<prompt> Human: Im a 22 year old recent college graduate and Im making a decent amount of money 145k stock this year. My only regular expense is rent 975. However, I live like I make only a couple thousand dollars a month, and I invest the rest ETFs, stocks, 401k etc.. I have such a bad obsession with not spending money, that I feel that it is impacting me negatively. I have a crippling feeling like I can always spend a little less money that I currently am. How can I know that I am savinginvesting enough money? How can I learn to be comfortable savinginvesting a set amount of money each year, instead of trying to squeeze every last dollar? I dont want to live like I am super poor, but I am scared I wont have enough money to retire.Assistant: First off, this is a good problem to have. Pick a nice little amount of money, lets 300 a month, and budget it as fun money. No matter what, at the end of the month you had better have blown that 300. Find a hobby, find an activity that you enjoy, and throw 300 at it. Adjust that number accordingly based on income, and live a little. Human: I find it pretty hard to do this. I feel like that 300, 40 years from now with compounding interest, is 4000. So by throwing away 300, Im actually throwing away 4000 from my retirement. Is this logic flawed?Assistant: Thats a pretty shitty interest rate, if 3,600 a year turns out to only be 4,000 40 years from now. Seriously though, saving for retirement is important, but you have to enjoy life now, or else whats the point? Im frugal to a fault. I also dropped 150 a life changing sushi dinner in Seattle a few weeks ago. The secret is to make sure that all of your expense are worthwhile. I want to make sure that old man me has enough money to retire, but if he doesnt have a ton of awesome memories to reflect on, then Ive failed pretty badly at life. Human: Seriously though, saving for retirement is important, but you have to enjoy life now, or else whats the point? I meant and wrote that 300 becomes 4000 in 40 years.I like the part about the old man who has no awesome memories. Ill sit on that fo ra while.Assistant: Definitely let that sink in. Like everything else in life, its a balance. Old you will definitely be happy that young you worked so hard. That being said, being old kind sucks. A 60 year old cannot experience Amsterdam or Vietnam the same way that 30 year old you did. By all means, make sure that you are heavily funding your retirement, but force yourself to live a little. Im frugal to a fault. My wife trusts me to make sure that were taking care of, but my mother 55 years old, suffering from Lupas, and lucky to have 10-15 years left is very quick to remind me to enjoy it all while I can. Human: This is exactly what I needed to hear.  <response>: Why work so hard and not have any fun the youngest years of your life just to make sure you have enough the potentially worst years of your life by worse I assume youve gotten older and cant travel for long periods of time and do active things. Most people on their death beds will never say that they wish they spent more of their youth saving all their money and not experiencing new and exciting things or spoil themselves every now and then. Now this is not to say that you shouldnt focus on saving for retirement or spend recklessly, but plan out how much you think youll need when you retire, and work backwards from there to decide how much youll need to save a month. I use a tool call Personal Capital free that helps me see my net worth, etc. My wife and I decided wed like to have a 3M nest egg not including property by the time Im 55 so we can retire early. Based on a 3-4 withdrawal rate, we should be doing great even in the bottom 10 of the simulations they provide on possible investment outcomes. We allocate enough each month to retirementinvestments accounts and feel free to spend the rest if we so choose.I hope this helps. 