The hubby and I are paying off $117,000 of student loan debt in three years on entry-level salaries. This forces us to live an extremely frugal lifestyle. People often ask me if there is anything I do splurge on. I rarely splurge, but there are a few things I still spend extra money on. Here are three things I splurge on even while paying off debt.
Healthy Food
I could save money (in the short-term) by buying junk food and processed snacks, but it’s not worth it to me. I recently lost 35 pounds, and I’m trying to reach a goal of losing 15 more. I eat a whole food, vegan diet – it’s not super cheap, but I feel it’s worth splurging on.
I spend about $80/week on my whole food diet – I keep the cost reasonable by not buying organic, not shopping at expensive grocery stores like Whole Foods, and only buying what I will actually use. I could save more money by using coupons and only purchasing foods that I have coupons for, but I’m an extremely picky eater and I prefer to eat the same foods every week.
Safety
I personally believe that no matter how frugal you are, the safety of yourself and your family should be your number one priority. That does not mean that everyone should buy a brand new “safe” car or an expensive house that’s way more than they can afford just because it’s in a “nice” neighborhood. Here are some safety-related items I “splurge” on.
–Salt for the icy driveway/sidewalk – this is actually pretty cheap, but when you live in Minnesota, you end up using a ton of it in the winter. Still, it’s not worth slipping on ice and breaking your neck just to save a few bucks.
-A warm coat – I live in a place where -25 degree temperatures happen once in a while (I’m not talking about wind chill here; I mean ACTUAL temps). If you also live in the northern part of the U.S., having a warm coat is important. If your car were to break down when it’s -25 degrees out, frostbite could occur within a few minutes.
–Decent shoes – cheap shoes may save you money in the short-term, but if you trip and break an ankle, they could end up costing you a bundle in ER fees.
–Car repairs – I don’t need a fancy new car (I drive a 16 year old car), but I don’t want to be driving with brakes that don’t work properly, bald tires, or an airbag that won’t deploy in case of an accident.
iPhone
A few years ago, my phone (which wasn’t a Smartphone) broke and I bought a Windows 8 phone. Anyone who has used Windows 8 knows how much it sucks. With a pay as you go plan, the phone was $100 and the plan was $65/month. It was incredibly frustrating to be paying that much for something that was not at all user-friendly.
My husband mentioned this to my mother-in-law, and she suggested that I join their family plan. Because there are so many people on their plan and they’ve had Verizon forever, I was able to get an iPhone 5c for $100 with a $45/month plan.
(*Side note: Part of that $45/month total was essentially paying to finance some of the other phones on the plan – my in-laws’ phones – so the monthly cost recently went down. I now pay just $22 per month for my iPhone.)
I returned the Windows 8 phone and got my $100 back, which I used to pay for the iPhone. It’s definitely worth it to pay a lot less per month and have a much faster, easier to use phone. Because I resisted the smart phone trend for so long and used an old, slow phone up until a couple years ago, I appreciate all of the conveniences that go along with having an iPhone.
Recap!
I am trying to pay off mountains of student loan debt in a short time-frame, so I live a frugal lifestyle. I don’t take a moderate approach to frugality, and I don’t splurge on much. But I feel that “splurging” on healthy food and safety is a necessity. My one guilty pleasure splurge is my iPhone.
What items do you splurge on? What things do you feel are worth spending extra money on?
*Side note: I wrote this post before I adopted my pug, Herbie. He is the best and most worthwhile splurge ever :)
Other stuff you might like:
My Personal Finance “Aha” Moment
Why I Started a 3 Year Spending Ban
Minimalism Isn’t as Bad as You Think
Why I’m Breaking My 3 Year Spending Ban
Why I’m Grateful for My Student Loan Debt
When something is wrong with my car, I almost never consider it a splurge and take care of it quickly because my safety is what’s most important. I think when you’re in debt, you can still have other priorities and you should because debt repayment can be a long and dreary process.
Definitely! Because I have so much debt, I always feel guilty when I “splurge” on anything, even if it’s safety or health-related. I have to keep reminding myself that it’s okay to prioritize those things.
I was nodding my head with you on the first 2, not quite with the iPhone lol. We’re pretty happy with our HTCs.
Our lives and health are worth far more than a few frugal bucks, so they’re always worth paying more for. Our weekly food shopping is about $20 more a week than it was a year ago, but we’re glad we made an even healthier food change (we were eating fairly healthily already).
Tristan
Absolutely! Making health a priority is definitely worth it.