- Gwen Mars, 33, lived a frugal life, saving about 75 percent of her income.
- Her strict lifestyle caused her to fall behind both socially and professionally.
- She now saves 10 percent of her paycheck, saying there's more to life than saving.
A woman in recovery who is a 'super saver' has realized that money can't buy happiness after revealing she saved $200,000 at just 27 years old, but it also left her feeling depressed and anxious. I made it.
Gwen Mertz, 33, originally set a goal to accumulate enough assets to retire in 2025 at age 35 and save most of her income through frugal habits.
Her passion for economics began with the FIRE movement. It stands for financial independence, early retirement, and encourages users to invest enough to build a comfortable nest egg before traditional retirement age.
Gwen, a native of Washington, D.C., joined FIRE from 2014 to 2018 after graduating from college, but admitted she was always “obsessed” with money and finances.
“I was obsessed with getting more.” [money] That way I could have gotten more,” she explained on her blog, Fiery Millennials. “That means gas station candy and a replacement fee for a lost library card.”
Gwen, who works in IT solutions, earned $65,000 when she first graduated from college.
“I was saving at a high rate, quite routinely around 75% at my peak, but then I had very little left,” she told Business Insider.
“It really negatively affected my quality of life.”
When Gwen first started saving aggressively, her strategy of having fun at home and never going out worked well for her lifestyle.
She explained that she is not interested in watching major league sporting events, going to concerts, or other experiences that many people spend a lot of money on.
“We'd have friends over and play board games, have a bonfire in the backyard, or go outside and play Frisbee golf,” she recalled.
Gwen continues, “These are all low-barrier-to-entry experiences that you can do over and over again. That's what I focused on.”
During this time, Gwen's bank account balance was “strong,” but she noticed that other areas of her life were starting to suffer, including her social life. I admitted that it's difficult to maintain such a strict approach to saving money.
“I also didn't really realize how much it was costing me in my career because I wasn't going to go out and have happy hour or go out to lunch with co-workers. ”, the IT professional pointed out.
“This kind of offsite networking is where a lot of the connections really happen,” she added.
The frugal woman added that what worked well for her when she was 24 became increasingly difficult and interfering with her life in her late 20s and 30s.
Gwen added that as she got older, she also learned to prioritize things that benefit her mental health, such as where she lives and travel.
She cited living in a “tiny” studio as an example of when her mental health suffered.
A smart saver, she bought a single-family home, converted it into a triplex, and rented two other apartments to cover the costs, but she realized her quality of life was declining. I did.
After she could no longer enjoy hobbies like quilting, she decided that living in a nice place was worth the extra money.
Although there were some downsides to her methodical savings, Gwen says she has no regrets, saying that saving so much money early in her career meant she was unable to afford it and was unable to afford it. He points out that he was able to freely find a workplace that suited his style. pressure.
'[I could] See what I liked and what I didn't like. It definitely benefited me in the long run,” she explained. “If I hadn't saved all my money, I would have been richer.”
Gwen currently saves only 10 percent of her paycheck in her 401(k) and recently bought a home with her fiancé.
“I'm still on the road to financial independence, but I don't want to retire too soon,” she said. “Instead, I decided to enjoy life a little more along the way.”
