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[aristotelian]

You're not a bad, irresponsible person for doing something fun for working extra hard. Christ Almighty.

Nobody is casting value judgments here. The question is whether we think OP has enough in savings. Many of us are saying we would not feel comfortable with that little in savings.

Bottom line, people are not entitled to European vacations just for working hard. OP is already buying a new computer with a portion of the cash. There are things you can do to "live a little" without blowing the whole windfall.

If OP was a renter this might be a different story. A new roof is going to cost $10000 or more. You would be insane to put that on a credit card.

I think OP needs to save a little more. Give him/herself a small reward (like the computer) IF that would help motivate saving in the future.

[paddington_bear]

prof_smartypants, I like your line of thinking. I took on this added responsibility for the experience (and because it was part-time and temporary). I  didn't take it for the extra money, since I don't need extra money (I do not have expenses that I am not able to cover). Everyone could use more money, though, for whatever purpose.

I may not go to Paris/Amsterdam/Morocco, but a new computer is not going to be my treat/reward. A new computer has been on my "buy" list since it started dying about five months (half the keys are dead and the stupid wireless keyboard/mouse that I bought as a stop-gap measure is s*it). 

[unoriginal]

That's why I don't agree with a fixed 6 (or 8 , or 12) months living expenses in an emergency fund.

The percentage of income/expenses is just a guideline.  People jump on the idea that the 8 months, for example, is if you get laid off.  It is not.  Bill Gates  (Or Romney if you want) should probably have more than $15000 in an emergency find.  By the same token, I dont need one that is $56,000 (what I understand Mit earns every day).  

What I AM saying is that before you have your desert, you finish your supper.  Before you blow the money on a vacation, you have a fully funded emergency fund to cover, oh, I dont know... Emergencies!!  What is an Emergency?  I dont know.  I long ago stopped tempting fate by asking "What is the worst that could happen?"  The worst is always worse than I my feeble imagination can handle.  (Survive the hurricane, but the dykes break?  Nuts fly perfectly good planes into buildings?  Car accident?  food poisoning?  Get the wrong birth control pill and enjoy the 'fruits of your labor?'... who knows?)

You will enjoy the trip more if you can afford it.  If you don t have a fully funded emergency fund, then you can not afford it (yet).

Ah.  But you make it sound like that 8 months is set in stone, not a guideline. 

In my opinion, I do have enough of an emergency fund.  I did stop contributing to it recently (stopped all savings other than retirement, in fact) to take good advantage of a number of travel opportunities that probably won't come up again while my children are still young.  No regrets whatsover. 

And you're too funny about the birth control pill.  I will indeed be enjoying that 'fruit' in a few months...

[giacomo]

It is interesting to see the different points of view in the posts. I think that they reflect different philosophies regarding money. I went on several expensive trips over the last ten years when I could have saved money. I did not have eight months worth of salary saved, but I did have a small amount of emergency fund and chose to travel anyway. My life has changed, I no longer do expensive trips and I have no regrets about taking those trips. Sometimes opportunities come up that you should take because you may not have them later. Yes, you could find yourself out of work or need a new roof in the next few years, but you also may find yourself without the time or ability to travel. If your philosophy is to save some of your money and enjoy the rest, then save some of the money, go on the trip and don't look back.

[totoro]

Actually, I've never had an "emergency fund". I've relied on ability to borrow to deal with emergencies and when I was younger (I'm 47 now) I didn't really think about it. In the last year we are gradually building up more liquid assets but that's because of some possibly expected big expenses (maybe buying a house). I've similarly built up cash before international moves in the past.

[monarda]

Give yourself a treat and travel. Travel needn't be expensive.
It's very expensive if you go on a tour.  One of my favorite things about
being an academic is having met colleagues from all over the world over the years.
I have several free places to stay in Europe. The locals then can recommend
for you the places they frequent. Can you get invited to give a seminar in a region you've
always wanted to explore, and then stay an extra 10 days? I've seen a lot of
the world this way. Or, like a colleague of mine is doing, get involved in your U's study abroad program. My colleague just came back from a scouting trip for a course she'll teach next summer in Europe.  Point is, if you dream of seeing the world, make that part of your work experience. You'll love your job even more.

If your have some savings, like you do, as well as excellent credit, you will be in good shape.
Your savings will grow, slowly, and meanwhile you can borrow for emergencies. You won't feel like travelling around the world should an emergency come up. But jeez. Things are good for you- get out there and live!

-monarda, who has just made a huge investment, emergency fund is cut down to half what it was, but a mortgage refinance will bring it right back up again. And is thinking about a conference in Europe this summer

[username2]

There's no reason you can't allocate this by thirds, and then up your savings from the permanent salary upgrade, switching that to the 403b when you max up the savings pot.

Life is about balance - at least in my view, there's no point being 80 and having never spent time and money doing the things you loved or always wanted to do. So if you've already done two international trips this year, maybe put the money into savings or spend it on useful things at home. If you've never been to Paris, but always wanted to go, by all means do that. If you don't love travel, well how about new ski boots or whatever your passion is? (Clean would rather sit on a large nest egg, but that is a different preference.)

So think about what you value, and know that in contrast to clean, some of us have set up our lives to have smaller houses and fewer expenses just so that we can indulge in frequent international travel.  Having work pay for some of this is in my view one of the best perks of being an academic. Assess the risks, but assess your preferences as well.

However, the retirement savings issue is something to always consider. I don't know if anyone read the fine print on social security last year, but those idiots reduced the employee match by 2% (http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p15.pdf) so if you didn't up your 403 or roth savings, then you by default are putting away less toward retirement.

[_touchedbyanoodle_]

Y'all think too much. If it were me, $300 would go to whatever debt needed it.

$300 would go into PARTAY FUND.

[donash]

Take your money and go to Greece islands for a vacation :)

[totoro]

Rent a 4 bedroom house in Oxford instead of a two bed apartment :)

[anon99]

I may not go to Paris/Amsterdam/Morocco, but a new computer is not going to be my treat/reward. A new computer has been on my "buy" list since it started dying about five months (half the keys are dead and the stupid wireless keyboard/mouse that I bought as a stop-gap measure is s*it). 

Have you tried a 'normal' wired keyboard?  I'm also assuming this is a laptop and not desktop.

[octoprof]

If it were me, I'd put $3000 in savings and spend the $600 remainder on something fun.

[wannabeaphd]

But in the end, all we really have is our memories of the life we lived.  Time to make a deposit in that fund.

Hope you don't mind, but I'm making this my signature!

[luckychance]

Alaskan cruise