Spending Paralysis

Now that we've become debt free (except for the house), saved over 3 months of expenses in an emergency fund, set aside a couple thousand to buy some things we want, my wife and I are at a standstill. We put together a wish list of items that we want to purchase, such as full-house air conditioning (her choice), an HDTV (my choice), etc.

Not wanting to take the first move, we agreed last year to wait until we had enough saved to purchase one item for each of us at the same time. Well, we have now reached that point.

We've been on such a tight budget over the last couple of years to reach our debt-free and emergency fund goals, that we've forgotten how to spend money on luxuries. We do know how to spend on essentials (last year we dropped $1700 on a new bed), but I always over analyze our spending on non-essentials. Case in point: I currently have a couple of hundred dollars saved up in my blow account. I can't get myself to spend it on anything other than lunch once or twice a week.

Looking back, it seems like my wife and I spent more on luxuries back when we were poor college students. Now that I have a stable job and a much higher income, I can't get myself to spend any money on non-essentials unless it's a birthday or Christmas gift.

We do have plans to do some travel soon. I don't mind spending our temporary savings on hotels and other travel-related expenses. Who knows, maybe this will be the best Christmas (whether we spend extra on gifts or go on vacation) since college!