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More crazy = more page views = more cash flow?? 
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Jan 21, 2015 03:57
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Am I missing something? The last post is his end of year fiscal report which he does every year.
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Jan 21, 2015 18:19
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Nail Rat posted:Am I missing something? The last post is his end of year fiscal report which he does every year. Nah I think it was a more general comment rather than latest blog posts. The magic forumulae to do well are simple and straight forward. Once you've written about them that's it there's no other significant content to write. Of course people want clickbait 10 simple tricks to make yourself rich, rather than listen to good straight-forward advice.
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Jan 21, 2015 21:57
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fruition posted:I loving hate Rick Steves. Is there a younger, in-touch version of Rick Steves who knows where to find the bacchanalia in whatever foreign place you happen to travel? If you can cut through the layer of cheese that is Rick Steves' personality, his travel books are some of the best out there, in my opinion. You can look to Lonely Planet books if you're looking for "younger, hipper" travel advice. They're not bad. I'd also recommend the Frommer's "Day by day" books for individual cities. They're really functional in terms of the maps they come with (front and back covers usually fold out into maps as well as a bigger pull out map of the city, plus individual pages have neighborhoods) and usually have bulleted lists for the "don't miss these things or you'll really regret it" landmarks.
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Jan 22, 2015 18:08
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Devian666 posted:Nah I think it was a more general comment rather than latest blog posts. This is why there is a million diets and gyms out there. Eat appropriately and exercise regularly is timeless advice that works, but people want a quick fix without any pain or sacrifice.
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Jan 22, 2015 21:01
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Devian666 posted:Nah I think it was a more general comment rather than latest blog posts. He also makes a shitload of money off his blog. So he needs to keep writing. As far as I know, he's never listed his income on his end of year expenses. And I don't really see the benefit of looking at someone else's budget who is retired. Oh wow, he spent nothing on gas. It really isn't much harder than... SAVE WHATEVER YOU CAN, don't spend your money on expensive poo poo like cable, expensive phone plans. Bike if you can. Don't have a house bigger than it needs to be. TLG James fucked around with this message at 21:21 on Jan 24, 2015 |
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Jan 24, 2015 21:13
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My main thought on MMM is that he doesn't sound like he has much fun in life. I'm not really convinced when he tries to describe how good his life should be given that his needs are fulfilled. I don't really believe that he's happy, and I think that getting out there and using that bright mind of his to solve technological problems would be more fun than an endless series of home repair projects. That said, he's doing the right thing keeping the blog going, as the basic thrust of the site is still something that needs more spreading, and if he stopped posting the blog would disappear off of Google.
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Jan 24, 2015 23:36
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No Wave posted:My main thought on MMM is that he doesn't sound like he has much fun in life. I'm not really convinced when he tries to describe how good his life should be given that his needs are fulfilled. I don't really believe that he's happy, and I think that getting out there and using that bright mind of his to solve technological problems would be more fun than an endless series of home repair projects. I dunno, he seems pretty enthusiastic about the things he's doing now, and from experience I can say that doing some work on my bike or getting to ride somewhere is just as fulfilling as solving some abstract technical problem after hours of frustration (i.e. "occasionally typing some poo poo into the computer"). He also still does I don't think it's a productive exercise to declare that he has a false consciousness because you don't think he could possibly be as happy as he claims to be in the situation he is in. He sounds like he enjoys the gently caress out of nature and being outside and working with his hands. Just because he has a bright mind that can solve technical problems doesn't mean that he's happiest when doing that. I spent a good chunk of my life believing that that should make me happiest because it is what I'm best at, and my life got a lot better when I realized that, to quote a certain famous stoner, "just because you have a big dick doesn't mean you have to do porn".
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Jan 24, 2015 23:49
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No Wave posted:My main thought on MMM is that he doesn't sound like he has much fun in life. I'm not really convinced when he tries to describe how good his life should be given that his needs are fulfilled. I don't really believe that he's happy, and I think that getting out there and using that bright mind of his to solve technological problems would be more fun than an endless series of home repair projects. Happiness isn't having what you want, it's wanting what you have.
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Jan 25, 2015 00:49
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Dessert Rose posted:I don't think it's a productive exercise to declare that he has a false consciousness because you don't think he could possibly be as happy as he claims to be in the situation he is in. He sounds like he enjoys the gently caress out of nature and being outside and working with his hands. Inverse Icarus posted:Happiness isn't having what you want, it's wanting what you have. This isn't at all an advocacy of a return to consumerism. I'm saying that if I look at the least miserable people I know, their work is most of their life. Note that this is ALSO true of many of the most miserable people I know, which is why I believe FI is of enormous importance. Taleb made the critical distinction in his New Year's post - being valued in your work for your wisdom and honor, not your labor. No Wave fucked around with this message at 01:17 on Jan 25, 2015 |
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Jan 25, 2015 01:09
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No Wave posted:We'll have to agree to disagree on how it reads. For what it's worth, I feel the same way about Tim Ferriss, but to a much larger extent (his writing about being depressed all the time clued me in a bit). I'm not saying that this lifestyle isn't for anyone. I'm not sure I understand. MMM writes about how much he enjoys his lifestyle, which causes you to think he's unhappy, but Tim Ferriss writes about how he's depressed in his lifestyle, which leads you to the same conclusion? 
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Jan 25, 2015 03:03
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No Wave posted:Unfortunately, over the long term, changing what you want is very difficult. If it were possible, the happiest people would be the most self-sufficient and isolated 
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Jan 25, 2015 03:05
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Yeah - I don't really buy it. If you do, absolutely go be a monk, it'd be pretty dumb to do anything else.
No Wave fucked around with this message at 03:59 on Jan 25, 2015 |
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Jan 25, 2015 03:57
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What you actually choose to do depends on your life philosophy. I couldn't be a monk because my whole life philosophy is about helping others. I'd be miserable dedicating my days to finding nirvana or something. There doesn't seem to be a consistent life philosophy based on Tim Feriss professional bragging (you have no power over how impressive your life is to others) or shallow hedonistic consumerism (pleasure would best be achieved through heroine or something). MMM is a bit more consistent because he focuses on doing his best to find joy in the things within his power. He could do many things that are similar to this (being the best nurse possible, for instance), but we should probably give him the benefit of the doubt that his daily life is probably filled with joy and his choices have made it more efficient for that end, not less.
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Jan 25, 2015 05:29
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No Wave posted:We'll have to agree to disagree on how it reads. For what it's worth, I feel the same way about Tim Ferriss, but to a much larger extent (his writing about being depressed all the time clued me in a bit). I'm not saying that this lifestyle isn't for anyone. This makes a lot of sense. When I think of the happiest periods in my life it had nothing to do with how much money I was making. In fact, as my wealth has grown my happiness has proportionately declined. When I was happiest, all I cared about was working just enough hours so that I could cover my bills and still have pocket change to be able to go to bars and take chicks out to Olive Garden and the movies once a week. Now I'm miserable because I feel guilty for only saving 30% of my gross when I know I *should* be saving 70% of it and then FI would be possible for me...if only I had kept the same lifestyle expectations.
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Jan 25, 2015 05:44
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fruition posted:This makes a lot of sense. When I think of the happiest periods in my life it had nothing to do with how much money I was making. In fact, as my wealth has grown my happiness has proportionately declined. When I was happiest, all I cared about was working just enough hours so that I could cover my bills and still have pocket change to be able to go to bars and take chicks out to Olive Garden and the movies once a week. Now I'm miserable because I feel guilty for only saving 30% of my gross when I know I *should* be saving 70% of it and then FI would be possible for me...if only I had kept the same lifestyle expectations. I think the process of deciding to focus on FI involves bringing a low-level background stressor (how will I pay my bills, how much money do I have, oh god I shouldn't have spent all my rent money at the Olive Garden) into sharp focus. Realising that you, and most people, are so controlled by their income and spending habits, is an eye-opening and uncomfortable experience, especially when you can see that there is actually a 'way out' that most people don't know about or aren't choosing. Being alone or in the minority in pursuing this goal can be isolating and difficult, I think in general people around you will not have the spergy knowledge of numbers and finances that usually comes with the territory. I'm going to guess that because you don't have anyone to measure yourself up against in the real world, you're measuring yourself against blogs/forums/other resources online, which is where the 'should' attached to '70%' is coming from. I think this is a phase that many people go through. You're not alone in feeling that way, but it passes. I think it's good to feel like that for a while because it really pushes you to that point of really measuring up your wants and needs and looking critically at your financial life. Once you've got that new equilibrium going for a while, where you save all that can be saved and you know the difference between wasting and using money, it will go away. Reading online resources will most likely phase out with this feeling also, as you've established the basics and can't do anything more.
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Jan 25, 2015 06:08
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Chadzok posted:I'm going to guess that because you don't have anyone to measure yourself up against in the real world, you're measuring yourself against blogs/forums/other resources online, which is where the 'should' attached to '70%' is coming from. I think you nailed it. I grew up surrounded by fiscal-retards, quite literally everyone I know. The moment I picked up The Bogleheads Guide, my view of money changed. Then I ventured into BFC, and I feel like my brain hasn't turned off since. It's a good thing overall, but like you said, the only people I have to compare myself to are the folks posting on BFC, MMM, and various subreddits, and I constantly feel like I could/should be sacrificing more.
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Jan 25, 2015 06:31
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It's the opposite for me. I don't read any of these blogs but I love the BFC wisdom and atmosphere and at 21 have saved up some serious money by being a extremely frugal spender. I don't need "stuff". Every single person I knows just blows money left and right on the dumbest poo poo. I just don't get it. The thing is though, that I'm 21. Maybe I should be living a little and not worrying so much about these things because honestly, I don't need to at this point. I'm good, I've got my poo poo together, is it so bad to be irresponsible as hell for a weekend and blow through hundreds and hundreds partying and just having fun? I honestly don't think I can do it. I think all the fun would be ruined because I'd feel guilty as hell after like 1 good night
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Jan 25, 2015 06:57
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I LIKE COOKIE posted:It's the opposite for me. I don't read any of these blogs but I love the BFC wisdom and atmosphere and at 21 have saved up some serious money by being a extremely frugal spender. I don't need "stuff". Every single person I knows just blows money left and right on the dumbest poo poo. I just don't get it. You need some higher reason guiding your actions other than just not being stupid. It's true that it's stupid to spend for the sake of spending, but it's also true that it's stupid to save for the sake of saving (this is the wisdom and source of confusion of MMM's complainypantses). Save instead because you love freedom or want to spend your life traveling instead of working, or getting high all day or raising your kids full time or whatever. The freedom thing is personally very compelling for me, and timely, because most schools are totally hosed and I'd feel really lovely as a person working for them so the only reason I would is to feed myself. Since I save enough that I don't "need" their stupid lovely job dehumanizing children all day, I can find a job on my own terms. I think many people end up using their poor savings rate and wasteful lifestyles to justify their lovely jobs. Like, "sure I spend all day tearing up nature in the tar sands and burning my children's oil, but you've gotta eat!"
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Jan 25, 2015 07:19
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I LIKE COOKIE posted:It's the opposite for me. I don't read any of these blogs but I love the BFC wisdom and atmosphere and at 21 have saved up some serious money by being a extremely frugal spender. I don't need "stuff". Every single person I knows just blows money left and right on the dumbest poo poo. I just don't get it. Dude you're me at 21, I think. Stay the course! I came out of the womb striving for efficiency in most things, including money once I learned about it. I started working in IT at 19, so I too had saved a fair bit by 21. But rather than continuing that trend, I kind of spiralled downwards because I wasn't happy and decided increased spending was the answer. But I always felt guilty about blowing money on stupid things. I wasn't ridiculous; I'm sure my bar star career didn't cost me more than 5k or so, but was it worth it? Being hungover also induces other inefficiencies and laziness. At 24 I had a nice windfall come my way, and a new job, so I buckled down. But I look back on the wasted years and now with my new FI goggles I see that my net worth could easily be triple what it is now at 26. No regrets though. Most people piss away their 20s entirely. If you need to be more social, join a sports team or something. Encourage house parties.
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Jan 25, 2015 13:56
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Thats the big one for me. I want to work but I want to do it on my own terms. And I dont want to do it for 40+ precious hours of my week. I also dont want to be continually worried about lay offs, sudden changes that make my job miserable or other crap. Im still maybe ten years out from making this a reality but I may even want to jack in my current high responsibility job and go work in retail or something (small niche shop that fits my hobbies rather than big box) with zero hassles. It's nice to have those options. Heck I could see myself selling the house and going to live in Fiji or something. Its all about finding what you want to do in life and what matters to you and then figuring out what your financial situation needs to be to make that happen. Doing it just because it kinda dumb. But only kinda since I figure once someone doing it just because gets there all that free time will hopefully lead them to what they actually want to do. Either that or drive them insane. For me in about ten more years my house will be about paid off. Ill have enough to cover my basic outgoings in investments. Ill have a 5 years bare minimum expenses emergency fund and ill still have a nice pension pot for when I hit 60. That means I can go work how I want to work for spends money and not worry about things, if I want, or if im happy enough I can keep working the career. For me its all about options and flexibility.
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Jan 25, 2015 14:06
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I LIKE COOKIE posted:It's the opposite for me. I don't read any of these blogs but I love the BFC wisdom and atmosphere and at 21 have saved up some serious money by being a extremely frugal spender. I don't need "stuff". Every single person I knows just blows money left and right on the dumbest poo poo. I just don't get it. There's a middle ground between spending hundreds and spending nothing. Back when I was living it up a few years ago, I spent about $50 per weekend (in Dayton OH, not NYC or SF). Usually a little more but sometimes less. And I was having a great time. Don't give up being social in your twenties to the pursuit of FI, you can have both. IMO the best thing you can do in your twenties is dive deep into cooking, eating well, exercising, and dating; this can be done very frugally. You do need to spend some money to have fun, but you can pick carefully what it gets spent on.
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Jan 25, 2015 16:47
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For me, the moment of insight was after my first year of full time work, post college. I looked at how much money I'd actually saved, and it crushed me. At that moment, I saw no way out of working forever, and I pictured working for the next 40 years, and I had baby's first existential crisis. I just couldn't believe that the end result of all that hard work was so little money. The worst part was, I absolutely could not figure out where it went. So I mentally walked through a typical day and what I spent, but I calculated the annual cost instead of the daily cost. A simple thing, but something I'd never thought about before. $2 a day for coffee is $720/year. $10 for lunch is $3600/year. $20 worth of Chinese food a week is $1k/year. Over a decade, the numbers are horrifying. All of these little things that didn't affect my life were siphoning off my money. Then I started thinking about costs, not in dollars, but in time. If I'm saving $10k a year, then a new $25k car is 2.5 years of labor. Did I really want to spend 2.5 years of my life working for a car? I had never thought about money in that way, because I'd never had to work full time before. Money is time. And if I save twice as much money per year, it's effectively like I worked two years instead of one. And if I could do that enough, I wouldn't need to work 40 years. It all clicked. Once I started thinking about compound interest, it was like the universe changed. That $25k car is actually much worse...because it could have been maybe $50k if you let it sit in an index fund for 10 years. At a savings rate of $10k a year, over a decade, you gave five years worth of labor, half of the entire decade, for a loving car. I also think it's helped my career, because I have no fear of losing my job because I'm not living check to check. I have a backbone in the office, I demand raises, I don't work OT unless I want to, I don't have to kiss any asses. It's worked out well! People respect someone who has a spine. If you're groveling before the holders of your paycheck, it's hard to be respected. And definitely don't stop being social for money. No one I know has any idea that I save as much as I do, because my life is functionally the same as theirs. I still go out, I still have nice things. I just try to be reasonable about it. I live in Philly, I went out last night and spent $15. I usually spend more than that, but never hundreds. I have a nice apartment with nice things, but a lot it was thrifted, and I did a lot of legwork to find a place with awesome rent.
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Jan 25, 2015 17:47
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District Selectman posted:I also think it's helped my career, because I have no fear of losing my job because I'm not living check to check. I have a backbone in the office, I demand raises, I don't work OT unless I want to, I don't have to kiss any asses. It's worked out well! People respect someone who has a spine. If you're groveling before the holders of your paycheck, it's hard to be respected. That's so cool District Selectman, right on. I'm really impressed. Also, I never thought about the respect thing, that's really gotten things spinning for me.
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Feb 7, 2015 05:15
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I used to be super frugal. I got into gainful employment at the age of 19 and I saved hard up until I was 23, mostly with getting a bachelor's degree in mind. Then I snapped and just started doing a ton of poo poo that I used to skip out on. Going out. Festivals. Gear for hobbies that I've always been interested in. Travelling. I was trying to make up for lost time because I felt like I missed out on a lot. After 6 months of being in the red I have scaled back to black. Right now I'm not quite sure what kind of balance I want between saving and spending. Regardless, the compound interest from my initial savings will be very rewarding as long as I don't touch it. I think I'm leaving behind the more extreme ideas of early retirement and financial independence. I'm taking with me the idea of spending my money wisely and taking advantage of compound interest. From here on out I'll probably max out my roth IRA and employer contribution to my 401K. I've got my emergency fund and my 'fun' fund. I have my monthly budget. But all the small domestic things I would do to save money have ceased so I can spend more time on self-actualization.
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Feb 8, 2015 07:44
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Engin3 posted:I think I'm leaving behind the more extreme ideas of early retirement and financial independence. I'm taking with me the idea of spending my money wisely and taking advantage of compound interest. From here on out I'll probably max out my roth IRA and employer contribution to my 401K. I've got my emergency fund and my 'fun' fund. I have my monthly budget. For most the extreme ideas can be set aside unless you are determined to reach a specific goal. There are life things that you need to consider.Why retire early? For me if I shut down or sold my business I would just end up starting another business. Although the business might have a more relaxed pace than my current one I would still be working. If you don't want to work what would you do instead? Some early retirements are kind of extreme and don't seem to allow for a more comfortable lifestyle. You can have a lot of life style before retirement and during retirement if you put away the 10-15% per year and work for your entire working life.Two of the people I work with have considered retirement. One is running his company past retirement age even though he could comfortably retire, he wants to feel useful. The other tried retiring early, got bored after a month and started working again. I think having a budget so you can live life is really important and I think this is the largest mistake I've seen people make. You have people who've overspent on crap and have nothing to show for it, and on the flip side people living a very low cost poor lifestyle at the age of 79 with over $1m in assets (potentially a lot higher than the book value on the accounts and generating considerable revenue). There needs to be some balance in all of this. I think the toughest decision I made was buying a house last year. There's certainly a loss of compounding income. I made the decision to buy and having a mortgage is an interest situation with a number of things I didn't realise. As I have a home office I get a number of write offs for interest, power, internet, insurance and so on. The interest I'm paying is flat line decreasing and I've started investing again with some income generating investments. I have an investment income stream that compounds with a higher net interest rate than my mortgage and will at some point in the future exceed my net mortgage expenses. I have really had to fight my upbringing which gives me the urge to pay off the mortgage debt as rapidly as possible, as my side of the family is good at paying off mortgage debt but bad at investing (although that is due to a bad national culture relating to retirement. Buying a house was a difficult and major decision in relation to my financial future. Whereas for most people buying a house is done without thought and the value of their house is their retirement scheme (in NZ).
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Feb 9, 2015 01:41
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Although it changes regularly, my current "early retirement" goal at the moment is just be down to 3 days a week by age 40 (26 now). Whether that's 3 days a week at my current job, running a business, some low-stress side job, or whatever.
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Feb 9, 2015 05:27
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Rick Rickshaw posted:Although it changes regularly, my current "early retirement" goal at the moment is just be down to 3 days a week by age 40 (26 now). Whether that's 3 days a week at my current job, running a business, some low-stress side job, or whatever. This also roughly what "early retirement" would mean to me, too (I'm 27). It's not that I'm in a hurry to quit working, but I'm in a hurry to quit being stuck working on someone else's terms. Which sums up why a lot of people refer to it as "financial independence" not "early retirement" since the word "retirement" seems to have a lot of connotations and assumptions attached to it. By most metrics I have a wonderful job that I enjoy doing, but that doesn't mean I enjoy doing it 5 days a week for 40 hours with only 3 weeks vacation per year. I want more flexibility and more free time. If I could cut back to averaging 2-3 days/15-20 hours a week without a significant cut in my general lifestyle that would be fantastic. It's a totally feasible goal in my industry (software), but for the time being I need to continue building skills/network and saving up 50% of my full-time pay for several years yet before it would be a sustainable, responsible decision. Guinness fucked around with this message at 06:11 on Feb 9, 2015 |
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Feb 9, 2015 06:08
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The guy who I work with who's past retirement age says to make hay while the sun shines. When you're young it's easy to work and if you do some work it's easier on the finances.
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Feb 9, 2015 06:42
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No Wave posted:My main thought on MMM is that he doesn't sound like he has much fun in life. I'm not really convinced when he tries to describe how good his life should be given that his needs are fulfilled. I don't really believe that he's happy, and I think that getting out there and using that bright mind of his to solve technological problems would be more fun than an endless series of home repair projects. I don't get how you got that out of the blog at all. The guy might be a bit manic in his writing style, but he very obviously has a ton of stuff happening that he enjoys. It's just constructive stuff that either costs little/nothing, or ads worth to his property. Why would improving someone else's software/products for the tiniest fraction of the profit be somehow more fulfilling than getting to keep nearly all the profit that you generate? Maybe there is something to be said by missing a team environment vs working on your own, but he has his spouse, his kid, and does lots of meetups and group projects, so he is getting that too. Is netflix, eating out often, buying new model cars and paying other people do do home renovations for you really the only metric of how much fun one is having in life? I know a couple with similar earning power as us, and they are the diametric opposite in spending habits. Champagne on a nearly daily basis, eating out with multi course sushi every lunch, designer clothes and accessories, latest phones every time a new model, etc. They barely were able to get a loan for a downpayment on a house way smaller than ours, and are constantly having money problems, yet *still* don't seem any happier in their life than we are (and imo seem much less happy). Experiential stuff brings way more happiness than consumption, this is pretty solid fact by now. I LIKE COOKIE posted:It's the opposite for me. I don't read any of these blogs but I love the BFC wisdom and atmosphere and at 21 have saved up some serious money by being a extremely frugal spender. I don't need "stuff". Every single person I knows just blows money left and right on the dumbest poo poo. I just don't get it. I noticed since we really buckled down our finances after reading MMM and a few other places, that most of our relatives assume we must be miserable now. They buy poo poo ALL the time, in debt still and working weekends in their 60s (all four parents). It really goes to show how endemic the propaganda of capitalism is, that if you aren't consuming regularly, you must be unhappy or denying yourself. My husband and I are constantly doing projects together, we travel as much or more than most of our friends, we do dinner parties, had a kid; in short, our life is quite full and fulfilling. Most of our friends see that we are actually in fact very happy and don't give us any poo poo about our frugality, but it's saddening to see our family, who is universally bad with money on both sides, assuming we are living like hermits with no fun. I guess they have to have some justification why our finances are in order while theirs are in shambles, but still. poopinmymouth fucked around with this message at 11:41 on Feb 11, 2015 |
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Feb 11, 2015 11:34
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I think you hit the nail on the head. Driving used cars, fixing things myself, cooking meals, and going hiking on the weekends is cheap. But it's also very enjoyable for me. I don't feel like I'm missing out on anything - quite the opposite. I feel like I'm living life to the fullest and the cash I have saved gives me peace of mind and grants me opportunities other people don't have. If a great deal on a used car comes around, I can buy it in cash. I don't have to worry if I can afford the monthly payments. My wife and I really don't have money arguments. Either we have the money to do something, or we don't. It's that simple. We are saving lots towards retirement, though that will probably change once we start having children.
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Feb 11, 2015 13:37
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Pursuing your interests and spending time with your family? Sounds so miserable. He's missing out on the true joy that is buying lots of things.
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Feb 11, 2015 18:34
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Laterbase posted:Pursuing your interests and spending time with your family? Sounds so miserable. He's missing out on the true joy that is buying lots of things. I think part of the problem is that when everyone you know and love considers the latter to actually be a "true joy", then the former is somewhat diminished. I'm sort of in that position myself. After having the Consumption Goggles taken off my eyes, I've found that I don't have as much in common with many of the people in my life. But gently caress it; I'll make new friends. I'll be so happy that this will come easily.
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Feb 11, 2015 18:43
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Your amount of (either low or high) spending will probably have no effect at all on your happiness.
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Feb 11, 2015 19:27
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poopinmymouth posted:I noticed since we really buckled down our finances after reading MMM and a few other places, that most of our relatives assume we must be miserable now. They buy poo poo ALL the time, in debt still and working weekends in their 60s (all four parents). I've started to get this vibe from my family, especially after my most recent trip. I try not to tell other people how to manage/spend their money, it's their money and their life to live, but some of the stuff was so egregious that I spoke out in hopes of making them think about their spending, even if just a little bit. They think I'm cheap and miserly because my ten-year-old jacket has a small tear in it that I (admittedly poorly) sewed up myself, and because I'm still driving around in my 1999 Accord while they zoom around in 2013+ BMWs and Lexuses. They talk like having a planned "meal schedule" takes all the fun out of life, and eating out is the only way to go. "How could you eat tacos every Tuesday, Indian butter chicken on Wednesday, homemade pizza on Saturday etc EVERY WEEK?! How can you only go out to eat once or twice a week!?" My sister is seven months pregnant, and my wife and I are in the process of adopting a child. Naturally, we've been comparing notes. She can't believe that the baby swing I want isn't the $500 thing that rocks like a ship while playing ocean sounds, or something, and she said she'd "take care of it" for me. She's a highschool teacher with loads of credit card debt. I've asked her not to get it for us, but she seems pretty certain that THIS IS THE THING BABIES WANT HOW COULD YOU NOT HAVE ONE?! She also has three strollers on her registry, one of which is a "jogging stroller" with shocks and stuff. I pointed out to her that she doesn't jog, run, walk, or hike. "BUT I MIGHT!" I talked about taking some time off work when we eventually have a baby placed with us, to be a stay at home dad and focus what little energy I'd have left on a side business or two. My sister and her husband stared at me with bewilderment, "How could you possibly be able to do that?" Because I've saved 35%+ of my paycheck for the better part of a decade, is how.
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Feb 11, 2015 19:36
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Inverse Icarus posted:I talked about taking some time off work when we eventually have a baby placed with us, to be a stay at home dad and focus what little energy I'd have left on a side business or two. My sister and her husband stared at me with bewilderment, "How could you possibly be able to do that?" This is the essence of financial independence right here.
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Feb 11, 2015 19:46
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Vomik posted:Your amount of (either low or high) spending will probably have no effect at all on your happiness. While I disagree completely, it's not just about the money and being financially independent. It's about living a simpler, healthier life. Being physically fit and healthy is definitely something that increases happiness. I'm fairly certain science backs me up here. It just so happens that spending less and consuming less things usually makes you healthier and fitter. Eating most meals at home instead of eating out. Biking instead of driving. Walking instead of driving or taking the bus. Rick Rickshaw fucked around with this message at 20:02 on Feb 11, 2015 |
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Feb 11, 2015 19:59
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Rick Rickshaw posted:While I disagree completely, it's not just about the money and being financially independent. It's about living a simpler, healthier life. Being physically fit and healthy is definitely something that increases happiness. I'm fairly certain science backs me up here. Being poor and being unhealthy/unfit aren't directly related, but a lot of the same thought processes can cause both, and they definitely feed each other. I've started losing a lot of weight after eating at home, without changing anything anything about my exercise (I'm a lazy rear end in a top hat)
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Feb 11, 2015 20:45
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Don't get me started on baby stuff. I have bought nearly everything from the Icelandic craigslist equivalent, saving a fortune. We got all the clothes he needs for his entire first year for about 100 dollars. I'm talking designer stuff, some with tags on it, adidas toddler suits, 66 north (expensive Icelandic brand), a bag of socks, of shoes, hats, gloves, everything. Add on an outdoor onesie also purchased used, and we were set. I also got a jogging stroller for 40 bux used. In short, everyone has babies, so if you don't mind used stuff, you can save a bundle.
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Feb 11, 2015 23:39
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poopinmymouth posted:I noticed since we really buckled down our finances after reading MMM and a few other places, that most of our relatives assume we must be miserable now. They buy poo poo ALL the time, in debt still and working weekends in their 60s (all four parents). It's a different perspective from my family. My mother and her boyfriend are into frugal living as they've been doing it their whole life. Probably too frugal as they are retired and living well within their means but things could be worse. Just stick with in and look on as others flail around financially. On the upside one of my friends posted that he'd just paid off his student loan and cleared his credit card debt. I congratulated him and told him the next goal is a cash buffer, investments and retirement savings. Good to see people getting back to living within their means.
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Feb 12, 2015 00:09
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