Question

Anonymous Post: Hi TBM Fam! My husband and I have struggled for the last 4 years. I have become a mastermind at moving things around. Even though our income is low, somehow the bills got paid or were a month late. Recently my husband accepted a job and the income is a $50, 000+/year increase from what he is currently making. I am extremely anxious about this but I feel my reason may be silly. See we have struggled for so long that once the new income starts coming in, I feel like all I want to do is hoard the money and only pay for necessities. Does anyone understand what I am feeling?  

Answer 1

There is nothing wrong with actually doing that!  

Answer 2

I understand, and I absolutely would hoard money and build a large savings

Answer 3

I wish I had that problem! I think it’s great! Maybe take a small percentage and do something special together! Memories are also very valuable!  

Answer 4

Yes, fear of not having it and always living on less! Just keep focused on paying Bill's, paying debt and saving!  

Answer 5

It can be so overwhelming to get so much when you've been working with so less! I'm confident that you'll be able to figure out what to do with the extra money the way it's best for you! Might not happen overnight but hey, what does?  

Answer 6

This is great news and congratulations! Have you thought about making passive income by investing into your retirement funds, savings, stock market or real estate?  

Answer 7

Better to hoard a bit than to go spend crazy! If you need some guidance on recommended percentages for budgeting, I like Dave Ramsey’s, but there are many on the Internet. You can always increase the saving percentage and decrease other areas. You are wise to be thinking about how you will handle this increase and not lose it to too much lifestyle spending.  

Answer 8

Thats awesome for your family! Saving the extra money is a totally acceptable plan for the salary increase! But I can relate. We make our last payment tomorrow on a large debt we have been throwing $1000 a month at for the last three years. I am really anxious about it. Change always makes me anxious, just because of the unknown, so that’s a piece of it. I also worry that with more breathing room in our budget, we will get careless and make bad financial decisions again. And our budget has mostly been built on necessity for the last few years (like our grocery budget was just what we had to put toward food, a reasonable amount but we had to be careful). Getting to actually decide what I think we should spend vs just spending what we had available in the budget is a big mindset shift for me. It helps me a lot sometimes to name what’s causing my anxiety, and these are some of the things that I’ve realized are on my mind.  

Answer 9

50k increase to his current salary?! Incredible! Congratulations! Keep living like you are! Splurge on yourself a little. Invest the extra!  

Answer 10

Congratulations. Well if you have debt continue to live like you were & get the hell out of debt. The key to being wealthy is to live on less than you make & not count your income as what it was before taxes, healthcare, social security, etc. Most get into trouble because they think “I make $50k” when in reality you only make $38k because that what makes it home after all the deductions. In other words pretend he’s still making the old salary for a while longer.  

Answer 11

Keep doing that! Don’t buy more things just because you can now. Keep being smart with your money. That’s how you get ahead financially. By not falling victim to lifestyle inflation/the “lifestyle creep. ”

Answer 12

Save for your future!  

Answer 13

Congratulation on the new job! This is the good thing about the bbp méthode. After your bills, a preset amount for your envelopes and sinking funds the left goes to extra savings. The good thing now is that you might have extra to splurge from time to time on what you need or want. Putting aside into savings shouldn't stop you from living. it gives you piece of mind on that unsespected event. Giving a purpose to the money you are putting aside helps you spend it when the time comes .