Financially I save for a 401K and have the company match it. Then online off of what’s left over.
As far as doing things, we plan for larger vacations and events out 1 year. If it’s a less costly or time consuming thing locally we plan those by the week or month.
We don’t do a lot spur of the moment. Keeps the cost down and we’re busy enough as it is with 3 kids.
If you are forced to consuming mostly cheap packaged goods like Hamburger Helper and the like, add the secret spice blend to make it actually have some flavor:
Salt*, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder and MSG.
*Check the sodium levels already in the packaged food first; if it’s already high, you can ignore adding more.
These spices are cheap and make everything so much better. Even non-savory stuff sometimes benefits.
From what I’ve read, simply increasing the brightness of your living spaces can help. I’ve got some LED “corn bulbs” in a lamp next to my desk and in the living room. I like the Dragon Light brand.
I treat retirement planning like Ron Popeil’s rotisserie cooker. “You set it, and forget it.” Index funds don’t need to be managed, and recurring transfers can be automated.
Medium term planning follows other people’s advice about normal budgeting, with specific piles for specific things.
Short term is extremely simplified at this point. Spend discretionary dollars at your discretion.
First, I completely agree with your thoughts on retirement savings.
However, that’s far from the only thing in “planning for the future”. The future is also things like:
when/if do I start a family?
should I get additional education to help my career prospects?
should I prioritize time with my elderly family members now at the cost of other opportunities for personal or professional growth?
should I put my efforts into growth for my spouse/child?
There’s no easy answers as many of these are mutually exclusive. It becomes a personal value judgement. You may only find out you made the wrong choice for yourself after you’ve passed the point of making a different choice. Such is life.
If I’m thinking about the future and it’ll take just a minute or two, I’ll do it right then. If it’ll take lots of time I’ll put a task on my calendar for another day and deal with it then, then get back to living my life (well, posting memes, but I didn’t come here to be judged). Now planning has a time but I don’t have to think about it until then.
We should not get our adult teeth at 7 then no more ever. We need at least one more set.
I don’t think balding is useful, agree that could go.
Fertility should be manageable without using all the devices, hormones, etc. Like it should be a positive choice not a default state we have to harm ourselves to avoid. And I don’t think we need menopause either. Just turn on fertility only to get pregnant.
(ETA- I also think sexually transmitted diseases should not exist at all, they seem like religious fundamentalist biological warfare, but not sure what change in a human body could accomplish this and leave the pleasure intact. )
asklemmy
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