Balancing Financial Goals and Enjoying Life

Balancing Wealth and Pleasure: A DINK Couple’s Guide to Financial Freedom and Enjoyment

It’s not easy balancing building wealth while spending it on the lifestyle you want to live today. Let’s be honest, as dual-income no-kids DINK couples, we’re uniquely positioned to enjoy a lifestyle that balances saving aggressively for our future while indulging in the finer things in life today. It’s a delicate equilibrium, finding joy in the present while ensuring a secure financial future. In this guide, we dive into how we’ve managed to strike this balance, sharing our journey and the strategies that have worked for us.

Financial Freedom Starts With Crafting Clear Financial Goals

Our journey to financial freedom began with crafting clear, actionable financial goals. From saving for our first home together (and then our second house), to planning vacations, and even planning for our retirement, we are guided by our objectives and timelines. Some of our financial goals are long term, others are short term, and we take this into account in the ways that we save and spend our money. This clarity in our financial goals has been the cornerstone of our journey, allowing us to allocate resources effectively and enjoy life’s pleasures without guilt.

We work hard, and we are fortunate to be able to balance that with the pleasures of living a lifestyle we enjoy today. This starts by saving first. Before we spend our money, the first thing we do with our income is plan on ways to save and invest it. This starts by maxing out our retirement savings, which is also a smart tax planning strategy. Then, we save even more in our non-retirement investments, to build wealth and also short term financial goals. What’s left over is what we spend on our regular monthly expenses with some padding to cover other costs.

Budgeting The Art of Equilibrium

Budgeting truly is an art of equilibrium. We don’t like thinking of budgeting as a diet, as if we were cutting things out. Instead we choose to spend consciously, balancing how we spend on certain things and not on others. Being disciplined with our spending has been our most powerful tool in managing our finances. But let’s not kid ourselves, we spend a lot of money. Increasing our awareness about how we spend money has changed the way we prioritize what we spend on.

This is a big part of what has allowed us to maximize our savings, keeping us on track track towards our financial goals, while also carving out a portion of our budget for the things we love. For us, budgeting isn’t about restriction; it’s about making informed decisions that align with our values and goals.

Value Based Spending Investing in Joy

We believe in a concept we call value based spending. It’s when you align your budget, the items you spend the most on, with what really brings you joy. Some of the things that bring us the most joy together in life are food, wine, and travel. We spend a fair amount of our budget on these experiences we value together.

You have to balance this too of course. For example, we really value our health and wellness. At home we eat high quality, organic whole foods; we use specific vitamins and natural supplements. This means we spend a little more when we go to the farmers market and grocery store.

For our physical fitness, when we are not active outdoors, we have our gym membership at Equinox. It’s a premium gym with a higher price tag, the value it adds to our lives—through access to top-tier classes, facilities, and the community—makes it a worthwhile investment. This also happened to be less expensive than the country club we were considering. Now after making that decision, we can definitely say get more value out of using our Equinox membership than we would have at the country club.

Track and Automate Your Finances

Being able to track and automate our finances has been key for us to reach our financial goals. We’ve set up separate accounts for long-term goals, like retirement, and every month we have automatic contributions into these accounts. We also have a minimum dollar amount setup which transfers money from our bank account to our non-retirement investments every month.

We like travel hacking and earning points on our credit cards like everyone else. But step one with any new credit card is setting up automatic monthly payments, for the full balance. Everything from our mortgage to our insurance policies, bills and utilities, are all being paid automatically. You still need to keep an eye on everything, just because you automated it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be checking on your numbers and progress towards your financial goals.

Use Rewards and Cashback Programs to Maximize Benefits

Something feels good when you use rewards and cash back programs to maximize your benefits. Before we even signed up for the Capital One Venture card, we already knew our plan was to use it to cover airfare for our Korea, Philippines, Singapore adventure. We love getting the most out of our spending, which is why we leverage rewards and cashback programs.

Whether it’s for everyday expenses, travel, big ticket items or business spending, we tend to only use a few different credit cards, each for specific purposes, and those that offer the best rewards. This strategy has allowed us to enjoy luxury experiences, and stretch the dollars we are already spending a bit further.

Prioritize Experiences Over Material Possessions

Like many DINK’s, we’ve managed to accumulate a lot of stuff over the years, more than we probably need. That said, we really do prioritize being able to experience and do things together,

Our most cherished memories come from the experiences we’ve shared, not the things we’ve bought. We prioritize spending on travel, dining out, and attending events because these experiences enrich our lives in ways material possessions cannot. We plan our travels meticulously, using tools like Expedia to ensure we’re getting the best value for our adventures.

Seek Discounts and Deals: Smart Ways to Save

Even when indulging in luxury experiences or purchases, we always search for discounts and the best deal. We’re constantly looking for smart ways to save on things we are planning to spend on. This is one way we feel a little better about our bigger purchase decisions, enjoying the finer things in life without overspending. This approach has allowed us to dine at upscale restaurants and travel to beautiful destinations while keeping a enough leftover to cover other costs along the way.

Plan Ahead for Major Purchases

It’s important to plan ahead for major purchases. This is one way that we save with intention. Whether it’s a new car, a new house, or just new skis, we set specific savings goals and timelines. This disciplined approach allows us to make these purchases with way less financial stress, adding to our enjoyment.

Free and Low-Cost Entertainment Options

We believe that enjoying life doesn’t always require spending money. We often explore free or low-cost entertainment options, from local events like the KCRW concert series here in Los Angeles, to outdoor adventures like hiking and camping. These experiences provide immense joy and satisfaction with much less impact on our budget.

Practice Gratitude and Mindfulness

Above all, we practice gratitude and mindfulness. We appreciate the life we’ve built and the experiences we’ve shared. This mindset helps us remain content and fulfilled, regardless of our financial status.

Balancing long-term financial goals with enjoying life today is achievable. It requires clear goal setting, disciplined budgeting, and making conscious choices that align with your values. By automating savings, leveraging rewards, and prioritizing experiences over possessions, you can enjoy a rich and fulfilling life without compromising your financial future. Remember, the ultimate luxury is living a life filled with joy, purpose, and financial freedom.