I’m an extreme budgeter who saved $200K in 5 years — this was the downside I didn’t expect

Personal Finance

By Andrew Court

Sometimes you have to spend money to make money.

A Washington, D.C. woman who saved a staggering $200,000 in the five years after she graduated from college says she may have sabotaged her long-term career prospects in the process.

In a candid essay about her extreme budgeting penned for Business Insider, Gwen Merz, now 33, said she missed out on invaluable social networking opportunities at the outset of her career by forgoing out-of-office events with her co-workers.

“I didn’t really realize the cost that I was incurring in my career, as I was not wanting to go out and do happy hour or go do lunch with my coworkers,” Merz — who works in IT — wrote, saying she didn’t want to spend money on food or drinks.

“That kind of off-site networking really is where a lot of connections get made,” she further explained. “They come in handy later when you’re like, ‘Hey, I’m up for this promotion. Would you put in a good word for me?’ If you don’t have that kind of connection, they’re like, ‘I don’t know about that.’”

After graduating from college, Merz was motivated to join FIRE — an acronym that stands for Financial Independence, Retire Early. The movement encourages followers to save and invest huge percentages of their income so that they can retire decades ahead of schedule.

Merz made a starting salary of $65,000 and managed to stash away up to 75% of her take-home paycheck.

But in addition to stifling her social networking opportunities, extreme budgeting also adversely impacted her dating experiences and her living situation.

“I never really found a partner that had the same mindset when I was dating,” she confessed. “So that made being single really hard — by not wanting to spend any money on it, because it came off as cheap and controlling.”

“I had opinions on how my partners were spending their money, and people don’t really appreciate that,” Merz candidly added.

Additionally, the IT worker was living in a cramped studio apartment which took a toll on her overall wellbeing.

“I was miserable and so unhappy and so stressed out the entire time,” she wrote. “I was like, ‘This is not worth it. This will never be worth it to me.’”

After five years, Merz had accumulated $200,000 — but the budgeter was at breaking point.

I was like, “This is not worth it. This will never be worth it to me,” the D.C. resident called thinking.

In the six years since, Merz has relaxed her extreme savings measures, and now puts away 10% of her income into her 401(k).

While she won’t retire as early as she planned, the IT worker says she’s now found a job that she loves — and doesn’t mind forking out for a drink during happy hour to build connections.

“I have found a career and an employer that are a good fit for me, I’m taking more care to foster those kinds of connections and network because I will be here for longer,” she explained.

Merz is also in a relationship and is living in a space that’s larger (and a little more expensive) than the cramped studio.

Still, the recovered super-saver admits that the $200,000 nest egg is nice to have.

“It’s allowed me to take some more chances with my career, trying to find the right employer and the right niche for me. It’s okay if I have to move or if I take a little bit of hit on income because I have these savings and I have a buffer, so I’m not stuck,” she stated. “I don’t have any regrets.”