Redefining the boundaries of my nest egg

Photo by Mpop

Hello everyone!

Well, here I am continuing my count down for my move. So far, I haven't had the need to withdraw the extra $500 I've put away in savings (on top of my normal nest egg savings) so I figure I'm doing okay. I've also got my menu plan which pretty much consisted of eating from my pantry (my groceries for this fortnight was only $56!) . So far so good but I reckon its going to get tough soon when I get down to those odd ingredients - no doubt I'll be asking for your cooking help soon.

Anyway, as I continue my packing and cleaning, I have been pondering on why I am so tempted lately to just buy, buy, buy. I mean its not the first time I've had to do this. Indeed, it was only early last year that I had to furnish my entire house from scratch (and I did it for under $1,000). And then I realised why. Back then, I was on a lower wage and not 100% confident of my capacity to save. While my frugal living meant that I was doing very well in comparison to those in similar situations, the reality was that many many things were out of my financial reach anyway.... And while I had always tried to save and live frugally, the reality was that I just come out of a marriage where there was always another income that *could* act as as a "safety net" if I blew my budget. So while I saved and lived frugally, there was always a little doubting voice inside me about my true abilities to commit to it. In some ways, this spurred me on to be even more careful about my spendings....

Now a year and a bit later, I am now on a higher wage....and where before I did have little doubts about my abilities on the financial front, I am now much more confident...and sometimes I think that I may be getting over-confident. I also now have a nice nest egg.

I see items (that I don't need but think I want) and I think "of course I'll be able to use some of my nest egg for that and I'll just save up for it later and build my nest egg back up."

Can anyone see the fallacy of my thinking???

Yep, I've started to think of my nest egg as CREDIT. That I can use it for any purchase because I have the (misplaced) confidence that I can build it back up.

If I take away the phrase "nest egg" and replace with the word "credit card" - you can perhaps relate to my misplaced thinking??

...and I had NEVER intended for my nest egg to be used as a credit card. (Actually, you can say that perhaps credit cards shouldn't be used in the way many people use credit cards either....)

Photo by vipez

When I started my nest egg I had publically defined it in this blog. However, here is my revised and updated version as of today. My nest egg should only be used for:
1. emergencies (50%);
2. to increase my net equity (eg buy investments) (30%)
2. to visit my extended family overseas every 2 years (10%); and
3. to pay for a more sustainable life (10%).

So things like removalists, a new laptop, a new couch or a digital camera should be saved for on top of my regular nest egg fortnightly savings.

....*sigh*.....

Ok, I think I've now forcibly reminded myself over what I should be using my nest egg for and I've finally stopped ignoring that little voice inside me that's been saying "now is NOT the time to be careless".

Ah well. I hope you are all having a good week.