[Editor's Note: I originally ran this post back in June 2015. Some things have changed since then (including a divorce unfortunately) but the valuable contributions Pete Adeney has made to the FIRE community still remain. He (and his teachings) also remain surprisingly controversial. Like with Dave Ramsey, there is a plethora of useful principles to learn from him, even if you don't agree with everything. Like with all personal finance folks (including me), take what you find useful and leave the rest.]
I was perusing the Mr. Money Mustache blog the other night on a slow night shift. I really like Pete (yes, he actually does have a name) from meeting him both in-person and online. (We first met at a swanky dinner paid for by somebody else.) We're pretty much the same age, live in similar areas of the country and share lots of interests — we both enjoy personal finance, we hate spending money on stuff that doesn't make us happier, we both enjoy cycling, although I confess not to enjoy it very much in the snow, and we have both conditioned ourselves to enjoy suffering just for the sake of suffering.
We do have some differences. He has more money (I think) and spends less of it. I make more money (I think) and definitely spend more time earning it. He retired at 30. I had not yet started working at 30. At any rate, if you're not familiar with his financial philosophy, you would do well to learn about it. Let me sum it up in a nutshell. First, his story.
Mr. Money Mustache's Story
He and his wife graduated from college and were making a decent amount of money. They saved 65% of it for seven years, then retired at 30 so they could raise a family. They still do some work, both for free and for pay, but are not financially required to do so. He has a website with 10-20 times the amount of traffic as mine, about similar to the Bogleheads forum (which has over a hundred threads started a day.)
He makes some money from it, but as near as I can tell, the site is dramatically “under-monetized.” I don't think he cares. He's already spending so much less than he earns, that he doesn't need a dime from the site. He's basically living on $25K a year and loving every minute of it.
The Financial Philosophies of Mr. Money Mustache
Here are the key points of his financial philosophy:
- Avoid waste. Everyone around you is wasting a ridiculously huge sum of money.
- Spend your money on what makes you happy and conversely, don't spend money on what doesn't make you any happier.
- Don't ruin the planet.
- Spending money on stuff that makes your life easier may be making you soft.
- Invest your money in simple investments like index funds and investment real estate.
- Your kids should learn to work hard.
What's not to like, right? Some call him extreme, but I don't find him all that extreme, to be honest. He is merely the Henry David Thoreau for our time. He's a fan of simple living in natural surroundings. A simple life with simple pleasures can be lived very inexpensively and with reasonable financial management, can be coupled with a ridiculously short career.
What I Don't Like About Philosophies of Mr. Money Mustache
Some of these criticisms aren't so much of Pete (because when you read carefully or meet him in person you realize he is a very reasonable person), but rather of those who buy into his philosophy as the solution to their woes. But here we go anyway.
# 1 Work Doesn't Have To Suck
I get this whole vibe from reading Pete's story and the stories of those on his site Mr. Money Mustache forum that they hate (or in many cases, hated) their jobs. Sermo (online physicians forum) feels the same way sometimes. Well, here's the deal. If your work sucks, the solution isn't necessarily to save some crazy percentage of your income so you can quit working ASAP. There is an alternative solution. Such as getting a job that doesn't suck.
There is a whole group of people out there who have found something they feel so passionately about that they would do it for free, or perhaps even pay for it. Sometimes the work is an unpaid or poorly paid pursuit. Other times it is very well paid. But that seems like a far better ideal to strive for to me.
For example, I followed a link to the blog of a young retired attorney who followed a similar path to early retirement as Mr. Money Mustache. Now he spends hours a day video-gaming. He blogs about how he isn't accomplishing anything or contributing anything to society. Is that really the point of good personal finance?
I remember the last time I didn't have a job (well, not including my deployment to Qatar where I only “worked” 24 of every 96 hours, worked out for 3 hours a day, and had someone who cooked, cleaned, and did my laundry.) It was the summer between the 1st and 2nd years of medical school. I had a military rotation right in the middle of it, so I had several weeks on either side of the rotation with little to do and not enough time to do any real research or get any real job. I went golfing every day (the university course sold me an unlimited three-month pass for $100 or so.) Then I played some video games. After a few weeks, I realized that if you do not have meaningful work, even leisure starts to feel like work.
Brigham Young characterized the ideal day as 8 hours of work, 8 hours of recreation, and 8 hours of sleep. I think there's a great deal of wisdom there. As doctors, we've all seen people who retired to a life of nothing but depression, deconditioning, and death. No sense in retiring until you have something meaningful to retire to.
# 2 Cheap Hobbies Are Not Always Just As Fun
Mr. Money Mustache frequently extols the virtues of a walk or bike ride in a blizzard, working in his woodshop, or brewing his own beer. He has trained himself to find great joy in these simple things. But some people simply find more happiness buying more expensive things and doing more expensive activities. If they can afford these items and experiences while still meeting financial goals that are very easily met from working at the high paying job that they enjoy, then I say more power to them.
For example, mountain biking on the trails behind my house is pretty fun. But mountain biking in Sedona, Fruita, and Moab on my new fancy mountain bike is REALLY fun, but 100 times as expensive. Is it 100 times more fun? Probably not. Can I afford it? Definitely. [One of my partners, who reads both MMM and WCI regularly says this, “I love MMM, but his bike sucks.”]
Surfing behind the fancy boat.
Going to Lake Powell in my 13-year-old, $6K, 135 HP boat is pretty fun too. But going in my new fancy 410 hp wakeboat is going to be a lot more fun, especially because I'll be able to take twice as many fun people.
Will it be ten times as much fun? Probably not. [Update prior to publication- It's at least 3 times as fun.] But I can afford it. I do lots of other fun stuff that costs money too — ice hockey, skiing, climbing, canyoneering, going on vacation every month, etc. I wish I could have just as much fun knitting as I do playing hockey. But guess what, I don't. And that's okay.
# 3 Doing Things The Hard Way Is Not Always Better
Mr. Money Mustache goes out of his way to make his life hard. For example, he takes his bike and bike trailer out in a blizzard to pick up 85 lbs of groceries just to say he did it rather than driving his car 1.5 miles (or just waiting until the blizzard is over.)
I grew up in Alaska. In Alaska, there are a lot of people who like to do things the hard way. They live in places that don't have roads to them, for example. They build their own cabins, chop their own wood for fuel, hunt their own food, and in general live completely off the grid. There are a lot of odd people out in “The Bush.”
Pete is way too social for that kind of existence. But if he were a bit more antisocial, he'd fit in just fine up there. Like this guy. Who decided to walk 50 miles in a single push. Between two roadless towns. At 33 below zero. Starting at 7 pm. With nothing but Jolly Ranchers. For no purpose whatsoever except to see if he could do it. Welcome to Alaska.
But here's the deal. Doing things the hard way takes more time and energy and planning (mental energy) that may be able to be used in a better way that will contribute more to your happiness, your relationships, and the community around you.
Instead of spending 2 hours on a grocery store run on your bike, perhaps you could run down and back in 30 minutes and spend an hour and a half volunteering at the school. Or playing with your kids. Or helping someone out on the internet. Or working out. Or doing a craniotomy on a 14 year with an astrocytoma.
Yes, taking the car will burn more gas, ruin the planet, and cost you more money. But there are more important things in life than a gallon of gas. Life is all about trade-offs like that. (Nevertheless, I was pretty impressed that he only spent $71 on gasoline in 2014.)
# 4 A Scarcity Mentality Can Hold You Back
Mustachians focus almost exclusively on cutting financial expenses. But in personal finance, sometimes it is easier to cut expenses and sometimes it is easier to boost income. If you focus too much on just expenses, you end up with a scarcity mentality. This is when you're focused on getting and keeping your piece of the pie, as opposed to an abundance mentality when you realize you have the ability to make the pie bigger.
For example, a doctor could paint his own house and save $2000. Or, he could take the 4 days he would spend doing that, go do some surgeries or see some patients and make $8000. Even after paying 45% of that income in taxes, he's still way ahead. Plus the paint probably looks better. Plus to me, seeing patients is more fun and contributes more to society than painting my house. There is plenty of waste in life, but sometimes wasted time is more expensive than wasted money, especially for a high earner. I think a lot of Mustachians (and even Bogleheads) don't get that.
Mr. Money Mustache Forum & Website
At any rate, I think everyone serious about their own personal finances should spend some time with the Mr. Money Mustache forum and website. While you may not agree with everything he writes, nor find yourself to be nearly as extreme, you will almost surely realize that you can be just as happy working less and spending less than you do now.
What do you think? Do you agree or disagree with Mr. Money Mustache? Do you think doctors should retire after 7 years if they don't like their jobs? Do you think doctors CAN retire after 7 years? Why or why not? Comment below!
I 100% agree with you. I am definitely of the work hard to play hard. MMM can’t afford to play hard. That’s okay for him but not for me.
I want the good seats when a something new comes to the theatre
I want to take my family on vacations around the world. Experience new cultures, new tastes, new sites, yearly… (something I bet MMM hasn’t done since he retired)
I want to be able to afford to go see a local sports team several times a year
I make a mean steak at home. But I sure love having one from Bob’s too.
If i didn’t want these things I probably wouldn’t have gone to school for as long as I did. I could be pretty happy brewing beer for a living but I most likely couldn’t do a lot of these things on 25K. (For instance I try to vacation on the cheap when I can but a week outside the US is going to cost you at least 4K)
HA! there are tons of people out traveling the world for months-to-years at a time for $10k-$20k/year. A google search will bring up many blogs about it. A week for $4k is a limit you’re putting on it arbitrarily, it is not a rule. You CAN do it for less, you choose not to. For example, I did a day international ski trip this winter for $900. Would I like to spend $4k? Sure, but I’m “living like a resident” until my debt is gone, AND I’m playing hard too.
He CAN afford to play *likely* harder than you. He CHOOSES not to.
Reading MMM has taught me two things that I have not seen anywhere else. One is the the value of my own labor outside of medicine. Not just the money saved by not outsourcing my needs, but the actual value of accomplishing something myself and being proud of the results. I never realized how satisfying manual labor is when you can afford to have someone else do it. I can hire someone to replace my garbage deposal unit, or I can learn about it and do it myself. I understand that the money saved is a fraction of what I get paid practicing medicine. It is the experience and the satisfaction of learning a new skill and then implementing it which makes the effort worth it.
MMM also got me to look inside myself and see what kind of spending makes me the most happy. I was never very wasteful in the past, but now I tend to spend money a bit more efficiently.
MMM is an extreme example but has many lessons to be learned about wasteful spending vs true happiness. I am definitely better for reading his blog and would recommend it to everyone who is interested in personal finance. I think that is the reason why so many WCI readers also read MMM.
I believe that there is an elephant in the room here that everyone including our host is kind of carefully stepping around. It is the question of whether or not it is morally right to spend and live any way we choose, when there is an overwhelming amount of science based evidence that our wasteful ways will cause enormous problems, if not for us, then for our children and grandchildren. I know that these kinds of discussions often degrade rather quickly and I want to avoid that by saying that it is up to each individual to make that choice for him/herself. I believe that MMM has made it clear where he stands. I choose to stand with him.
Well, if you are going to look at it that way, what is your obligation to the poor slobs who paid the taxes that provided most of the support for the university and medical school education you got (your tuition only covered a fraction of same), subsidized the loans you probably took out to finance that education? How long are you obligated to provide medical care in order to justify their investment in your career? Don’t you have some obligation to use your above-average income to consume the products and services that provide the jobs that employ them?
This type of lifestyle may work for the occasional individual like MMM, but if EVERYONE did it we would all be a lot poorer!
Poorer, but happier. And the world would be a lot richer. And your children and grandchildren might have a chance of inheriting something better than a giant garbage dump. But go ahead and continue to rationalize your mindless consumption if that makes you feel better.
I would be miserable without work and without spending money on things I enjoy. Probably suicidal. So no, not happier.
http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2012/04/09/what-if-everyone-became-frugal/
The problem is that line of reasoning, taken to the extreme, can get, well, pretty extreme. For example, I hope you don’t eat meat. It is incredibly wasteful. The amount of resources required to raise a lb of meat is ridiculous compared to an equal amount of calories of potatoes. I hope you’re sending 50% of your income to assist refugees in war torn countries. I hope you don’t use air conditioning or water your lawn or own more than 2 changes of clothing etc etc. At any rate, we all “sin” in this respect and those who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.
Fair comment about extremes. However, I suggest that there is at least a limit to the extremes on the frugal side. On the consumption side, infinity is the extreme, and yet, some will find a way to rationalize it.
I fear this will not end well…
Absolutely. I won’t argue that.
This is a fair and balanced opinion on MMM. It’s nice to get a reminder to not get too far on the frugal side, with the risk of opportunity loss (financial or others) that this implies.
Thanks for the article!
In the article, the comment is made “there are more important things in life than a gallon of gas” which is true. The problem with this is once you factor that out to the population having that general attitude it becomes very important, especially if you believe there is something to “global warming” and/or you think about the planet that your child will face in 30-40 years. Many folks, if not most, feel this way about turning off the lights so they do not, they leave outside lights on and forget to turn them off…they do not attempt to consolidate trips to grocery stores, etc as there are more important things in life, why compost/recycle as it is easier to throw it in the trash…
I get that MMM can be a bit extreme but I do feel that the world could use a lot more folks with his attitude than the attitude of the WCI.
Yup there’s definitely a big environmentalist streak in MMM’s writings.
But again, people who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones. Do you walk to work? If not, don’t think that consolidating grocery trips is somehow going to make up for that. I consolidate my trips primarily to save my time, not money or the environment, although those are nice extras.
I retired at 40 so no work to walk to. Admittedly we drive more than we should for my son’s school and activities. We typically eat venison instead of beef and we compost and recycle, all LEDs throughout the house.
I worked overseas for 13+ years in the Former Soviet Union and saw a bit of the damage to the environment from the oil and gas industry. Also, I was fortunate enough to travel to many places and have seen beautiful beaches in remote places that have garbage all over them. Those experiences plus hoping my son has a nice planet when he is my age leads me to doing things for the environment as I have a lot of time and enough money to do the things I enjoy doing.
I am sure we could do better but I think we are still way ahead of most, certainly ahead of the WCI…
We can all do better. But I’m still going to go burn 15 gallons of gas later today just to make a big wave I can surf on!
Interesting story about beef…I was 18 and away from home before I ever ate it regularly. Grew up eating moose, caribou, Dall sheep, duck, salmon, halibut, deer, mountain goat etc. Aside from sheep tenderloin and the fish, can’t say any of it tastes as good as beef.
I have a skiboat too (although not as nice as yours) and like to go out when we have time and “waste” gas. I am not trying to lead a lifestyle void of any damage to the environment, I just try to reduce my impact when/where I can and it does not take that much effort.
You are obviously a very intelligent person. Do you not believe in global warming or just think your activities are too small to make a difference so why not do it? I am clearly in the minority and it is interesting to me why people do not make efforts to reduce their impact.
I lived in countries for years where we the beef was not very good and we ate lamb. Wife is from that part of the world and likes venison. The venison we have eaten has been quite good although I have had some that is “gamey”. I did not start eating venison for enviro reasons but instead had time as I was retired. Now I tend to do it as from the little I have read it seems venison is probably better for son than beef.
Have fun on the boat.
Is global warming something religious now? I haven’t really looked into it in detail, but I thought it was fairly well established scientifically that it is occurring and it is probably occurring as a result of human activities.
I don’t have a wood burning stove, which I hear is a huge environmental issue in my area. But I also don’t have a Leaf like several of my partners. If I were going to do something to save the environment, that’s probably where I’d go next.
At any rate, environmental concerns certainly didn’t have a huge impact on my decision to buy a boat, or my decision to use it today. (The 13 of us had a heck of a lot of fun. Five people surfed today that had never surfed before and nobody got sunburned.) My lack of attention to the environment probably comes from growing up in Alaska, where environmental concerns had very real impacts on the economy. Interesting you mention deer though, as the last time I went deer hunting it involved walking beaches covered in oil from the Exxon Valdez.
Lots of discussion about this post both on the Bogleheads forum:
https://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=168712&newpost=2542311
and the MMM forum:
http://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/welcome-to-the-forum/ears-are-burning/
Very interesting to compare and contrast the reactions the two forums take to it.
I have spent a little time on each forum over the past year. What I find they both have in common is an “us” against “them” attitude which I simply do not feel. I think we can all learn and benefit from one another. I appreciate when you use your site to contrast viewpoints. Whether I agree or disagree misses the point of challenging and expanding my mindset. Thank you!
The thing I admire most about MMM is his ability to ignore the siren-song of media attention and money. By doing this, he focuses on what is important to him. I’m not sure I could do that if our situations were reversed.
However, I quit reading the MMM blog because of a few issues:
1. Playing it fast and lose with the facts: The posting about the couple living in NYC living on $65K/year in a case in point. The couple was taking in over $100K, much of it under the table via Air BnB. This couple had the equivalent of $125K in income (if they were paying taxes) not $65K.
2. Name calling: The whole “complainy pants” thing is just childish, but it drives page hits. If anybody has a different perspective, they’re immediately labeled “complainy pants”. This is way to create an “us” vs “them” mentality which brings me to…
3. The whole cult thing: I ascribe to the American notion of “…the pursuit of happiness…” including the notion of rugged individualism. I do not wish to be associated with any form of “group think”. For that reason, I do not consider myself to be a Bogelhead, Mustachian, WCI or anything else. I’m my own man and I will make my own choices based on what’s good for me and my community.
4. Overt hypocrisy: Spending money on latte’s is bad but spending money on wine and other alcoholic beverages is okay. Really? Seems like a personal preference to me. I don’t drink coffee or drink alcohol does that make me more moral? I think not, as I spend too much money on soda. Another example: Spending money on gas and a car is bad, but spending $800 on a custom bike trailer to move appliances for the new house is good. I’m not sure why MMM can’t just admit that the bike trailer was just something he wanted, he could afford it and he splurged on it. Trying to justify this purchase seemed convoluted and overwrought.
If you think justifying a bike trailer is tough, you should try a wakeboat! 🙂
Point #1 is so spot on. I’ve come to realize this myself in my career journey. It seems that most who want to escape to financial independence do so because they hate their jobs. But even in the best case scenario it might take you ten years to reach this financial independence and then what? At that point you pursue something you enjoy? Why don’t you just pursue it now?
Really great summary of MMM’s philosophy! I found his blog only recently (after spending a few years on Bogleheads and also just after finding this blog).
I always appreciate a different perspective, especially one that challenges my thinking. Reading MMM is good for bringing my conception of “needs” back down toward reality, plus it’s entertaining.
I certainly don’t plan to sell my car and bike to work, but reading his posts about the real costs of car ownership were enlightening. They changed my perspective enough to convince my husband and I to opt for cheaper cars than we have in the past (and than we can afford) and to think differently about how we use our cars. Just one example.
I’ve gotten great insights from Robert Kiyosaki, Dave Ramsey, Suze Orman, Bogleheads, and plenty of bloggers over the years. I rarely agree with everything any one expert says, but I have learned from all of them.
I actually found this blog because I was looking for other opinions regarding the MMM site. I started reading it recently and found myself loving it until some posts made me feel bad about any financial errors I may have made in the past. That being said, I still think you can learn a lot from his blog. There is a significant difference between needs and wants, but all wants aren’t bad. He has pretty much convinced me to stop wasting money on coffee, but we will not be getting rid of our cable. I think the bottom line is that you can learn new things from anyone, but be sure to keep your mind open and don’t get pulled in to an all or nothing mind set. There can be a middle ground.
Rediscovered this post after reading the New Yorker article on MMM today. In my estimation, you’re both right. MMM is right to live a way that makes him happy and makes sense in his hyperanalytical worldview. WCI is right in spending / splurging on expensive toys that create happy moments or to free up time to be with family, etc…
#2 and #3 things WCI doesn’t like make the most sense to me. MMM likes to point all the awesome things you can do that cost little or no money. But there are wonderful experiences that require significant spending. I’m taking my family on a Disney cruise. We could do something else fun without spending several grand, but we couldn’t take a Disney cruise for free. I bought a new hot tub last year. I could have engineered my own hot tub (OK, i couldn’t, but MMM probably could), but it would be very time consuming and the end product wouldn’t be half as nice. I’ll trade a little time / money for the new hot tub.
I appreciate the humanity you have given to MMM as I thought it was just another douche making money by telling you how to make money/live frugally/get slim/pull women at will/be happy/have a healthy colon…etc etc. The fact is that we all have a very unique set of circumstances and mindsets and pretty much the path to a fulfilling life is working out life for yourself with what you have been given. I have belonged to a few ‘help’ forums previously and they are always benign cults populated by people who need someone to think for them and to create goals for them. Even if you are good at following guru goals – you are still following someone else. Better to f*ck up whilst being who you are. In the end it won’t matter one iota.
Not everyone is in the position to make more income. Limits on time, education (and finances/time to invest in further education), energy, unpaid work (childcare, eldercare, disabled family members) and other things all factor in. This blog entry seems to only make sense for high-earners. If one wants to spend one’s time on a creative pursuit, a job that may not support one’s family for years – or quite possibly never support them, then always having a day job can limit how much time/energy one can invest in said pursuit.
I certainly don’t want to retire to watch TV all day. I want to retire to sleep on my own schedule (Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome), travel (family in a foreign country a 13+ hour flight(s) away) and do work that I am passionate about but won’t immediately pay a living wage. For my situation, I think limiting spending to maximize savings makes the most sense but I won’t turn my nose up at overtime pay.
I’m not sure why you’re surprised that a post on a blog aimed at high earners seems to only make sense for high earners.
Could you please give a link to the blog of the attorney who retired to play video games? That sounds like an interesting read.
Sorry, it’s been a couple of years. I don’t recall the link. But this one is great:
http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2013/03/23/reader-story-the-man-who-thought-early-retirement-sucked/
I think there is another point that I’d like to point out that I am not comfortable with MMM’s philosophy. I find great irony (to some extent, hypocrisy whether MMM himself agrees with or not) in the fact that, he is on one hand so extremely anti-consumerism, on another hand drawing wealth and living on the dividend money from big companies that are doing great financially mainly due to consumerism economy.
Every person who reach financial freedom and retire early needs to realize that, ultimately the reason that enables their FIER without continue to inputting meaningful work and being a contributing member of society is by taking advantage of a not-perfectly-balanced system where other productive members of the society is working the extra work. I cannot get past that irony and ultimately the hypocritical way of living that MMM advocates, yet I have to admit there are practical and sound executable advice on his site that one can draw reference to.
I think that’s a valid criticism. We can’t all FIRE, can we? But we can all consume less and maybe do a little less damage to the planet in the meantime.
“We can’t all FIRE, can we?” — Exactly. People love to talk about numbers, but quickly forget that the number, the return on their investment egg that they rely on critically on as a lifeline during FIER even exists is because there is overall a positive growth in economic and labor activities in the world that feeds in the ROI.
We all should be grateful for what we have and conserve our beautiful planet. 🙂
Interesting topic here, Whitecoatinvestor!
Just curious. May you please link me the blog of the retired attorney who spent hours a day playing videogames as you mentioned above? Thanks!
Wish I had the link. This post was written a very long time ago and as you can imagine, I don’t spend a lot of time on the blog! You’re not the first to ask for it though!
From the linked to New Yorker article about Mr. Money Mustache.
“He told me that his blog is now earning around four hundred thousand dollars a year.”
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/02/29/mr-money-mustache-the-frugal-guru
and dramatically undermonetized at that level. I wish him all the best as he has made a dramatic difference in the lives of hundreds of thousands of people including me.
Well, this is a great and realistic site here. While I see some of MMM info to be useful in general and take home his points to increase savings and reduce expenses, and the effect that can have on your savings growth etc, for me personally it is too extreme. Hats off to him for his choice and if he is happy that is super.
However, for me (and I suspect many people), if I make decent income, save a good portion 45-50%, and invest wisely, I should come out fine 25 years from now. Life is meant to be lived, enjoy, and travel and have experiences – it’s not just about “retiring at age 30” and watching every single $. It is about a healthy balance. I would rather retire later, have decent money saved up to meet my expenses, but at the end of it all be happy that I got to travel and experience and enjoy various things and places in the world.
Besides, who wants to retire that early. Studies have proven time and again that people who retire very early (in general not all), experience dementia, eventual boredom, loss of interest, and early death in many cases. My unlce is still working at his real estate company, sharp and fit as ever, and he is 90! I plan to semi-retire later on, but even then, do activities I enjoy and hopefully have a small boutique beach hotel in Asia as I love meeting people and interacting with them, and having a small business like that (nothing to hectic though) combined with some pleasurable activities and meditation/yoga would be bliss. Keeping the mind sharp and yourself active in the older years is paramount to better health and preventing diseases and dementia.
Another example are lottery winners who after winning, quit working, live the life and almost 99% of the time after some 5-10 years are dead broke, mentally ill, or kill themselves. Ok, that’s a bit extreme, but just sayin.
Hey to each his own and to MMM his own. I agree with your points 100% and am glad others see it the same way as I do.
Great site again! 🙂
Thanks for sharing a wonderful article.keep doing it.
I come from the angle of someone who is in the trades and spent years making relatively low pay. Years ago when I stumbled upon Mr. Money Mustache his approach was one that I could actually utilize. If I could live on $25,000 like he does, then I’d save a ton of money. And I did. As my pay increased and I made wiser choices with my spending, the savings rate rapidly increased and I’m now a year away from financial independence. It’s changed my view drastically when I see my peers spending so much money. Now that FI is around the corner I could easily spend twice as much as I am currently, but it just seems foolish now. Many people in the trades see themselves as stuck because of pay and that’s unfortunate. So I’m really appreciative of Mr Money Mustache taking what I would consider a leadership role in showing the way for anybody, not just those with high paying careers. And that’s probably why his readership is as large as it is: he lives in a way that most people could live.
Congrats on your success!
I can see some points in the article and know what Pete does. I can agree with some of these and definitely violate some of the principals myself.
I can’t do more of my regular job to bring in more money. I’m in a salaried job. If I work extra hours, I make zero. I think there are lots of non-doctor professionals who work for some Evil Empire who are in this boat. So in my case, painting my own house will indeed save me money where I would not have an easy alternative. Unless you want to bring me in to do surgery with you. But I wouldn’t recommend that…..I tend to pass out in medical facilities.
On the “not MMM approved” end….I own 5 cars. 1 for each driver in my family, all paid for plus an (wait for it) Evil, non-approved Jeep Wrangler. Not only that, but it’s raised and has big offroad tires and a winch and I go offroading with a club many weekends during the year. Could I take a walk in the woods? Sure….I live across the street from a lake with miles of walking trails. I do that too. But I want to go Jeepin’ and I can afford it. Not sorry.
Perhaps having a little more balance helps with relationships too. I’m still married to my only wife after 33 years. Enough about that.
Agreed. It’s cool that Pete likes his life the way it is, such as the fun he had by driving across the coutry with no AC (no thanks!).
I personally don’t want to live that way. I spend about $10k a month or more, and enjoy living at this level – so much so that I’m willing to work a bit longer, until I’m 48, to keep it this way.
My wife is the same. She mentioned recently that she’d like to stay at a hotel on our next vacation. I said I prefer cooking my own meals because the food is better. Her response? Maybe it’s time we go to better restaurants.
“ Sometimes wasted time is more expensive than wasted money”
Worth reading the whole article for that GEM of Advice.
Ha! I thought the same thing! Re-read it several times.
I greatly enjoy some of the creative writing and philosophizing of MMM. He thinks carefully about his choices, as a consumer and as a citizen of this planet. For years I carefully thought about choices regarding how to spend, save and invest money, about how to avoid waste. And I continue to enjoy thinking about consumerism and avoiding waste, despite becoming filthy rich now, quite deep into 1%er territory.
Just the same, I exercise outdoors every day, I ride a bicycle every day, I continue to avoid waste by driving electric cars and generating solar power, but waste is defined by me and my personal values. And at the same time, we travel the world and value sleeping in a flat bed as we traverse the continents. It isn’t just about me, my spouse has values too. What I like about MMM is the concept of thinking deeply about your choices, sweating the details, and at the same time executing life in a way that matches your own values.
Like most things I think the people at the extremes are there to teach us lessons and principals that we can learn and apply to our own life with our own set of values. We all value things differently for sure. I spend my money on food, travel, and on others. I care less about cars and other things. That said some people like cars. The book “The Minimalism Way” goes into this well. The overall idea of pushing back against consumerism and more = better is a good one in my book. Much easier to loosen the strings than tighten them. Financial Independence is a good goal to have for anyone regardless of how much they like their job.