Hmmmm, I've been thinking about this thread a bit. We've been kind of spendy lately. The missus and I went on vacation recently, more like the honeymoon we never really took way back when. We were in Myrtle Beach and over the course of a week dropped about $1400 (includes beachfront condo, travel, entertainment, and eating out - does not include eating in, which we did a lot of and would have done at home as well). The missus is now visiting her family in Orlando, I recently went to Newark and Baltimore, and I have spent time with friends this week. It all adds up to some substantial change.
In short, we've spent the most discretionary money since finding this blog back in April 2014. And I won't lie, it's been a damned good time. But different too. For starters, we didn't buy any stuff, we bought experiences with people we wanted to be with. Some of those experiences involved recreational expenses, like golf or eating or drinking out. If we were doing this every week of every year it would add up darned quick, and we could afford it, but we would be right back in the minor leagues of saving like we were beforehand.
So have I lost the joy of consumer things? Yeah, but I was already there to a large extent before finding the blog. Have I lost the joy of spending money on entertainment? No, but I am a lot more aware of it now and I try to limit my entertainment budget to things that are truly worthwhile to me (like date night, or meeting friends) rather than just conveniences (I'm tired, let's get Mexican food from Casa de Tres Tacos).
This month has been a reminder that we are far from full-on Mustachianism, but the spreadsheet doesn't lie, we've made fabulous progress over the past 16 months. My "hybrid" moniker was a good choice way back when.
