what really counts is that you’re out there, trying. However, carefully evaluating your budget, modifying your spending habits as necessary and using money-saving tools will allow you to save for the future, without depriving yourself in the present.