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A comment on Plain Text Accounting. Parent comment

Re:Plain Text Accounting by tachyonbeam on Tuesday January 12, 2021 @04:43PM (#25754243)
Depends. If you work as a software developer, odds are you make more than you need to live comfortably. In that scenario, it makes a lot of sense to be disciplined and put some amount of money aside first. I picked an amount to put into savings that still leaves me enough to not have to stress about groceries or going out once or twice. I basically always manage to hit my monthly budget, and save what I planned. If I wasn't putting money in savings first, I think I might end up spending a lot more than I should on tech gadgets and other things that I don't really need.

My approach:

1. Put a reasonable amount in savings first, but make sure to leave yourself enough to enjoy life, because you can't be completely sure you'll be alive in 1, 5, 10 or 20 years.

2. Spent on monthly expenses without stressing about savings, because some fun money is also part of your budget.

3. If there's any money left over when you get your next paycheck, send that into savings as well.

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Re:Plain Text Accounting by esoterica on Tuesday January 12, 2021 @06:30PM (#25755561)
You’re suggesting saving a fixed amount, which is bad for the reasons I outlined in the comment you responded to.
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Re:Plain Text Accounting by BeetleB on Tuesday January 12, 2021 @09:16PM (#25757131)
It's only bad if you poorly estimate your minimal expenses over a long term.

If buying a PS5 is really important to you, then by setting money aside for it you are paying yourself first. For most working people, though, there are much more important things to save for, and the wiser decision would be not to buy the PS5 if it means reducing the savings.

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