57 responses so far ↓

• 1 Kristy // Feb 20, 2009 at 9:25 am

  I don’t care what their income is…who needs to spend $500 on clothes every month? That is ridiculous in my opinion. He could be paying off more on his student loans or saving more for a house of their own.

• 2 tom // Feb 20, 2009 at 9:29 am

  They can afford it.

  BUT… Really? You need $600o worth of clothes each year? Really? Where are you putting all of this?

  I know, I know… to each his own, but really? $6000!?

  I know you can afford it, but seriously? How many Jimmy Choos do you need? You’re going to be a Doctor, you will wear a lab coat or scrubs, no one will see your clothes.

• 3 BBJ // Feb 20, 2009 at 9:32 am

  can you be too frugal? yes

  is $500 a month on clothes too much? yes

• 4 Mrs. Micah // Feb 20, 2009 at 9:44 am

  I don’t know. If they’re handling money very well in other areas of life, then $500/month on clothes doesn’t seem too bad with that kind of income. For me, it kind of depends on what the wife is buying. If she’s getting a lot of little things, then she might actually have a problem with shopping. On the other hand, if she buys 2-4 high-quality pieces and they can afford it…then it makes more sense.

  I think things would be a bit more clear-cut for me if she were bringing in an income as well. I don’t think non-earning spouses should have less purchasing power, but they could set aside “allowances” from the money each of them earns to be spent on whatever…he could put it towards his loans, she could buy clothes.

• 5 Fabulously Broke // Feb 20, 2009 at 9:47 am

  Compared to their income, yes they can afford it.

  Let’s put aside the argument that technically, it’s HIS money and not hers since she’s still in residency (and I feel that spending someone else’s money on fun while you’re still in residency is kind of crap. I’d prefer to wait until I got my own job and then spent the $500 from MY cheque on clothes, but I digress).

  $500/month is 3.5% (@ $14k) or 2.9% ($17k).

  That’s nothing. And if it’s all she spends for her own shopping and entertainment, etc, then it’s totally fine. You have to think of numbers in relative to what they earn.

  It just seems like a lot as an absolute number because most people don’t make that kind of cash – $14k – $15k a month.

  If they made $2000 a month, THEN I’d find it ridiculous.

  Case in point: When I worked on a contract, I pulled in $20k – $36k a month, and I didn’t spend $500 on clothes, but I almost spent $500 on groceries on month because BF and I were buying luxury products like duck, wine for cooking and so on.

  People find that ridiculous, but we have priorities and we don’t eat out much, nor do we shop impulsively. We basically only spend on food (and that was a one-time thing in December).

  And considering they make that much, I would have expected her to want $2k a month in clothing!!!!

  Personally, the only reason I think the $500 would be ridiculous is ONLY BECAUSE they still have student loans.

  If they didn’t have loans outstanding, then $500 is reasonable. Clothes, shoes & accessories are a woman’s version of a guy souping up his car or buying technology.

  It shouldn’t matter how she spends the $500, if it’s her allowance for the month and her “fun money”. She should be able to spend it all on books or all on shoes if she wants.

  (I should also mention that based on what they earn, I feel like they haven’t saved enough for their earning income but that’s just my gut feeling not knowing more about them.)

  I’d hold my judgment back because I have to see the rest of the budget with the categories to really make an informed decision, but based on what I see, it’s fine (if you can live with the fact that it isn’t her money to begin with).

• 6 Fabulously Broke // Feb 20, 2009 at 9:54 am

  By the way, the $150 rent is ridiculous!!!! Holy cow.

  Thinking more about it, they may be setting themselves up for failure in the sense that they think it’s a reasonable amount to pay $150/month in rent. :\

  When they move out and buy their own condo and the mortgage is $2000 a month or whatever, they’ll be in for a rude surprise.

  The numbers also don’t add up.

  I can count about $6000 as their budget (fixed, variable + loans), but where is the rest of the $8000 to $12,000 of the income?

  They can NOT be paying $8k – $12k in taxes, could they?!?!

• 7 BBJ // Feb 20, 2009 at 10:06 am

  i should clarify, when i say $500 is too much for clothes, that’s just my opinion because obviously they can afford it. i would have to agree, though, that if they have debt, then it’s kind of ridiculous to not just hurry up and pay that off and then you can get all the clothes you want.

• 8 LivingAlmostLarge // Feb 20, 2009 at 10:15 am

  Kristy, why is $500/month? Would it be more acceptable if they were earning $30k/month? Is there a magic number she needs to earn to be allowed to spend $500/month? I could easily spend $500/month on clothes if I made a lot of money. I would buy shoes, purses, more like Mrs. Micah said, high quality stuff!

  Mrs. Micah, I don’t know what she is buying. I do think it’s unfair to limit her because she’s in residency. I think she has the earning potential to earn as much as him. She is a resident in Anesthisology.

  FB, first off, they are married. It’s a joint money. You feel that way because you are not married, but I am pretty sure he doesn’t feel she is leeching off of him. It’s not like she’s not working, she is. She is just not earning a lot right now. WHAT happens if she outearns him?

  Tom, women’s clothes are WAY more expensive than men’s clothes. Don’t forget ladies one stupid bra and underwear set from Victoria secret, or other higher quality set runs $100. It’s easy on just underwear to spend a lot of money.

  BBJ why is $500/month too much?

  Mrs. Micah I have no idea what she is buying. I think that it’s not fair to assume she isn’t earning anything. She likely is, but not much as a anesthisology resident.

  FB, it’s not fair to make the argument it’s not her money. WHY not? What happens if she outearns him? She should spend what she wants? They are married. And she’s in residency. NOT slacking off and mooching off of him by not working. I could understand your POV if she wasn’t working, but she is, just not earning much.

  Assuming $14k in income/month and $6k in expenses, and $6k in taxes. Yep. He runs his own business, he has to pay a lot of taxes, especially in their bracket, but there is also $2k/month in retirement savings. So he’s saving $4k/month, $4k/month spending and $6k/month taxes.

  Also, I think that assuming they will earn more money is not out of the realm of possibilities. Second, I’m not sure but the paid for condo might be a gift to his wife, so they might have that as a DP on their next place.

  It’s not unheard of for people of their earning power to have rich parents who can gift them a condo!

  They do have enough to pay off his student loans $77k in cash.

  I think they are doing well considering he just started saving and paying off debt 18 months ago.

  I might as well share he’s a dentist, so his earning power is also very high.

• 9 LivingAlmostLarge // Feb 20, 2009 at 10:18 am

  They owe $180k in student loan debts. In 18 months they have saved around $120k (Cash and Retirement), and they have probably paid off $20k in debt.

  I think his wife will be in residency for at least 4 years. I think they could pay off 1 student loan with $77k, but are holding off.

• 10 Kristy // Feb 20, 2009 at 10:19 am

  I think its too much because they are trying to save for a house, she is still a resident and doesn’t need expensive clothes, they are living in her dad’s condo and paying $150 in rent and they have tons of student loans. So yes, I think $500 a month is too much to spend on clothes. If they pay their student loans off and purchase a home and can afford to spend that much, then fine do it. But they have an awful lot of debt to pay off first.

• 11 BBJ // Feb 20, 2009 at 10:23 am

  like i said, personal opinion. i might spend $500 on clothes in a year, not because that’s all i can afford, but i just don’t need any more than that.

  so i would say $500 is too much because you don’t “need” that much, of course depending on what you’re buying, maybe you can only get 2 or 3 things for that much.

  i think what i’m saying is to me, that’s a huge waste. even if i were making that much, i’d still not spend any more on clothes.

• 12 LivingAlmostLarge // Feb 20, 2009 at 10:35 am

  I don’t think they are saving for a house. I think the condo might be their home paid for. I am uncertain. And it would not be unlikely that it’s paid for 100%. It was likely a gift to his wife a long time ago.

  I know many medical students whose parents are very well off and bought they condos. So say the condo is $200k, that’s their downpayment for their next home.

  Their current debt load is $110k on a $168k base income, with one spouse working. Not a bad deal considering they are 27 and he’s been out of school for 18 months.

  I think they are doing well. If he continues on pace, they will have saved enough to pay off debt in around 3 years.

• 13 tom // Feb 20, 2009 at 12:49 pm

  I agree women’s clothing is more expensive, but do you really need $6K worth each year? If you buy high quality, classic items, maybe spending $6K for one year is OK, but anymore than that is a bit of a problem. I agree with the guy in this case.

• 14 Meg from FruWiki // Feb 20, 2009 at 1:51 pm

  If they didn’t have the student loan debt, I’d say that it was alright considering their income. However, they really need to tackle that first before spending that sort of money on clothes. Plus, unless they plan to live in her dad’s condo all their lives, they should think about saving for their own place.

  I also agree with LAL — it is their money. When you’re married, it’s joint money. I really don’t get married couples who split everything and talk about which percentage of the utilities each is going to pay. Maybe it works for some, but it has always sounded like they’re planning for divorce, if you ask me.

  And paying $150 for rent, he’s definitely getting a financial benefit from being married to her, in addition to other non-financial and future financial benefits.

  But because it is their money, they need to sit down and plan how they’re going to spend it together! And maybe they each get so much per month that they can spend on whatever they want. (I can’t help but wonder what he’s buying that she disapproves of, lol.)

• 15 Meg // Feb 20, 2009 at 2:32 pm

  Can you be too frugal? Yes. Is $500 a month on clothes too much? Maybe. But this post isn’t really about frugality – of course it’s not frugal to buy $500 a month in clothes, but it would only be “too frugal” if the hubby was trying to eliminate all shopping altogether. And it doesn’t sound like that. The real question is what the budget of this couple should be.

  Here is the deal; even though he earns all the money for now, they are living rent free because of HER. AND she has significant earning potential in the pipeline. AND she is bringing in a lot less debt to the relationship. So hubby really has no leg to stand on if he’s trying to dictate her spending.

  However of course both members of the couple should be comfy with the budget and have a right to be uncomfortable with the spending and saving of each other.

  This couple definitely needs to be saving more and spending less. But the clothing isn’t the real issue. What they should be doing is subtracting what their rent (or dream mortgage payment) would be from their current income and putting it in the bank to save for a home of their own and also for his medical practice. On TOP of that they should be saving at least 15% of their gross income. That will go down when/if they have kids, but for now there’s no excuse for two young folks earning that much to not be able to save 15% of their income.

  OK so we’re looking at about $10K a month net, minus $2K in savings, minus $4K for “rent” (i.e. more savings), minus $1K in fixed expenses, minus $1K a month on student loans.

  That leaves $2K for discretionary spending. They probably spend $500-$1000 of that together on food and entertainment and what-not. So that leaves each of them $500-$750 to do whatever they want to with. If she wants to blow all hers on shopping, that should be her perogative, just like if he wants to spend all his on golf (to underscore the gender stereotypes at play here).

  In my opinion they should each have their own checking accounts in addition to one joint account. Each month they should have a payroll deduction into the joint checking account for all joint expenses – including savings and “rent.” I would also include debt repayment in that, but they could keep that separate. Then the rest of the income – whatever amount that ends up being each month – should automatically be split between the two individual accounts. And they can each go free and spend/save as they like from there.

• 16 JoeP // Feb 20, 2009 at 3:12 pm

  I have a hard time imagining accruing $500 worth of clothing every month. People are certainly free to spend their money on whatever they wish, so I’m certainly not judging. If I found myself with $500 a month, I might spend some on clothes and the rest on servicing my debt and growing a Roth IRA.

  It would make me feel slightly better knowing that they donated unused clothing to a shelter or church. I can’t imaging any closet growing by $6k worth of clothes a year.

• 17 tom // Feb 20, 2009 at 4:28 pm

  I think we need to know what they are spending money on in total.

  They are bringing in $14-17K a month! LAL says they have $2000 leftover. So they are spending $12-15K a month?!

  I’m not following this math.

• 18 Bobbi // Feb 20, 2009 at 6:27 pm

  They are going to need a huge house with a huge closet. Too much for one person to spend on something such as clothes. Give it to Charity.

• 19 MacLover // Feb 20, 2009 at 7:01 pm

  Guys,

  Maclover here. Some of you are having questions about how the money adds up. We pay a crapload of taxes.

  So all in all, we save a lot and we pay a lot of taxes. What money we have left over at the end of the month –> goes to savings/retirement.

  So TOM:
  14K-6.5K = 7.5K after tax. Then I make student loan payments, bills and such. And I put the leftovers in savings/retirement.

  Of course the income varies, but has been going up. I’m hoping that I’ll average around 18K/month.

  To give you an idea of our savings, it took us 18months to get to about 130k in savings/retirement. But I had about 40K left from my student loans. So that was a head start.

  I do not own my own business, so my taxes suck, not much to write off. My wife will start residency in July, so her paycheck will help.

  We’re planning on dumping money into her student loans first, it has a 6.8% rate.

• 20 MacLover // Feb 20, 2009 at 7:02 pm

  oh yeah, our house is overflowing with her clothes. our bedroom closet, is hers and so is half of the guest’s closet (where I put my clothes).

• 21 LivingAlmostLarge // Feb 20, 2009 at 10:53 pm

  I believe that Maclover is saving the maximum in a 401k and IRAs available. NO roth because of their income bracket.

  And without kids they pay a crap load of taxes, ask me how I know?

  But seriously they are saving I think at least $4-5k/month and spending $6k/month and the rest is taxes.

  Maclover have you considered just paying off her student loans with all the cash you’ve saved?

• 22 MacLover // Feb 21, 2009 at 1:01 am

  I’m thinking when we get back from our vacation in Spain (leaving next Sat). I’m going to make provisions on aggressively paying down her loans. Not all at once, maybe 5k or so a month. Taking it from savings. I’d like to keep some cash around as emergency.

  Then when she starts residency, she’ll get paid I think about 3k after taxes, that will hopefully cover alot of our expenses. So my income can be dedicated to aggressively paying down all debt (student loans).

  Probably start with the wife’s 6.8% loan, then my 5%. I think the 3.8% is cheap, which BTW goes down another 1% after 36 on time payments.

  We’ll see. LAL I like the blog.

• 23 TuesdaysTip // Feb 21, 2009 at 11:12 am

  These scenarios drive me nuts. Yes, they are in a better financial situation because her family has given them the opportunity to own the condo. However, that does not give her the right to go out and spend $500 a month on an “unnecessary” expense. I would be willing to bet that she doesn’t NEED to spend $500 a month on clothing. To put it in perspective, each month she spends $500 on clothing, she is paying 6.8% interest on those clothes (the extremely high rate on her student loan).

  Here’s my suggestion:
  * Max out your 401k. With the market at its lowest point in 11 years, you will not have an opportunity to “buy cheap”, or at least this cheap, any time in the near future.
  * Why do you have so much cash reserves? Keep 6 months reserves in savings and pay down the student loan with the highest interest rate. The others you can hold off on until you have the additional disposable income, but get rid of the one at 6.8%.

  These situations bother me because Maclover’s monthly expenses are right in line with many people who have substantially less income. Making more money doesn’t excuse you from being financially responsible. If you are not disciplined enough to make the proper financial decisions on your own, pay someone to do it for you and follow the plan.

  On the bright side, in a few years you’ll have additional income and should be able to achieve your dreams of homeownership and owning your own practice rather quickly. But wouldn’t you like to start saving for that with a clean slate?

• 24 LivingAlmostLarge // Feb 21, 2009 at 7:16 pm

  MacLover, sounds good. Is the interest on her loans deferred? If so wait and build up more. I would pay off her $70k @ 6.8% after the 6 month grace period is over. That will likely leave you with $25k if you continue saving at the same pace. That would really make your student loans more palatable.

  TuesdaysTip, here’s one more thing though. That $500/month in clothes is 3,.5% of their income. Not a huge deal. Their fixed expenses are 21%. They are doing great.

  I wouldn’t worry because they are paying off and saving at such a high clip and rate. Around 33% is going to savings a month with retirement and cash.

• 25 tom // Feb 22, 2009 at 10:47 am

  Maclover,

  I guess this begs the question, what do you spend money on each month?

  If you’re splurging on electronics, tools, whatever, then she’s justified in spending on clothes.

  If not, there needs to be some sort of compromise.

  As for the loans:
  I would pay off your DW’s loans as soon as you can. I assume it’s a Stafford Graduate Loan, in which interest is being accrued during deferment period.

• 26 TuesdaysTip // Feb 22, 2009 at 11:45 am

  I agree the clothing spending is a small percentage of their income, but it begs the question “Is it necessary?”

  Humor me, but don’t most people in the medical field where scrubs all day?!?!? When does she have time or have the need for all these clothes?

  The problem is not that they cannot afford to spend $500/mo on clothes. But they do not NEED to spend $500/mo. I think this post addresses a more important question, needs versus wants!

  I want to driver a Ferrari, but I don’t need it….yet!

• 27 LivingAlmostLarge // Feb 22, 2009 at 1:27 pm

  Tom, excellent question. I know one rebuttal by the wife was he spends $300/month on lunches. So I think talking about it and budgeting is important jointly.

  TuesdaysTips, no they don’t need clothes, but you don’t need to eat out. You don’t need to buy organic fruits, veggies, meat, but you can.

  You do not need cable. You do not need vacations. There are very few needs in life.

  Food, basic clothes, shelter, medical care, and utilities. Anything else is a want.

  So what is wrong with wanting? I just had a post on Friday about not being frugal!

  And this is a want.

• 28 Maclover // Feb 22, 2009 at 1:31 pm

  Thanks for all the posts.

  Tom, I do not spend money on myself really. I have a 29$ monthly gym membership and 9.99 netflix fee. Most of bills are from food, bills and such. As eating out/groceries averages about a little under 1K/month. She likes expensive dinners.

  Otherwise, I do not splurge on electronics, cars and tools. One of my hobbies is biking, and it’s expensive, but I think I’ve spent a total of 2.5K over the last 3-4 years on it. And it’s come down substantially because I already have the bike. Just maintenance now.

• 29 dogatemyfinances // Feb 22, 2009 at 2:56 pm

  This guy sounds like a total control freak. They live for free!!!!

• 30 TuesdaysTip // Feb 22, 2009 at 3:06 pm

  If he’s spending $300/ mo on lunches then it’s a totally different ball game. Whether its $300 on lunches or $300 on food, they’re both guilty of unnecessary spending. Unless he’s willing to cut back on his spending, it’s tough to critique her.

  Unless of course she’s buying a $500 set of scrubs!

• 31 TuesdaysTip // Feb 22, 2009 at 3:07 pm

  Correction: “or $300 on clothing”…doesn’t really matter what they’re spending the money on!

• 32 sara l // Feb 23, 2009 at 11:16 am

  I think the better question is why does she want to spend $500/month on clothes? Is it a career thing, a designer label thing, a keeping up with the friends thing, or something else? I can understand setting up a career wardrobe or having nice clothes for an occasional night out, but that much spending each month may mean an underlying problem.

  In our household we each have a percentage of our checks to spend on whatever we want. If my husband wants to spend every penny on any one thing that’s his prerogative. As a result we don’t argue about personal spending.

• 33 LAL // Feb 23, 2009 at 3:33 pm

  Maclover, I know you mentioned eating out is your big hobby lunches.

  Dog, they pay $150/month! But yes it’s a gift from her family.

  TuesdaysTip, why is it a different ballgame if he’s spending $300/month? Maybe they should each have 5% of their income a monthly to “blow” on stuff. Then it would be fair?

• 34 MacLover // Feb 23, 2009 at 4:59 pm

  Ye s, I do like eating out for lunch. The last 3 months, I’ve spent a total of 533$ (including taking the girls out as a treat once). So that probably works out to be roughly 178$/month. Which is less than the 1600$ in the last 3 months that she’s spent on clothes.

  We were talking about this last weekend. Her sister apparently spends over 10K a year on clothes. She’s a hygienist, so she makes less. And she lives in NYC, so her rent is expensive.

• 35 MacLover // Feb 23, 2009 at 9:51 pm

  just checked our CC status. she’s up to 600$ this month and the month is not over yet. Just called her and told her about our new budget.

• 36 Meg from FruWiki // Feb 23, 2009 at 9:57 pm

  MacLover,

  What do you mean by “told her about our new budget”?

• 37 MacLover // Feb 23, 2009 at 11:25 pm

  I informed her that she has spent such and such on clothing this month (now 600$). She was at first shocked. And then explained how some of the items were on sale and such. Then we went over a “new plan”, all clothing will now be spent in cash, we’re starting off with 200-300$/month and seeing how that goes. And we’re starting that now. She seems okay with the idea. We’re going to Spain soon. So when we come back we’ll see how it goes for the next month.

• 38 Tuesdays Tip // Feb 24, 2009 at 8:23 am

  I don’t agree with “telling” her about the new budget. But there is definitely a need for conversation.

  When I say “different ballgame”, I’m sure Maclover and his wife each have their guilty pleasures, but they don’t seem to be on the same page with their finances. If they both decide: We each have $300 per month to spend as we please without question. That’s fine. He can’t blame her for buying a $300 pair of shoes and she can’t blame him, not that it sounds like she would, for buying lunch every day of the week.

  I’m interested to see how this experimental budget goes.

• 39 LivingAlmostLarge // Feb 24, 2009 at 9:06 am

  Me too! Maclover you have a great wife. My DH would leave me if I ever told him what he could and could not do.

  We are in a partnership. If I ever dictated, I don’t think he would appreciate it. He would say I’m not his mother and don’t treat him like a child.

  I think the idea of blow money is the best idea. Where you can each spend whatever you want it on without consulting the other person. AND no complaining.

• 40 Meg from FruWiki // Feb 24, 2009 at 10:26 am

  As I suspected, MacLover, it does sound like you are dictating to the rules. You guys have to work on this together. That means she gets a real say, not just “fine, we’ll follow your plan”. It’s got to be her plan, too, or else she’ll just resent you and do what she wants anyhow — and then you’ll resent her even more. And resentment is the road to divorce.

  In her case, maybe her plan would be to cut back on her other expenses in order to spend money on clothes.

  However, I do find it troubling if she really didn’t know how much she had spent. If she was a few dollars off, that’s ok, but if she had no clue then that’s not good at all.

  My husband and I have separate checking accounts where we get our “allowances” that we can spend however we want. Maybe that would work for you — and then neither of you can spend more than is there. Just use debit cards.

• 41 MacLover // Feb 24, 2009 at 5:39 pm

  Sorry. I didn’t mean to say “I told her”. We went over it, she just said she didn’t realize she was spending so much. I suggested that we start a budget at 200 for clothing. She suggested 300. We’ll probably meet in the middle.

  I do like the idea of using debit cards. We’ve been charging everything for the rewards.

  I don’t eat lunches out everyday. But she actually doesn’t like me eating out for lunch, because I come back too full . I prefer a heavy lunch and light dinner. She prefers a light lunch and heavy dinner.

  Our financial goals have never been clear cut. It’s just been save a bunch. But now we’ve outlined things that we should do. #1) start paying off her loans. #2) pay off my 5% loan #3) build up a downpayment for a house. #4) build up capital for a practice.

• 42 Pearl // Feb 24, 2009 at 11:47 pm

  I’m struck by the fact that Maclover knows TO THE DOLLAR what he’s spent on lunches over the past three months ($533). There’s a hint of compulsive behavior for both members of this couple, her with the clothes shopping and him with the financial management. It would be a lot easier for each of them if they could simply decide on a “no questions asked” monthly budget amount for each partner to spend however he/she wishes, and learn to respect or even enjoy each other’s quirks.

  With an income of $14 – 17K a month and rising, $500 a month for clothing, while not “needed,” is also not outrageous; obviously the wife finds the activity enjoyable and can afford it without jeopardy to the family finances. Going to Spain is not “necessary” either, but it’s a lot of fun. Interesting how a lot of commenters jumped on the spending on clothing as reflecting some kind of character flaw but nobody criticized going to Spain.

• 43 LAL // Feb 25, 2009 at 9:53 am

  Maclover, sounds like you are trying to discuss it. But if we asked your wife would we get the same story?

  Pearl, I’ve not wanted to bring up that the only reason why people hate clothes it’s a woman’s thing. I’ve noticed no one mentions eating out lunches, buying electronics or “male” hobbies as extravagent.

  Nope, going to Spain is not necessary but they haven’t told us what it cost them. Maybe it’s a free trip from her family? So it’s really hard to critisize. If it’s costing something, then the argument can be made that it should go to student loan debt.

  But the clothes are easier to target because it’s a set number put out there.

  And I see Pearl you mention the $500 being a tiny fraction of their income. I tend to agree, but I think they should just have 5% of their income for their own spending whatever it might be.

• 44 Maclover // Feb 25, 2009 at 10:14 am

  Hey guys, we use Yodlee, it keeps track of the dollars spent. That’s why we have an exact figure (TO THE DOLLAR). Otherwise I’m real slack on keeping track. I forget things all the time. The Yodlee helps keep everything organized for us.

  My wife loves traveling, and I do too now (after meeting my wife)!! Guys thanks for all the comments. Going to Spain is on our dime, it’s going to cost us probably around 3k after all is said and done. We try to do an international trip each year. I made extra money in January (24k) so that’ll alleviate the costs. But yes the money for the trip could have gone towards the loans. This is something we’re going to start specifically budgeting for.

  The tone is definitely different between this board and the savingadvice board.

• 47 Pearl // Feb 25, 2009 at 10:45 am

  Just wanted to be clear:

  I wasn’t criticizing the Spain trip, just pointing out that, like the amount spent on clothing, there are probably a lot of things that could be considered “unnecessary,” and that’s not the only standard by which spending should be measured.

  If clothes-shopping really is a form of recreation for his wife, I hope Maclover helps her find something else to replace it with when she cuts back on that.

• 50 karla (threadbndr) // Feb 26, 2009 at 1:41 pm

  I voted “h@!! no”, because of two things (both of which have been mentioned by other commentors, but bear repeating).

  First, those are awful student loan totals – I don’t care if you ARE both doctors or doctors to be. You could buy a nice house in a midwestern city for what you owe Sallie Mae! You have the perfect chance now to dig yourselves out of that pit – do it!

  Second, $150 in rent! Give me a break – if your budget is predicated on that, you are in REAL trouble, kids. You should have a big ’saving this for the down payment’ fund with that rent. Take a look at condo payments/ apt rentals in your ‘goal city’, and then bank the difference between THAT rental and what you are paying.

  My late hubby and I had cheap rent in from my folks the first year and a bit of our marriage. We used it to save up a 20% down payment on our house. You are very lucky to have a great income and low expenses – use that to your advantage, and don’t p!$$ away the excess just because it’s there. I’m with the hubby all the way on this one.

• 51 LAL // Feb 26, 2009 at 10:34 pm

  Karla, they might own the condo as a gift, so I wouldn’t assume they need to save for a house.

• 56 LivingAlmostLarge // Mar 2, 2009 at 4:34 pm

  Pearl definitely understand about the Spain trip. I agree they are likely both spending on extra lifestyle things.

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