I spent $185k this year because of family adventures – with college costs looming, am I trapped in a never-ending grind?

It’s not so uncommon to have a year when your spending increases. It could be that you’re renovating your home, buying a new vehicle, or making another one-time purchase.

In this Reddit post, we have a 43-year-old male who’s married with two kids who are a good number of years away from college. He’s stressed because he spent $26,000 on two international family weddings and travel, and all told, his expenses for the year came to $185,000.

The poster still has some saving to do to reach his retirement nest egg goal. And with two fairly young kids, there’s still college to think about.

But I think the poster is in a good place financially. And I’m actually glad they were able to have some amazing experiences with their family this past year.

You can’t put a price tag on memories

The poster is clearly uneasy about the amount of money he spent recently. But it seems like that spending was a one-off deal. After all, he had two international weddings to attend in the same year. That’s unlikely to be an annual expense.

The poster also spent money taking trips with his family. And I happen to think that’s great.

See, my kids are similar in age to the poster’s children, and I’ve found that now’s a great time to travel and make memories with them. They’re at an age where they can appreciate different experiences and grow from them.

One thing the poster may not realize is that he doesn’t have that many more years of his children living under his roof. Soon enough, they’ll be at college, and from there, they might venture out on their own and start their careers.

At that point, travel as a family may not be easy or possible. So it’s a positive thing that the poster is helping his families make memories together while they have that opportunity.

It’s all about striking a balance

I can see why the poster here is feeling uneasy. A few years ago, my family took a more expensive trip, and it was a little daunting shelling out the money. That trip, however, didn’t stop me from contributing to retirement savings and my kids’ college accounts that year.

So what I would tell the poster to do is consult a financial advisor for guidance on balancing near-term spending with long-term goals. An advisor may suggest that the poster cut back on travel-related spending next year.

Or, the poster might learn that he can actually afford to spend money on a nice trip every year and meet his goals. So it’s a good idea to have that conversation with someone who knows what they’re talking about.

Of course, if the poster feels like he’ll never be able to stop working because he has so many expenses, that’s a different story. And if he’s feeling burned out and wants to scale back at work, he may need to cut spending. But otherwise, he should be glad that his family enjoyed so many cool experiences together rather than be stressed about it.