Are you a saver or a spender?

[danny67]

I'm a saver and my wife is a spender. As you can imagine, this causes some problems when it comes to how we want to use the money that we have. Are there any others out there in my position?

Are you naturally a saver or a spender? Is your spouse the same or opposite? Is it possible for savers and spenders to get along or are they bound to always get in arguments about money?

[Nika]

I'm a spender by nature. I save too. I manage to do that by setting goals that are important for both of us. -- Retirement, our son's college, vacations, security of knowing that if something happens we have some cushion.

It is really motivating to save once you are at a point where your money makes money.

But... I like to enjoy things like eating out, nice clothing and experiences. The trick is to find balance. That point where you are enjoying life, and still getting ahead in terms of your overall financial picture.

[rennigade]

Both. I save more than I spend. I refrain from buying the latest and greatest. My wife is the same. We both max our 401k's and Roth's...but we also take a couple nice vacations each year.

Really anyone that saves more than the spend is a saver...and anyone who spends more than they save is a spender.

[97guns]

saver all my life, when i was 6 years old in 1976 my best friend gave me a little smurf holding a gold coin, he said it was because i saved all my money, for a 7 year old to recognize this it must have been very apparent

[kyoko]

I am a saver by nature and my husband is a spender by nature, so yes, it gets very tricky here comes the financial harmony.

The best thing is you two sit down and openly discuss, and set a goal of where you and your wife want to go financially. If you can put together your income and expenses and show her where you are, she may be able to understand. I don't know any of your financial situation, but if her spending habit hinders you to build a solid, sound financial position, you will definitely want to address this. It's not only about your future, but also about her future too.

Good luck!

[bjl584]

I'm a saver. I always have been. Even back in high school when I got my first part time job at 16 I saved most of what I earned.

[JoeP]

I'm a saver. I always have been. Even back in high school when I got my first part time job at 16 I saved most of what I earned.

Same here. My first job, we got paid in cash. My spending money consisted of whatever monetary denominations were below a $10 bill. So if I got $88.54, I kept $8.84. If it was $101.22, I kept $1.22. I had low expenses, just the occasional album and some clothing.

[HappySaver]

As my username says...

I am a little more spendy now that we're more established. But still not by much.

[jpham540]

I am a saver hopefully I can stay like that for awhile might change later on.

[cschin4]

I am a Spender and an investor. I do most of the spending. And, I buy stuff I want. However, I am also an investor and because of that we have done well in our funds. DH is a saver. He really doesn't require much to be happy but he really doesn't have much interest in seeking investments either. So, often it isn't one or the other but more complicated.

[disneysteve]

I'm not a spender in the sense that I go out shopping every week or fill my closet with new clothes or my house with electronic gadgets. However, I am not at all opposed to spending for something that really matters to me. As I've gotten older, I'm much more into experiences than things so I will happily hand over my credit card to book a cruise, for example, at the same time that I keep my clothes until they are worn out. I'm also much more focused on buying quality than I used to be. I've learned over the years that buying cheap stuff doesn't pay in the long run whether it is cookware, shoes, technology, or furniture. I'd much rather have less stuff but good quality. There are also health consequences sometimes. When I started running again last year, my knees and shins were aching. I went to a specialty running store and dropped $150 on a good quality pair of running shoes, easily the most I've ever spent, but all of my pains went away once I switched to running in them.

[mppaul271]

I am a spender. Hoping to change my ways in 2014

[UnknownXV]

I save more than I spend, but of course I still enjoy spending what I deem as acceptable. I never, ever touch my savings though. I save about $600 per month at the moment. When I spent, I only ever spend the amount I saved for that month, so it never feels like I'm going into my savings to do it. I rarely make larger expenses than $600, if I do I just wait another month or two and pull those savings into a pool and then spend it.

It works well enough.

[cardtrick]

Definitely a saver here. I don't do it because I know I have to. I do it because buying things doesn't appeal to me. My biggest expenses are travel. I don't really budget but I might have to start doing that.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Saver married saver. But that's always been out of necessity. If we had a lot of money I could probably turn into a spender. Or what I imagine a spender is.