Back Nine Finance

Yes, I am new to the financial blogosphere. But that headline is no typo. When I look back on all the financial progress I made in 2010, the very best move I made involved consciously choosing to spend about $500 a month on what virtually everyone would consider to be an absolute luxury.

The Why

Let’s forego the what for now and focus on the why.

I’ve never been a fan of saving money just to strain more pixels on my computer screen when I log onto my bank accounts online. I’d hate to save a boatload of money that only existed in my life solely in digital form (really, who uses cash these days?). Sometimes its nice to put a bit of that money to work in a way that really improves your quality of life.

Sometimes, in order to maintain financial motivation, it requires us to use some (a lot) of that hard earned money to create a new experience in our lives or purchase a product that we value highly. It can be exhilarating to experience some of the things in life we’ve always told ourselves are wastes of money, or perhaps something that only the “rich” are privileged enough to enjoy.

Its easy to become so focused on saving money that we lose sight of the bigger picture of why we ever started saving in the first place.

The Need for Short/Intermediate Term Financial Goals

There are countless blog posts that talk at length about saving for retirement. Saving for retirement is an absolute must. But let’s face it – when your 401(k) contribution or IRA contribution is deducted from your paycheck, it is not really all that exciting. It might feel pretty good once or twice a month when you log into your account and see the balance (hopefully) increasing. But 5 minutes later, the warm fuzzy feelings are gone. It’s tough to face the fact that those wise financial decisions you are making today might not be realized for several decades (I’m about 26 1/2 years old, so I can’t touch any of my retirement funds for another 33 years).

I’m a firm believer that you must reap rewards along the way in order to stay motivated. I’m not talking about a once per week stop at Starbucks. I’m talking real, lifestyle improving rewards.

There are people who have the self discipline to to work their butts off for 30 years, never splurging a bit, then retiring with a huge stack of cash. I am not one of those people, nor do I want to be. I want to enjoy at least some of the fruits of my labor now, while I am young enough, energetic enough – or perhaps just dumb enough to try.

The What

In September of 2010, my wife and I became the newest members of a pretty sweet country club in the city where we live. What has this experience taught me so far?

1. A lot of the things and experiences we perceive as being reserved only for wealthy/rich people really aren’t. They are merely reserved for people who aren’t afraid to ask for and/or go after the things in life they want. Think about it. When is the last time you saw an average looking guy with an amazingly beautiful girl and thought to yourself, “He must be loaded”? Sure, he might be. Or he might have just had the guts to introduce himself while all the other poor saps in the bar sat in the corner nursing their drinks.
2. A lot of people think wealthy/rich people don’t think about what they spend or don’t care how much things cost. Not the case at all. From my brief experience in interacting with these folks, it is completely the opposite. They have money because they care about what things cost (although they are generally more concerned about value than just the bottom line price).
3. Playing a meticulously manicured, challenging, championship caliber course in 2 1/2 hours sure beats the hell out of fighting the crowds for 5 1/2 hours at the public courses only for the sun to set while you are on the 17th green (remember, my focus here is to play more back nines – so I’ll be damned if I have to quit on #17).

While this expenditure might seem crazy to you, for me it makes sense. I value playing golf on nice courses that are not overly crowded. I value opportunities to network with small business owners and executives of larger businesses, and being a member of this club affords me the opportunity to interact with these folks in a social setting at a time when their guard is mostly down.

Extravagant expenditure? Perhaps. Worth it? Every penny.

In what areas of your finances do you cut drastically, and in what areas are you willing to spend extravagantly?

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