Flickr photo credit: mode.
Long-term planning seems to be anathema to many people. Even those of us that try to budget, or even be that dreaded F word - frugal - sometimes have trouble thinking about our finances long-term. It’s not like we learn it at school, and some families just don’t talk about finances and planning. As well, a savings mindset is not necessarily the same as a frugal mindset, though having the latter does help towards sustaining the former.
What are you doing to go beyond budgeting and spending as little as possible to actually saving for your future, your family’s future? Even though I’ve been living frugally for the past six or so years, somewhere along the way my savings and planning mindset was replace with “just stop spending so much.” It’s not hard to think like that if you’ve taken a downturn on income, but it’s even more crucial in such times to think about your future. Especially in the times we live in, where nothing seems stable or guaranteed anymore.
What prompted me to finally start thinking long-term again was my upcoming marriage - an important even that hasn’t even been set due to concerns about finances. That’s not a nice place to be in, and is a source of occasional heated discussions. During a moment of reflection, it occurred to me that over the past 2.5 years, I had given up about US$800/month or more in freelance income, thanks to poor work planning. What a shame.
The loss was not as obvious because the earnings would have been spread out over various small contracts. Unfortunately, the net result is a loss of US$24,000 or more in income over that time, not to mention any interest I might have earned. In fact, had I had that extra income, I might even have invested it. What’s more, that’s money that could have paid for a wedding.
Coulda, woulda, shoulda. As shameful as it is, it doesn’t matter now. That income is gone. But the hard, valuable lesson is that I not only no longer turn away from small opportunities, long-term savings is now a part of my entire mode of thinking. It has to be, with marriage and children to be factored in.
Now those of you who are already married are probably chuckling away at this “newbie”, but are you doing all you can to truly think long-term in your savings and plannings? A few dollars or pounds saved here and there per day or week adds up over the months and years. Sure, there’s inflation, but a savings mindset is not the same as just being frugal. Saving something, developing that mindset long enough will eventually put you in a frame of mind where you find enjoy finding other ways to save, and relish figuring out how much you’ll save.
Of course, the one thing I learned very young is that long-term planning is easier when you have something concrete to save towards, whether it’s an occasional vacation or something more serious such as your retirement expenses. And with people in many societies living longer, the latter goal deserves some serious thinking. I just wish I had listened to my younger self more often.
We are Kathryn and Captain Frugal two money saving fanatics. Kathryn is a freelance writer living in San Francisco which means that she's had to work hard to maintain a frugal budget. Captain Frugal learned from a young age that a penny saved is a penny earned, he's made it his life's mission to beat "the system" a few cents at a time. 
"Living the high life is easy!" say's captian frugal, "all you need is a little creativity, to improve your lifestyle and still save money!
