How to save without missing out on life

Can you live for today - and save for tomorrow?

- BY LAKSHANA N PALAT

Skipping a concert means she saved some money, right?

Right?

Kavya Mahiyaria often worries that she might seem like a bore. The Dubai-based sales professional and expat skips several outings, concerts and dinners with friends every month as she doesn’t want to spend money unnecessarily. While she takes comfort in her growing savings, the fear of missing out lingers.

There’s a reason behind her fears. “I grew up watching my family struggle through financial instability, and that fear never left me,” she explains. “No matter how secure things seem now, there’s always a voice in the back of my mind whispering, ‘what if it all disappears?’”

However, she admires her sister for not harbouring any such worries; she goes for trips abroad, enjoys staycations, getaways, and has fun with her friends regularly. “I used to feel resentful and I often ask her, ‘How do you manage? Didn’t we go through the same childhood?’” she laughs.