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Saving money. Living Happy.


FleshistheFever

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Being that I'm moving out to Colorado in 2 weeks, I have been looking for ways to be smart about my spending. Well, i found it.

 

I am here to share a blog that has helped me tremendously. Its for anyone looking to cut down on expenses and live a happy and healthy life without going absolutely insane. I started you at the very beginning of his blog. (Start there and work your way in.) Mr. Money Mustache has been going strong since 2011. Its easy reading and I hope you all enjoy it! You can thank me later.

 

http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2011/04/06/meet-mr-money-mustache/

 

Secondly, I was wondering if YOU had any tips for saving money. What techniques have worked for you to keep an extra $200 bucks in your pocket at the end of the month?

 

This could be a great reference guide within the forum to help others retool their expenses and give us all a little leeway so we don't always feel strapped for cash! Share your thoughts! Share your techniques! Let's help one another get ahead! And combined, we'll be the richest sports forum in the world.;)

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i never appreciated the value of having a savings account.

for me to take full advantage of it, it has to be completely disconnected from my checking account.

they both use the same bank, but i have the savings account blocked for online use. i can't check the account online, i can't transfer money. i literally have to go to the bank if i want money from it.

 

direct deposit - if i don't see it, i don't spend it.

 

don't spend change. all of our change comes home and into one of several jars.

 

we collect 2 dollar bills. we have over 70 and while it's a cool collection, it can be used for some inexpensive emergency if ever needed.

 

thanks for posting this link, i'll definitely check it out.

gf and i are trying to buy a place, so we're saving money and i'm sure there are some good pointers in there.

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i never appreciated the value of having a savings account.

for me to take full advantage of it, it has to be completely disconnected from my checking account.

they both use the same bank, but i have the savings account blocked for online use. i can't check the account online, i can't transfer money. i literally have to go to the bank if i want money from it.

 

direct deposit - if i don't see it, i don't spend it.

 

don't spend change. all of our change comes home and into one of several jars.

 

we collect 2 dollar bills. we have over 70 and while it's a cool collection, it can be used for some inexpensive emergency if ever needed.

 

thanks for posting this link, i'll definitely check it out.

gf and i are trying to buy a place, so we're saving money and i'm sure there are some good pointers in there.

 

This blog is going to smack you in the face with information, especially if you are trying to purchase a home. Thanks on your saving tidbits too. "Out of sight, out of mind" is definitely a great way to avoid spending.

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Anybody who calls people "Drones" or "Sheep" is an asshole. This guy also says nothing of value....

But most importantly of all, let’s stop talking about expenses and spending as if they’re out of our control and as if more is better. Even retiring with zero assets and Social Security alone is enough for a plentiful lifestyle (typically over $1500 per person per month) if you embrace the idea rather than fearing it. Living on a low wage (even minimum wage) and saving a good portion of our income is equally possible. Since there’s a good chance you earn more than minimum wage, plus will have retirement savings greater than zero, there is really nothing to worry about. So, with our new freedom from worrying about stuff, let’s return to work and actually get something done.

 

I'd love to see how something like that is true, or how a guy who was in a relationship with a combined $120k income and no kids, in his 20s, could have any perspective on that. He also flipped and rented out a house. There is a very small group of people who can do what he did.

 

This comment:

 

People with lower incomes will see even greater benefits from frugal living, but it will just take a bit longer (or a lower level of spending) to reach financial independence.

 

in Forbes is the one that matters. Basically, every person who doesn't make $60k a year out of college can't do what he did.

 

Fuck that guy and fuck his blog.

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i should send it to my gf.

she's the frugal one. she's the really smart one. before we were together, i was late on all of my bills, except rent and car payment. i needed a roof and i didn't want to fuck up my credit.

but water, electricity, internet, etc...they'd all be overdue.

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interesting you mention cable.

in the past 10 years, i've had cable for two years. i don't even know why i got it.

and i hated it. i have an apple tv now, and i stream everything.

i do have a netflix account though cause my gf doesn't understand the internet.

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Anybody who calls people "Drones" or "Sheep" is an asshole. This guy also says nothing of value....

 

 

I'd love to see how something like that is true, or how a guy who was in a relationship with a combined $120k income and no kids, in his 20s, could have any perspective on that. He also flipped and rented out a house. There is a very small group of people who can do what he did.

 

This comment:

 

 

 

in Forbes is the one that matters. Basically, every person who doesn't make $60k a year out of college can't do what he did.

 

Fuck that guy and fuck his blog.

 

 

You've also missed or misread about 99% of the blog. Not saying this guy has all the answers OR that you have to do what he does to achieve what he's specifically achieved. It's simply a guide to help you get ahead. We all can't ride a bike everywhere. We're all locked into some sort of expense we can get out of. If you make it a habit to change some of your spending habits, in the long run you save big. I posted this to help others who need help and for all of us to expand on it. A little goes a long way. No one said pinching and changing would be easy (its never easy) but it is beneficial to your overall well being and will help your pursuit to becoming a richer person from a monetary, physical, and mental standpoint.

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You've also missed or misread about 99% of the blog. Not saying this guy has all the answers OR that you have to do what he does to achieve what he's specifically achieved. It's simply a guide to help you get ahead. We all can't ride a bike everywhere. We're all locked into some sort of expense we can get out of. If you make it a habit to change some of your spending habits, in the long run you save big. I posted this to help others who need help and for all of us to expand on it. A little goes a long way. No one said pinching and changing would be easy (its never easy) but it is beneficial to your overall well being and will help your pursuit to becoming a richer person from a monetary, physical, and mental standpoint.

It's not a guide. It's not anything. It's how millions of people live every day.

 

Does anybody not know that riding a bike to work is cheaper than driving? Or that not going to restaurants saves you money? Everyone can cut stuff and just live in teepees. He doesn't say anything groundbreaking.

 

And b/c he comes from a place that very few people can - two incomes, married young, no kids, making 120ish thousand a year - he had a lot of flexibility to invest.

 

Our bread-and-butter living expenses are paid for by a single rental house we own, which generates about $25,000 per year after expenses. We also have stock index funds and 401(k) plans, which could boost that by about 50 percent without depleting principal if we ever needed it, but, so far, we can’t seem to spend more than $25,000 no matter how much we let loose. So the dividends just keep reinvesting.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/meet-mr-money-mustache-the-man-who-retired-at-30/2013/04/26/71e3e6a8-acf3-11e2-a8b9-2a63d75b5459_story.html

 

It's pretty damn easy to save when you don't have any fundamental expenses, and you can only do that if you have a bunch of capital to start with. The number of people who have that and can turn it profitable by the time they are 30 is low. If you're in a $120k household with no kids, then I guess this is the site for you. Beyond that, he can't tell you anything that anybody with some common sense couldn't.

 

Basically, he has a blog telling you to live poor or retire early, without any of the nitty gritty on how to do it. It also means giving up any habits you have other than being outside in public places. No hockey games, no going to the bar, no drugs and hookers if that's what you're into, no travel, etc etc.

 

His advice is to free yourself from the underlying premise that life needs to be so damn expensive in the first place. “Today’s parents believe they need a 7-passenger SUV for the ‘safety’ of their children, they need to take trips to Disneyland for family entertainment, and they need to put their kids into exclusive private schools and even fancy preschools,” he writes. “All of these needs happen to be very expensive ones that clever entrepreneurs and companies are making a lot of money from.” The result is what he calls an “exploding volcano of wastefulness.” Better to live like the Mustaches, borrowing library books, playing in nature, and making “robots out of scrap metal parts that we find sitting around in my tool boxes.”

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2014/11/mr-money-mustache-spend-like-youre-poor.html

 

I mean, does this guy really think he's the only person who realizes that SUVs and vacations are luxuries? His whole premise is that luxuries are just that....luxuries. That's fine. But it's not like people are stuipd and think they need them. People are just willing to pay for it.

 

And anybody who thinks they can't spend $25, "no matter how much they let loose" is an asshole. They're lying or they have 0 imagination.

 

I'll say it again.

 

Fuck this guy.

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If you have a $50,000 take-home pay but are in the habit of living on $25,000 and investing the rest, that will put you ahead by about $350,000 every 10 years after compounding. A habit of biking instead of driving can keep you lively and fit into your 80s while saving you hundreds of thousands of dollars as well.

 

I mean, seriously? That's like a $70,000 salary. How many people are doing that when they're 21 or 22 so they can invest $25k a year? What if those investments don't work? What if you have an illness you have to pay for? What if the only place to get one of those salaries is in a city, where rent is more than his mortgage was, or you have a long commute every day?

 

This guy tries to sell an absolute best case scenario as a way of life and is so out of touch it's absurd.

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I mean, seriously? That's like a $70,000 salary. How many people are doing that when they're 21 or 22 so they can invest $25k a year? What if those investments don't work? What if you have an illness you have to pay for? What if the only place to get one of those salaries is in a city, where rent is more than his mortgage was, or you have a long commute every day?

 

This guy tries to sell an absolute best case scenario as a way of life and is so out of touch it's absurd.

 

Everybody has a different scenario. LEARN from it. I'm not preaching the bible, buddy.

 

IT will change when YOU decide to change. You're turning a positive into a negative.

 

Take a chill pill.

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What will change?

 

Outside of circumstances that are not in your control, you can change whatever it is your looking to change in YOUR life for the better. If you don't want to be involved in a positive discussion then just stay out. Don't claim bullshit when its DEFINITELY not bullshit. You clearly haven't read this blog through thoroughly. You are taking examples you find that you don't agree with in your initial readings and therefore in your opinion "its absurd". Maybe others can GAIN from this. Maybe we can help one another gain here. This thread was started on those grounds. Not to argue about something you think will never work, because it does work and it has worked for me.

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I didn't say it's bullshit.

 

I said fuck that guy. Nothing he says is wrong...and I've read a lot of it b/c we studied it for a class a couple years ago.

 

The stuff he says works, in theory, but the idea of retiring at 30 is absurd for most people. Seriously, to do what he did...it would require going to college in Canada, finding a job that pays over $60k a year right out of college and having a partner making the same amount who lives with you, having knowledge enough to do your own home repairs and renovations, making investments that actually pay off, and having the disposition that allows you to be happy without spending really anything on entertainment.

 

There are a million places to look to find ways to save money. This guy is probably the worst source b/c he sells a goal that is simply unattainable. For all the marketing and advertising that he detests (luxury SUVs that say kids are safe, for example) he MARKETS a lifestyle that allows you to live early. His is just as ridiculous as anything else.

 

So fuck him.

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I didn't say it's bullshit.

 

I said fuck that guy. Nothing he says is wrong...and I've read a lot of it b/c we studied it for a class a couple years ago.

 

The stuff he says works, in theory, but the idea of retiring at 30 is absurd for most people. Seriously, to do what he did...it would require going to college in Canada, finding a job that pays over $60k a year right out of college and having a partner making the same amount who lives with you, having knowledge enough to do your own home repairs and renovations, making investments that actually pay off, and having the disposition that allows you to be happy without spending really anything on entertainment.

 

There are a million places to look to find ways to save money. This guy is probably the worst source b/c he sells a goal that is simply unattainable. For all the marketing and advertising that he detests (luxury SUVs that say kids are safe, for example) he MARKETS a lifestyle that allows you to live early. His is just as ridiculous as anything else.

 

So fuck him.

 

Couple of things here.

 

Firstly, I didn't read the blog, but like any blog—or anything you read, period—you take the portion of it that you find helpful and leave the rest. This isn't a bible that needs to be followed to a tee. It's just things this guy did to save money. I don't think anyone suggesting you need to do everything he says. If there's something that makes sense for you, do it. If not, don't. If nothing he says makes sense, don't read it.

 

Secondly, from a moderation perspective, the OP simply posting a link to a blog he found helpful and asked others to do the same. He intended the thread to be a discussion on saving money. So really, there's absolutely no reason to come in at post #4 and shit all over his blog. If you think it's bullshit, say so once and move on. Don't hijack the thread debating the feasibility of one opinion.

 

We just had this happen a few weeks ago with the (now dead, thanks to the same behavior) Replica Jersey thread.

 

If you want to have a conversation about money saving techniques and such, please do so. If you just want to shit on the OP's blog, you've done a fine job of it, so we can move on now.

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I didn't say it's bullshit.

 

I said fuck that guy. Nothing he says is wrong...and I've read a lot of it b/c we studied it for a class a couple years ago.

 

The stuff he says works, in theory, but the idea of retiring at 30 is absurd for most people. Seriously, to do what he did...it would require going to college in Canada, finding a job that pays over $60k a year right out of college and having a partner making the same amount who lives with you, having knowledge enough to do your own home repairs and renovations, making investments that actually pay off, and having the disposition that allows you to be happy without spending really anything on entertainment.

 

There are a million places to look to find ways to save money. This guy is probably the worst source b/c he sells a goal that is simply unattainable. For all the marketing and advertising that he detests (luxury SUVs that say kids are safe, for example) he MARKETS a lifestyle that allows you to live early. His is just as ridiculous as anything else.

 

So fuck him.

 

He's stating that the goal is not out of reach. Its not about taking it word for word, but to gain the knowledge on how to cut costs and make the most of what you have. You're missing the big picture. There are ways around struggle and to avoid struggle maybe you need to pick up a new hobby and make your own coffee and cook your own food. Stay physically and mentally fit while saving $50 a month by purchasing a bike and not using your car as often. Its the little things that help. Don't go by what he says word for word. LEARN from what is being offered to you by someone with more self control then most of us. Take it how you'd like but I wouldn't say "fuck him". Thats just rude especially when there is extensive knowledge here being offered for free and out of kindness.

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"You can thank me later" and "great reference guide" to me, is basically saying to do everything the blog says. That's what the blog is all about.

 

The thread is about the blog and sharing ideas is secondary. It says so right in the OP. I responded with what I thought of the blog, and then responded to commentary on that. I'm not trying to hijack anything.

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"You can thank me later" and "great reference guide" to me, is basically saying to do everything the blog says. That's what the blog is all about.

 

The thread is about the blog and sharing ideas is secondary. It says so right in the OP. I responded with what I thought of the blog, and then responded to commentary on that. I'm not trying to hijack anything.

 

:palm:

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He's stating that the goal is not out of reach. Its not about taking it word for word, but to gain the knowledge on how to cut costs and make the most of what you have. You're missing the big picture. There are ways around struggle and to avoid struggle maybe you need to pick up a new hobby and make your own coffee and cook your own food. Stay physically and mentally fit while saving $50 a month by purchasing a bike and not using your car as often. Its the little things that help. Don't go by what he says word for word. LEARN from what is being offered to you by someone with more self control then most of us. Take it how you'd like but I wouldn't say "fuck him". Thats just rude especially when there is extensive knowledge here being offered for free and out of kindness.

My point is that there is no special knowledge to be gained from this guy, b/c he doesn't share exactly what he invested in or anything like that. He also never acknowledges the fact that he was very fortunate, albeit intelligent, to get to where he did. He doesn't have the burden of college loans and hit the tech market right at the time it was exploding and many companies were hiring young people to big salaries. He was smart with his money, but the majority of people don't have the capital to do what he did, so his story is so unrelatable that I find it quite useless.

 

Beyond his own story, the blog is just a bunch of lifehacks. You can find those anywhere. Since his story is nearly impossible to replicate, his whole approach is woefully hollow. The worship this guy gets is just completely beyond me.

 

His website is valued at over $400k, and generates like $22,000 a month, he's not doing it out of kindness. Maybe I was rude...I think it's rude for a guy likke that to sell his way of life as the best. The whole "we can all live a frugal yet Badass life of leisure" is selling an ideal. It makes him no different than BMW or any other luxury company that sells status.

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My point is that there is no special knowledge to be gained from this guy, b/c he doesn't share exactly what he invested in or anything like that. He also never acknowledges the fact that he was very fortunate, albeit intelligent, to get to where he did. He doesn't have the burden of college loans and hit the tech market right at the time it was exploding and many companies were hiring young people to big salaries. He was smart with his money, but the majority of people don't have the capital to do what he did, so his story is so unrelatable that I find it quite useless.

 

Beyond his own story, the blog is just a bunch of lifehacks. You can find those anywhere. Since his story is nearly impossible to replicate, his whole approach is woefully hollow. The worship this guy gets is just completely beyond me.

 

His website is valued at over $400k, and generates like $22,000 a month, he's not doing it out of kindness. Maybe I was rude...I think it's rude for a guy likke that to sell his way of life as the best. The whole "we can all live a frugal yet Badass life of leisure" is selling an ideal. It makes him no different than BMW or any other luxury company that sells status.

 

This obviously doesn't pertain to you which is why you should probably go about your day and do whatever it is you do. It helped me. Im trying to spin what has done something for me and offer it to others. Tomato-Tomahtoe, pal. When you're able to use your knowledge to make $22g/mo (side cash) without literally spending a dime then you're doing something right.

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This obviously doesn't pertain to you which is why you should probably go about your day and do whatever it is you do. It helped me. Im trying to spin what has done something for me and offer it to others. Tomato-Tomahtoe, pal. When you're able to use your knowledge to make $22g/mo (side cash) without literally spending a dime then you're doing something right.

It pertains to me in that, like everyone else, I try to save money. Where it doesn't is that I'm not delusional to think I'm going to retire at 30. His blog is basically telling everyone who spends on luxuries that they are idiots lol. God forbid people enjoy themselves. These types who simply fail to see the value in another lifestyle are - not to keep harping on the term but I can't think of a better word - assholes.

 

He has to spend on the domain but that's not expensive...

 

I have a lot of respect for what the guy did to get where he is at. What I find insufferable is selling a lifestyle and the hope of retiring super young without acknowledging the fact that what went right for him wasn't just being frugal. There were plenty of other things that went right for him to accomplish what he did.

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