When it comes to building long-term financial security, most advice focuses on restraint: cut back, say no, avoid indulgences. But what if the key to lasting wealth isn’t just about what you save… but also about how and when you choose to spend? Bucket list
Too much splurging, whether on material things or lifestyle upgrades, can easily derail your financial goals. But a life of complete denial isn’t sustainable either—and often leads to burnout or regret. The sweet spot lies in being intentional: spending purposefully on the people, experiences, and moments that bring the most value to your life.
The Strategic splurge isn’t about saying yes to every whim. It’s about understanding your cash flow, knowing what truly matters to you, and making confident financial choices that support both your future and your present.
Too often, people delay their dreams, waiting until retirement to finally start “living.” But here’s the truth: life doesn’t begin at 65. If you’re financially intentional now, you don’t have to choose between preparing for the future and enjoying the present.
That’s where the strategic splurge method comes in.
This approach isn’t about saying yes to every whim. It’s about being intentional, identifying the people, places, and passions that bring real value to your life, and then aligning your spending to support those goals. Your bucket list doesn’t need to be a distant dream. With the right timeline, budgeting, and priorities in place, it becomes a roadmap.
Create a (Tangible) Bucket List
You know that bucket list that’s been swirling around in your head?
You know, the one that says you want to take a safari in Africa, drink wine in Napa, spend a month one summer at the beach, or learn how to play the piano, guitar, or ukulele? Write it down. All of it. I don’t care if it feels more outlandish than a poodle in a purple dress. Put it on the list. Better yet, make it a family affair and have everyone get together to talk about their bucket-list items. When you get them all in one list, discuss each item—why you want to do it, what it means to you, and when you’d like to do it.
Whether your list is four things or four hundred, your next step is a crucial one: prioritize them.
Now you don’t have to rank them from one to 99, but you should group them into different categories based on a timeline:
- What you want to do tomorrow
- What you want to do next year
- What you want to do within the next five years
- What you want to do long term
This timeline gives you a sense of prioritization among your short-term financial goals and long-term financial goals so you and your family can agree on common areas.
Remember, having those common goals and values is what helps you plan and strategize financially. But I will also say this: as the breadwinners in your family, you as parents should take the lead and even feel comfortable mandating those goals.
Why?
Your time is limited and your kids will have their own lives to fill their bucket lists. So if you want an active vacation of sightseeing and your kids would rather be at the beach, it’s okay to take the lead. One, they’ll appreciate that they’ve seen the world (even if that appreciation comes some years later), and two, as the parent you have earned the right to take control of the family ship.
Every decision doesn’t have to be a one. You do this because life throws lots of curveballs your way and you don’t want to wait to fulfill your dreams. I will also say that you should be as specific as possible when writing down your lists.
Don’t just say you want to travel; say you want to go to see the Northern Lights in Iceland.
Don’t just say that it’s important to buy a motorcycle; say you want a Harley-Davidson Superlow 1200T.
Being tangible doesn’t lock you into that destination per se. It’s not as if you’re signing a contract, but it does help you start to plan and figure out what it will cost to help you live life large—right now.
Do The Research To Make Your Dreams Come True
Now that you have your list, you and members of your family have your job, which is to do your research. Find out how much your bucket-list items will cost you (that smartphone is about to become very handy in this “search party process”).
How much are violin lessons per month? How much is a trip for four to Antarctica? How much for that backyard hot tub? You don’t need to have exact numbers. After all, costs do change over time. However, you should have ballpark numbers so you can start planning how you’ll pay for them. You can even split the tasks or pay your kids an hourly rate to do the initial research—that’s a win-win situation in lots of ways. This also helps kids get excited about these splurge items (if they’re not initially), maybe even to the point where they want to see if they can contribute to the planning (or paying!) for a tiny slice of the trip too.
Your main goal: When you have that priority list of your top five or 10 things on your collective bucket list, you can now place the price tag next to each item. This gives you the power to take care of the next steps when it comes to actually being able to afford these items: calculating the costs and making the first one or two goals on your list a reality.
Work the Pluses and Minuses of Your Budget
Now that you have the approximate costs of your bucket list items, you can come up with a financial strategy to make your dreams a reality. And it all just comes down to very simple accounting. You have to work these variable costs of your wishes into fixed costs of your monthly or yearly budget, whether it’s going without certain things or shaving a little from what you’re going to earmark for investments.
You simply have to make the numbers balance. Now I would certainly recommend that you don’t compromise your future retirement or monthly dollar-cost averaging budgets. However, where you could shave costs is from your other expenses. Can you find areas to cut that you can then divert to your most important bucket list line item? That’s what will help ensure that you not only have money for your dream expenditures but that you also don’t sacrifice any of your long-term security to get there.
See how this works? If you just say that you’re going to put the Porsche on a credit card, then that’s how you’ll keep the monkey on your back—unable to keep up with payments, then finding yourself in a heck of a mess. Spending on seemingly frivolous things is different from spending frivolously. If you budget right and plan strategically, it doesn’t matter what you spend your money on—if it makes you happy and doesn’t sacrifice your long-term wealth.
This is all about establishing priorities and values. I have clients who live in a modest house (in need of some repairs), but they pay for private school so that their three children can pursue their musical talents. Sue and John don’t have much disposable income, but their kids sing in the Philadelphia Boys and Girls Choir and they’ve traveled to places like Italy and Australia to sing in churches and amazing venues around the world.
Sue and John don’t complain; they’ve decided what their financial priorities are. Some people would call the investment they’ve made a splurge, and that’s okay because they make other financial sacrifices based on what they’ve established as priorities in their lives—and the kids are experiencing something that very few children get to experience. That’s often something you can’t put a price tag on.
Create A Recess Account
Admittedly, trying to budget for bucket-list items above and beyond your regular entertainment items can be daunting–and it might take a long time to build those safari funds if you’re just squirreling away a hundred dollars a month.
Another option for you is to create an entirely different account—one that has nothing to do with your portfolios or your regular budget, where you’re using income to pay bills, save for retirement, and invest. This play account is solely for the big bucket list items (that you and your family agree on).
This allows you to create a budget within a separate account (i.e., if it has $20,000 in it, then you agree that $5,000 will be spent on a trip, $2,000 on the pet llama, and so on).
Now this situation could work best for people who have extra sources of income, be it in annual bonuses or side businesses. I do like this option because when you agree that all of your above-and-beyond fun money is coming from one account, you’re less likely to risk dipping into your monthly account to pay for things you shouldn’t be spending money on.
Again, the key here is that you have to mutually agree on what priorities are and how much you’re all willing to spend on them.
Then, with all the online options at your fingertips, stretch your recess account by using your smartphone or computer to shop around for all commodity-type purchases.
Final Thoughts
Repeat after me: Indulge is not the same thing as impulse. Repeat that back three times. Make it a daily mantra.
I want you to indulge in the finer things in life, and the definition of “finer things” is all up to you. What I don’t want you to do is make decisions by impulse. Impulse spending—giving into immediate and short-term temptations that don’t provide soul-satisfying happiness—is the exact thing that gets you into trouble. Spending on a whim on things that seem like they’re important but aren’t (that diesel-powered blender, perhaps?) is the reason why so many Americans are in debt.
When you see the difference between indulgence and impulsivity, you can create the kind of wealth I’m talking about. That’s the wealth that exists not only in your portfolio but in your heart as well. If you follow the steps I outlined here—create the list, prioritize the list, design the plan, and make the budget—then you’ve taken away the power of impulse buying while still getting exactly what you want out of life.