I have been spending 60% of my wage on nothing for 8 years

[jeplet]

Hey 26m (chef) I have recently (2 months) quit smoking cigarettes and weed both cold turkey, started to knuckle down on actually saving and recently got a new job which net me a $5 pay rise

However

I can’t help but hate myself for realising that over the past 8 years (smoking 20p cigarettes a day and smoking roughy a 1/4 oz of cannabis in a week) I have spent roughly around $120,870 give or take over that time period. All while not saving any money and practically living week to week.

3 months ago I was working in a place that paid very low ($25 ph for an experienced chef de partie) and have always been in low paying jobs as I understood it was “just part of hospo” but about the time I chose to quit I had started to realise that my colleagues even some earning less than me were somehow managing to buy very nice things/eat well AND save money. This most definitely made me start to wonder why I struggle so much and although deep down I knew ( it was my multiple expensive habits) I chose to ignore it for so long until I’d finally had enough.

Put myself through a gruelling 2 months of quitting both habits cold turkey (and they say weed isn’t addictive lol) and now I cannot believe the money I have extra every week. Has anyone else experienced this? I feel like I’ve just been on autopilot my whole life and have no truly nice things or Tavel experiences/memories to show for it.

My reason for writing this is (although I am debt free) I feel like I have lost so much valuable time and possibilities e.g. a house deposit and am looking for any advice on how to move forward.
Cheers x

 

[lamdiengiat2]

@jeplet When you're 36 you'll look back and be so glad you quit at 26 Great job

 

[illyricus]

@lamdiengiat2 Life is a long term game, keep moving forward and sometime along the way you'll realise how far you've come.

What you paid for wasn't just smokes and weed, you also paid for a valuable lesson to now take forward through life

You got this op!

 

[sweetkf]

@lamdiengiat2 That. That is the only answer. Stop reading anymore replys. There is no fast forward or how to. Just save money. End of. So what housemeee said is all u need to know. Thank you and goodnight

 

[selja]

@jeplet I understand the human desire to look back at lost opportunities with regret, but you're in a great position now of

• Being debt-free
• In a higher-paid role, as well as the extra cash on hand from quitting your habits, plus
• Ridding yourself of your most expensive money sinks

These put you in a great place to start saving because your new raise won't just get eaten up by buying an extra pack a week, and it's not going to feel like you're "losing" money or sacrificing lifestyle. In fact, you'll have the best of both worlds!

The first thing I'd recommend is building up an emergency fund of 3-6 months salary kept in a savings account so you always have a solid cushion to support you if it's ever needed.

If you're not already, make sure you're contributing at least 3% to Kiwisaver so your employer matches it (plus the government contribution) - you'll be able to withdraw this if you're ever buying a first home.

 

[jeplet]

@selja Definitely part of the plan, have set a realistic goal of saving $300 per week until I have a good cushion
That and another $100 pw saving for a trip to Indonesia to meet my gfs family which are both easily doable without these habits
Am currently contributing 3% have considered more but with our government being so unstable and going into recession etc I feel like I should just save it myself

 

[lostfornow]

@jeplet KiwiSaver won’t be affected by the government or recession in a meaningful way over the time period you’ll have it for

 

[martin53]

@lostfornow If he wants to buy a house in, say, five years, there is every chance Kiwisaver could have negative returns over that time span.

 

[selja]

@jeplet 300 x 52 = $15,600 per year you're saving so if you can keep that rate up, and even increase it, you'll be in a great position ten years from now.

Don't worry too much about the Government's effect on your Kiwisaver - the only things they can really govern are withdrawal rules and employer/government contribution rates. Even if the NZ economy tanks, most funds invest worldwide so you're insulated. Day-to-day management of your fund is done through your provider (IE ANZ/Simplicity/Kiwibank etc).

A lot of folks on here prefer contributing just the minimum to Kiwisaver (minimum being what their employer will match) and putting any leftover % they would have contribute into a fund they directly control. This is a good idea if you have decent self control and won't dip into the savings foolishly, but others recognise they may not be able to contain their impulses, so prefer to lock savings away until retirement.

Ultimately the choice to manage your money is yours, but you've already made the best decision of your life just by taking control of your spending/saving habits!

 

[atlassalta]

@selja 150k in 10 years won't be worth 150k tho lol

 

[ivnmetal]

@jeplet Another thing you should note for your next payrise. put a %age of it straight to savings. If you don't see the full pay increase you won't get lifestyle inflation. Do treat yourself but putting away some immediately stops you feeling like you need to spend it straight away.

 

[elizabethcall]

@jeplet It’s the old “the best time to plant a tree was 10 years ago, the second best time to plant it is now” saying. Don’t beat yourself up over the past. Now the challenge is to avoid lifestyle creep eating into your new found money. It is crazy how quickly it can disappear again.

 

[biohazardfan03]

@jeplet Just came to say well done. You cat change the past but it sounds like you have a really positive future.

 

[bsprague]

@jeplet You're 26. You have plenty of time to improve your financial trajectory for life. Don't dwell on mistakes, learn from them. Start saving and investing now, in another 8 years you'll be saying, I'm so glad I started doing that when I did.

 

[informant]

@jeplet There is a hazara saying

A fish is fresh no matter when it leaves the ocean

Well done on quitting.

 

[utsukushii]

@informant Where did this saying come from when hazaras have been landlocked for their entire existence in human history, how would they know of oceans.

 

[trimeresurus]

@jeplet poor important axiomatic alive snobbish connect marble consider hospital dolls

This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact

 

[richelleygirl]

@jeplet You can’t change the past. You can only change what happens next.

You should be proud of making a big change and it can give you confidence you can take control of what happens next.

 

[psalm24]

@jeplet As someone who has never smoked I was at the dairy recently and someone asked for two 20 packs and the cost was $90, I was fucking astounded. I honestly don't understand how anyone not earning six figures can smoke.

 

[sobbret]

@psalm24 Yeah I fuelled up at NPD on Wednesday. My fortnights petrol of about $35 was less than the guy in front of me paid for his 20 pack of cigarettes.