[Serigraph]

I hope this is only temporary for me. My salary has more than doubled since summer, but I am not saving nearly what I had planned. It seems like now that there is a lot more disposable income, I am disposing of it

Of course I spend the majority on horses and even that is modest (I think). They are at home, I trim my own, I train my own (with exception of small monthly cost to an excellent trainer), I don't show. I do tend to buy some expensive blankets, hay etc, but not that often.

I am also not at all the materialistic type needing the latest and greatest. I work from home so don't spend a lot on clothes or gas, DH and I drive older paid for cars. My health insurance is paid for. We do eat out, but not at fancy places and not that often 2-3x's per month for about $30 total.

I'm just annoyed at myself for not saving as much as I hoped by now. But, we did have several large expenses since summer and that is where the extra has gone.

In theory, I can save 2/3 of my monthly salary and we use DH's for the mortgage, food etc. I use mine for horse and dog expenses.

Anyway, I do know how to be frugal and how to save, but with a lot of extra now I find myself spending more than usual.

Anyone else in this boat? And how to stop?

[sketcher]

Make sure you are maxing out you 401k and open a Roth IRA, also, have a deposit every paycheck made direct deposit to your savings account that you do not touch unless it is an emergency. Maybe if those are out of sight then they are out of mind and at least in the case of the retirement accounts, not easily (or cheaply) accessible. Then enjoy yourself. You only live once.

[JanM]

You have to be more disciplined, and set up an automatic transfer for your savings that comes right out of your paycheck. First pay off any bills, or car loans, because they're higher interest usually. Then save your emergency fund. Then seriously start saving while you have extra funds. That way when you buy a new car or truck you pay cash, and if or when you get another house you can put down a good downpayment. I bet you're doing impulse buying, and that can get to be a habit. Put yourself on a budget that includes a certain amount for gifts/clothing/ miscellaneous purchases every month, and start saving the rest.

[rmh_rider]

We make more money than we did last year. But I KNOW we do not spend more due to it.

We save more, I know that for sure.

[Serigraph]

We do contribute to 40l1K's and have an IRA, but I don't have some of my paycheck going directly to savings. Good idea.

[GotMyPony]

I didn't see where you said how old you are but go ahead and read some of the articles about people today approaching retirement age and the very small amount - if any - many of them have saved for retirement. That may put the fear of God in you, especially considering today's economy. It's good that you're frugal (as am I!) but stash that cash while it's coming in so you don't have to worry about it later. Nothing is worth more than peace of mind...

[kimkatsooo]

Pay your savings FIRST! As soon as you get paid move the money over to your savings. That is what worked for us. You can still get to the money if you NEED it but you have go through the act of moving it. Otherwise it is just too easy to write the check or use the card. Then the money is gone at the end of the month.

[MoonoverMississippi]

Set up a budget; there is no reason not to know where your money is going. Set up amounts every month for saving and retirement, bills, a "splurge" account, etc.

It's easy to get carried away when you are suddenly making more (BTDT, got the blue ribbon); justifying all those "little" extras is easy, since you're making soooo much more. And you don't realize how much those "little" extras add up when there are 3245455 of them every month.

Check out Dave Ramsey; he has great information for everyday money management and budgeting, not just getting out of debt.

[Frank B]

I hope this is only temporary for me. My salary has more than doubled since summer, but I am not saving nearly what I had planned...

Now is the ideal time to have a come-to-Jesus meeting with http://www.daveramsey.com/home/]Dave Ramsey[/url] while you can take full advantage of it!

Seriously!

[Crackerdog]

To answer the original question, if we made more money we wouldn't buy more things, but the things we would buy would be of higher quality, so yes we would probably end up spending a bit more than we do currently.