Abbey Graf has a bare-bones budget and a spending aversion. But an expert says she can spend more and still meet her goals

Abbey Graf readily describes herself as frugal. And after speaking with the 28-year-old for the first time and reviewing her financial situation, certified financial planner Stacy Francis couldn’t agree more. “Her budget is one of the most bare-bones budgets I’ve ever seen,” Stacy said. Abbey has two main savings goals: Possibly buy a house and retire comfortably – maybe even retire early. To those ends, she tries to keep a tight rein on her spending today and save aggressively. For example, Abbey cooks a lot at home, not just because she likes to but because it saves her money. She has avoided taking up many hobbies because she worries about the expenses involved. She also keeps her other living expenses – including her rent – to a minimum. She drives a 21-year-old car that she owns outright and is almost done paying down her remaining $2,000 in student loans, which is her only debt. Abbey’s challenge is not to save more – she’s already socking away a quarter of her $74,000 income. Rather, she needs to get a better sense of what her current savings can do for her. “I’d like a plan of what I would need for retirement. I’m not sure what the goal post is,” Abbey said. Her other big challenge is finding ways to alleviate her financial anxieties about whether she has enough to secure her future. Stacy is creating a financial plan with a few different scenarios to give Abbey a concrete sense of how “on track” she is to meet her goals of buying a house within a few years and retiring comfortably (even if she retires early). Given Abbey’s anxieties about spending money and fear of not having enough, Stacy plans to use very conservative assumptions for inflation, health costs and average returns when making her projections based on Abbey’s savings today. “I’d also like a scenario where she spends more money. I’d love for her to do some travel and enjoy her 20s,” Stacy said. To be clear, encouraging people to spend more is not Stacy’s typical MO. Having worked with more than 270 clients over 25 years, she said, “I’ve had this conversation of ‘You really need to spend more money’ with maybe three people.” What’s next: We’ll catch up again with Abbey in a few weeks. But next week, you’ll learn more about a surprising turn of events for Mariza and Geffrey Gordon.