Using Extreme Frugality In The Beginning To Get Things Rolling

cashpiggyLife is a journey. An ever-changing one, at that.

As such, it would be unrealistic to expect that one would maintain the same lifestyle or same ideas about life from childhood to death. We grow. We learn. We change. We hope to become better versions of ourselves as we age.

At least, that’s what I’m really after. A better version of myself. And I’m most “me” when I’m free, not constrained by a 9-5 where a boss dictates my every movement. When I work. When I eat. When I go home.

So not long after I first started walking the path to financial independence I was willing to do whatever it took to better my situation. I had a pile of student loan debt. I had very little cash. I had no investments. Basically, my options were pretty limited. And financial independence or retiring early is all about maximizing your options. Increasing flexibility. Making your life whatever you want it to be.

Scorched Earth

I started this blog in early 2011 after a year of diligently saving and investing. I was saving half of my net income and my progress was more than satisfactory.

But I wanted more. I wanted to test the limits of frugality and my potential. What could I live on? What could I live without? If I could stretch the limits of my comfort, would I become a better version of myself, more knowledgeable in what I can get by without, and thus stronger knowing that I didn’t really need everything that was around me? Was all the stuff in my life a facade? Or barriers keeping me from more progress, from reaching freedom even faster?

So I decided to adopt my own version of extreme frugality. I looked at it like my own variant of a “Scorched Earth” policy, where anything that could go, did go. It was total war on my expenses.

I studied my budget. Where was I hemorrhaging cash? What was costing me money that could otherwise be used to invest and start running, rather than steadily jogging, toward financial independence?

I’m Spending How Much???

My car was costing me more than $450 per month! Say what? That’s $5,400 per year! Not only was that cash that I could use to start really rolling my snowball, but it would take a $155,000 portfolio of dividend growth stocks yielding 3.5% to spin off the dividend income to fund that expense on an ongoing basis. $155k I didn’t have, and, frankly, didn’t want to spend years saving just to afford a stinkin’ car.

So I sold it – a 2006 Pontiac G6 at the time – in a neighboring town and spent three hours getting home, after taking multiple buses and walking for about two miles. I’ll tell you what. That walk home was the best walk I ever had. I was smiling the whole time, doing Rocky Balboa-style fist pumps in the air, with some shadow boxing thrown in for good measure. I felt like I just accomplished a major victory. I freed up some major cash, which could immediately be used to invest. Score!

Not long after that my significant other and I moved into a cheaper, smaller, and much more modest apartment that was also located along the bus line. Makes it a lot easier to take public transportation when you’re not two miles away from the closest bus stop. That saved $150 per month in terms of cheaper rent right there. So I was already up to an extra $600 per month by just attacking two budget lines.

Then I addressed food. I made some difficult choices here that I still don’t regret. Out went a lot of restaurant visits, pizza every Friday night, expensive meals during the workweek, paying for lunch while at work, etc. In came peanut butter & jelly sandwiches, ramen noodles, and a lot more brown bagging it.

Tilting The Balance

Those of us that embrace frugality often discuss trying to achieve a harmonious balance between saving for tomorrow while also enjoying yourself today. My take on that has always been that I wasn’t delaying gratification at all by saving and investing, because what I’m really after is time. And in order to have more time I was working hard to replace my day job income with the passive dividend income that could allow me to pursue my passions in life with reckless abandon and no cares about money. So, in my mind, I was actually hastening gratification.

However, I will say that I titled the balance early on. I was being super aggressive on savings, often achieving monthly savings rates well into the 70% range. I made some sacrifices. I wasn’t always happy about it. It wasn’t a harmonious balance.

I wore holes through my work shoes and kept on walking. I missed a lot of good football games because the OTA antenna I was using to pick up free television would only get one or two channels sometimes. I would pretend the food I was eating was much more luxurious than it really was – sometimes I would mentally convince myself my plate of macaroni and cheese was really fettuccine Alfredo.

But I don’t regret it any of it for a second. It was those early sacrifices that provided the firepower that got me to where I’m at today.

Frugality And Age

I often talk about trying to get your snowball rolling as early and as fast as possible. Early as in starting as young as possible. Fast as in contributing as much capital as you possibly can. And this is due to the power of compound interest.

You have a golden opportunity while you’re young. And you have to take advantage of that.

Consider the power of compound interest for someone who’s 25 years old and starting out with nothing. Putting away just $500 per month and receiving a 7% compound annual growth rate on their capital means they’re looking at almost $262,000 at 45 years old. A mighty sum, but not enough to become financially independent for most people.

That’s why you need to be serious about frugality while you’re young. Don’t take light of your opportunity. Not only is time on your side in regards to compound interest, but it’s also on your side in regards to what you might be willing to live with and without.

Consider my car-free lifestyle. I did it for a number of years. It was a lot of fun, and I’ve certainly ran into my fair share of interesting characters on the bus. And zipping around town on a little 49cc scooter was also a great time, albeit probably a bit dangerous. But I did it. And my dividend income that’s going to exceed $5,500 this year is at least partially due to those sacrifices.

But I now have a car. I paid $5,400 cash (less than what I’ll receive in passive income this year alone!) for a 2006 Toyota Corolla. Could I get by without a car? Well, not up here in Michigan where I’m staying right now. But if/when I end up moving back to Florida I absolutely could. Will I? Probably not. It’s nice to have. It’s a creature comfort. And I got a steal on this thing. Plus, my significant other doesn’t have a car. It’ll be nice to have one car in the household for emergencies, getting to places that are difficult/impossible by bus, grocery shopping (lugging 10-12 bags around by bus isn’t fun), and traveling (we like a good road trip).

So maybe I’ve gotten a bit comfortable at my dear old age of 32. Nothing wrong with that when you make the sacrifices young and get that snowball rolling, putting some serious wind in your sails. If you can build up some serious speed at the outset, you can lay back on the throttle a little bit and allow your momentum to coast you along.

When you’re young ideas like living with roommates to save some cash is much more palatable than when you’re 45 years old. And what about walking/biking around town? Your knees and ankles might not be the same when you’re older. Same goes for eating cheap food. I’m no nutritionist, and I’m not suggesting you sacrifice food or health for saving money. But I am saying a 25 year-old can probably eat PB&J for a while with no problems, whereas a version of you 20 years older might not do so well. And I’m eating like a king compared to the way I was eating just a few years ago.

Working With A Tailwind

As I mentioned above, a burst of frugality in the beginning can positively impact your financial progress for the rest of your life.

Consider the previous example of a 25 year-old putting away $500 per month. What if this same person can get serious about frugality and put away $1,500 per month until they’re 45 years old? As I’ve already proven for more than four years now, this isn’t all that difficult for someone with a modest income.

That input changes the outcome dramatically. The $262,000 they were looking at before is now dwarfed by the new result of $786,000. That is enough for someone to become financially independent, as a yield of 3.5% across a portfolio of high-quality stocks would provide $27,500 in annual dividend income. And that income will likely grow above the rate of inflation. Anyone with even a modicum of frugality should be able to get by on that type of income with minimal sacrifices, if any.

Meanwhile, one’s pace doesn’t need to be constant. As I discussed at the outset of this article, life changes. We grow. We change. I like having a car right now. Will I in a year or two? I have no idea. Am I living quite as frugally as I was two or three years ago? I’m trying, but it’s difficult. I’ve added health insurance to my expenses. The minimum payments on my student loans have gone up. Add in the car and the budget has inflated.

But the secret sauce is that I’m now working with a tailwind behind me in the form of dividend income, so I’m able to coast a little bit off of the momentum I’ve already built up.

I’m on pace to exceed $5,500 in dividend income this year. And I’ll probably set a goal for $7,000 (go big or go home?) in dividend income next year. That’s thousands of dollars being pumped into my pocket that I wasn’t working with before.

Consider my earlier example of getting rid of my car. I saved approximately $5,400 by going through the radical and life-changing event of selling my car. People looked at me like I was crazy when I did that. Here I am working at a car dealership and I own no car. The irony of it all!

But the dividend income I’ve built up in the time since has now basically created a bigger difference in my life. I had to sell my car and take the bus around town before to generate this kind of difference to my budget, and create that kind of capital with which to invest. Now I do nothing at all, as the dividend income hits my brokerage account with no action on my part at all. Isn’t that something??

Conclusion

Frugality is a permanent lifestyle for me. I’ve embraced it because I have learned that more money doesn’t buy more happiness. And I’m very happy right now, with no regrets at all over the choices I’ve made.

However, these days I’m living with harmony and balance. The dividend income I’m receiving is a wind in my sails, and allows me to lay off the throttle a little bit to really kind of “zone in” on maximizing the balance between savings and happiness.

Life changes. We grow, but we also grow older. As such, embrace your youth. Not only is time on your side in the mathematical sense, but also in a sense of being able to live with certain extreme lifestyles. You see plenty of 25 year-old backpackers, but how many are out there doing it at 45 years old? Even if you have the finances to travel the world, you might prefer a comfy bed in a halfway decent hotel room over a shared hostel at 45, right?

Take frugality head on. Go with less. Figure out your comfort zone. Shed the barriers around you to see just what you’re capable of, and what exactly makes you happy. Then, later, if you’re uncomfortable you can always scale back and allow the hard work the you of yesteryear put in so that the you of today can amp up the comfort just a bit.

What do you think? Has your level of frugality changed throughout the years? Was it easier when you were younger? Do you think it’s natural to scale back a bit as we age? Does a tailwind of passive income make that easier?

Thanks for reading.

Photo Credit: bplanet/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Edit: Corrected wording to tailwind.

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147 Comments

  1. About 4 years ago, I was working nights and didn’t have a car. The bus service where I worked was non existing at the time I got off work. So I paid someone to drive me home everynight for a bit.. I had about $10000 in the bank saved. My stepfather said to me in these exact words, “Get a car and enjoy your life A**hole”..LOL. I did buy a second hand car for $2000 which lasted me 2 years. Then I got a drive home from work every night from someone again. I started investing in March 2010 on a low income.

    I am currently averaging $280 a month in dividend income recently, but that has been reduced to selling one of my dividend stocks. I got a huge capital gain on it. Right now, I tell people I never have to pay for groceries for the rest of my life as my income from my investments are enough to cover groceries and will increase over time.

    I have a better paying job, but I am in an area now with better bus service. I still take the bus so I can save at least 35% of my income. I do not have cable. If I want to watch something I check to see if it is online such as on the channel’s website.

    As you said, it is good idea to make sacrifices to get the snow ball rolling and build momentum.

    Warren Buffett is a billionaire and he is still frugal.

  2. Hey Jason. Motivational and well written post as always. I was just like you in the sense that I spent my first couple of years pursuing FI using some pretty intense frugality tactics. Like, the kind of penny pinching that makes your “friends” hate you because you say no every time they want to go see movies in the theater or eat out anywhere that doesn’t have a dollar menu. Anyways, the fun thing about saving and investing though, like you’ve noted, is that by front loading the work, you create the beginnings of a machine that starts printing passive income faster and faster on its own. There’s a reason they say the first $100k is the hardest. After that, exponential compounding growth really becomes noticeable and you can ease off the gas just a bit. Don’t hit the breaks, but you don’t have to go 20 over the speed limit anymore. Regards from Southeast Asia!

  3. Hi Jason, my frugality level has changed tremendously ever since I started following your site. I try to apply your life experiences to mine. We use to eat out almost every night just coz I can afford it. I have several toys such as sports car and sports bikes. Now I drive a 2002 civic and my motorcycles has been replaced by a bicycle to commute to work. I learned that investing are not just for the rich but for everyone. You are doing the right thing Jason, setting as a good example for everybody. Keep it up!

  4. Wow, youre posts are really long. My interest only last for the first 50% but thats some good reading 🙂

    Have you ever thought about buying a cargobike lika a bakfiets.nl or a cargobike like the yuba mundo maybe together with a foldable bike? (To replace the car)

  5. “It was total war on my expenses.” Lovely! Absolutely lovely! =). I also loved the bit about how you tried to make yourself think that a super cheap meal was actually something different!

    Spoongirl and I will be embracing frugality like never before starting next month. The hardest part will be staying within our food budget of $400/month for the two of us. It’s very possible, but it will take us some practice to condidently achieve that month after month. The extra time that we’ll have at our disposal will certainly come in handy in achieving that goal.

  6. I guess I could be called frugal in many ways, but I am not frugal in others. I tend to shy away from buying new clothes just to work in and fix everything I own. Nobody would ever call me a fashion connoisseur and I make do with equipment some people would actually throw away. However, I also tend to enjoy some of the finer things in life. Check out my LFE system on my blog. People ask me all the time why I am so “cheap” in some ways and so extravagant in others. I guess there has to be a place somewhere in the middle where we can feel that we are doing enough and then the rest is the reward for the hard work. At least that is how I look at it.

    Keep cranking,

    Robert

  7. I wish I could post a picture of my current work shoe. It gets lots of looks because of the duct tape. I think duct tape has saved me thousands over the years.

    Robert

  8. Jason,

    I’m trying to do exactly what you’re describing here: all out frugality for the first couple of years before relaxing my efforts a bit and enjoying the built-up momentum. Like you said, the power of compounding is stronger the sooner you start.

    As a 25-year-old I can’t say for sure that it’s harder to live a frugal lifestyle and to save a lot when you’re older. Your arguments make a lot of sense though. When you consider the fact that most people will have started a family by the time they’re 40, it is highly likely that being extremely frugal is out of the question.

    Recently a friend of mine used the “When I’m older”-argument to argue for not living a frugal lifestyle: “When I’m older I won’t be able to enjoy my long vacations (mostly backpacking) and (expensive) sports as much as I do now.” As a result, he spends boatloads of cash on vacations and sports.

    While I don’t agree with him, his argument makes a lot of sense too. It goes to show that everyone has a different opinion on things. Let’s hope that when he changes his mind or way of life as he grows older, he won’t regret his decisions. I know I won’t regret mine!

    Cheers,
    NMW

  9. I loved this post. It reminded me of my 20’s. I spent 3-4 years without any address. My job involved travel every week. So, instead of wasting half of my weekend flying home and spending $1,000+/month on rent, I got to spend the weekends exploring Europe, California, Australia, etc. on the company’s dime. And, I was also being a good employee, since the company saved a ton by buying me food and lodging rather than a flight every weekend. I did not have any particular plans for my savings at the time, but I figured I really didn’t need to be spending the money then, and a better use was sure to come along. Everyone thought I was crazy, but I thought they were crazy for not doing the same thing. I think it shows the importance of thinking outside the box on what you “should” spend money on. Before you have to make tough decisions, there can be some easy ones. Similarly, today I don’t see any reason to get cable (why waste a bunch of time watching TV rather than playing with my son?), and I would rather keep by 2002 Civic than get a new German car (you’ll get there just the same, but only pay 1/2 as much on gas and maintenance). And, I was certainly right that I would need the money more later – with kids I have found a lot of costs I never would have dreamed of have become absolutely essential!

  10. Kids will definitely add signifcant costs, but it is truly wonderful to see them performing those gymnastics routines or playing football on a snow covered field in a far away stadium.

    Good luck,

    Robert

  11. I plan on increasing my frugality even more in the future. The biggest thing to tackles for me is the food and household type stuff category. We aren’t even a year into our house yet, so I concede that we still need to buy things now that we currently do not own. But starting next calender year I think it is time to really question if we need anything else or if it is just optional purchases. That and not just eating better but smarter as well. I hope we can trim down these areas and add in the savings next year.

  12. I think it is important to start the frugal life style when your young. It becomes ingrained. When you get older you don’t need as much. You already accumulated most of the stuff you need. I am in my early 40’s and hike and mountain bike all the time. Don’t worry you can still be very active in your 40’s. I feel like I am in my 30’s. Just eat right and exercise. It only gets better!!

  13. Like you, we’ve definitely tried to challenge our budget and up our frugality. I feel like we’re at the point now where we’re comfortable with our savings rate, but not feeling like we’re sacrificing too much comfort. We could certainly save more in a few categories, but you’re right that as we age, we crave a few more creature comforts :). And, I totally agree that frugality is freeing and has made us happier people!

  14. Loved the post. I’ve noticed that my frugality level has scaled back some which some of that is on purpose. I have a great base working for me now with over $5k in forward dividends so that’s reassuring. I’m not as attentive to my expenses as I used to be and it’s made things a bit easier. I’ve even started giving thought to possibly changing pace a bit with my career once I get close to the $10k mark. I wish I had kept living like a college student once I started my career. I didn’t go bonkers like some people do once they start making money but I definitely left a lot on the table. Now I look more for optimization of my expenses rather than cutting them.

  15. Great post. I totally agree with starting from a zero baseline to build up a cushion and avoid lifestyle inflation. In fact, I did that through my 20’s and up till your age (32) and then started increasing my lifestyle. At 33 moved into a 2BR / 2BA new condo, our first place and lived there for 7 years. At age 40 we had our first child and moved into a larger place (4BR / 4BA). It is nice to trade up when you have a buffer… very hard to become more strict when you are older and have a family who is used to a certain lifestyle so your logic is correct.

    By the way, I’d refer to your dividend income stream as a “tailwind” vs a “headwind at your back”… Dividend income is most certainly a tailwind, while debt payments are a headwind.

    -Mike

  16. I’ve found that I’m no longer in the bare bones lifestyle of frugality, but in the save/invest aggressively while being lax on some of the little things. The wife and I enjoy going out to eat, but only do so on the weekend. And when we do go out, it is for burgers, or pizza, or something comparably inexpensive.

    Jump starting the investment process through frugality is important, but even more so is the ability to mentally commit yourself to making wise choices with your money. To many hard and fast cuts can lead to a sense of deprivation, and like crash diets, can lead to future failures. Of course, some folks can handle the rapid shedding of stuff better than others.

  17. DM,
    I enjoyed this post. I’ve also gone through phases of extreme frugality. College of course comes to mind when I ate my share of ramen and Lipton noodle packages as a main course. After landing my first job, I upgraded to Frosted Flakes and Far East cous cous boxes. Then during my 14 months of traveling, penny pinching was at my core because the longer my money lasted, the longer I could keep on going! But it’s easier to eat cheap in many countries, so my food intake improved quite a bit while not costing too much.

    Nowadays I’ve definitely scaled back on the frugality. But reading posts like yours motivates to put off grocery shopping for a few more days!
    -RBD

  18. In my 20’s I was a stupid kid driving around in a Porsche 944 (that had a $500/month note) after getting my first real job out of college. In my 30’s I was to busy raising a family and keeping my head above water to even know what frugal meant. I was in my 40’s before becoming frugal thanks to Dave Ramsey. Now, in my 50’s my new hobby is reading Dividend Growth Investing Blogs and pumping as much capital in my IRA as allowed.

    Fortunately, I was smart enough to participate in my company’s 401k for two decades which is at six figures now and will roll that over to my IRA at retirement.

    Keep up the good work, Jason. You are inspiring generation x, y, z and the baby boomers!

  19. Always better to strip away everything and start over fresh. Kinda like a video game you are trying to master. Instead of rushing through you take your time and measure your decisions more carefully this time around! Damn I wish I was more careful with a few things.

  20. Frugality isn’t a contest, it’s a tool. It’s all about having goals and then doing what it takes to reach them. The kind of extreme frugality you have engaged in has done you a lot of good and has prepared you to face the future with confidence. It can be compared to going on a diet. You might have a period of more extreme calorie reduction to get the ball rolling, but ultimately, in order to be sustainable, you have to find an equilibrium that you can maintain over the long term. Great article, Jason!

  21. I’ve gone in both directions. As I’ve gotten richer, I got heath and dental insurance, bought a car, bought a house, made charitable contributions, started saving for future expenses (like car repairs, car replacement, house maintenance, and health costs). And I travel some and eat higher-quality food.

    On the other hand, as time has gone on, I’ve found more ways to be frugal. I have more recipes. I have good furniture that won’t fall apart and need replacing. I’ve learned I like to buy old cars of super reliable models. I’ve found more (cheap) ways to exercise that I like. I’ve learned about price lists and thrift stores. I stopped wearing make-up. I generally prefer tap water over sodas. I use vinegar instead of store-bought hair conditioner. I grate my own cheese. And the internet makes it a lot easier to research how to fix some kinds of things.

    Plus some things have stayed the same–I still have a roommate (though now it’s a boyfriend), I still live a small, low-cost dwelling near the local university, trim my own nails, etc.

  22. Great post, Jason. I’ve absolutely grown more frugal over the past two years and I’m positive that it will be a permanent lifestyle change. I like the idea of extreme frugality in the beginning to get the ball rolling. I’m about to have my second month of not saving anything due to my break from full-time work, however, I am protecting my portfolio and anxious to get back to saving like I was before. Even the small amount of progress I have made in a year and a half is profoundly motivating.

  23. IP,

    Good to hear you’re keeping the frugality up! 🙂

    I could win the lottery tomorrow and my life wouldn’t really change much at all. Once you realize that more money doesn’t buy more happiness you’re no longer beholden to the almighty dollar, which is a wonderful feeling. Frugality is no longer just a tool of leverage for me, but rather a lifestyle I’ve embraced and enjoyed. It’s not just about saving; it’s about realizing that I’m truly happy with less, and more wouldn’t really improve on that.

    Keep up the great work!

    Cheers.

  24. Tyler,

    Thanks for stopping by. Hope all is well over in SE Asia. 🙂

    “Don’t hit the breaks, but you don’t have to go 20 over the speed limit anymore.” – Couldn’t have said it any better myself. Perfect way of putting it!

    And I hear you on friends hating you. I missed out on a lot of nights out back in the early days. Although, it wasn’t just me trying to avoid spending money. I was also extremely worn out and tired on the weekends after spending the entire week working at the dealership for 50+ hours, and then writing on the blog for another 20 or so. Add in investment research and I was done. But we’re not really missing out on anything at all. I’d rather have years of freedom over the occasional night out on the town.

    Thanks for the support.

    Best wishes!

  25. ogie dg,

    So glad to hear that. You’ve made some tremendous life changes, and there is no doubt that you’ll experience financial success because of those changes. There’s no way you couldn’t achieve major success with all that you’re doing. 🙂

    And that’s a great point there on investing not being just for rich people. I think there is this pervasive idea that investing is just for rich people, but how do you think many of those same people got rich in the first place? Yep, you guessed it: by investing.

    Keep it up over there. Sounds like you’re doing great!

    Best regards.

  26. jkr,

    Haha. Didn’t mean to bore you. 🙂

    I hadn’t thought of that before. I actually got by quite okay with a normal bike for a bit. And then I used a little scooter for quite a while. It had a little bit storage underneath the seat (enough for a gallon of milk and another small bag of groceries). I would also use a backpack to put groceries in that. And then there was the floorboard where I could put a case of water or something. It worked out pretty well, but sometimes I had to make multiple trips to the grocery store every week to get stuff.

    I’m not quite sure we’ll try to get rid of the car, however. We could quite easily get by without a car, but it’s also very nice to have it.

    Take care!

  27. Great post Jason. I had my own version of total war with my expenses a few years back and was able to shave off $500 a month. I think it’s time for me to re visit that and see if I can save even more. You’re absolutely right about the importance of getting started with investing early. Even if for some reason you have to take a break from investing for a few years, that money you already have invested will still be growing and ready for you when you get back. Getting started small is so much better than not starting at all.

  28. Nice post Jason. Frugality is very important if one has to be financially independent, earlier the better. But, I say that frugality with purpose is more appropriate goal in life to strive for. Frugality becomes challenging when you get married and have kids to groom, probably expenses increases 100% or more, depending on various parameters.

    With shrinking pay or no real gain in salary, middle class feels like they are running on a tread mill. It is tough for folks, even though they may be practicing frugality. With increasing cost of groceries, medical costs, no pension and bonus less life, gen X feels disheartened. You have brought up good points and this is the way to go if someone wants to be FI.

    Best wishes.

  29. Spoonman,

    It’ll be interesting to see how you fare with that food budget. My significant other and I have operated independent budgets for the past five years, but after getting married we’ll probably combine everything. I’m honestly not quite sure what she spends on food every month, but she’s incredibly frugal like I am. She has no car, and she doesn’t waste any money, ever. But I think $400 would be a challenge for us, especially considering that we have her son in the house as well. I spend almost 3/4 of that when we’re together, but that includes me paying for all of our meals out…so that could be combined after the fact.

    But you’re right. Extra time on your hands means you can certainly become more creative with being frugal, and DIY a bit more, like with cooking.

    Excited to watch your journey unfold. You’ve taken the model and really ran with it. Good for you guys! 🙂

    Best wishes.

  30. Robert,

    That’s good stuff there.

    I think it’s all about finding value in your purchases. Sometimes a $10 purchase doesn’t have value for you, and thus would be a waste of money. Other times a $1,000 purchase has a ton of value. I’ve had readers question my budget and why I don’t go out a lot, but I just don’t find value in some of those things. I almost never drink, so hitting the town with a bunch of friends just isn’t my thing. And that’s regardless of money. But I spent some money on a trip to Cedar Point not too long ago, and before that spent some money to go to a baseball game with family. There was value there for me, so the expenditures made sense. It’s just a matter of aligning spending with personal value really, regardless of the dollar amount. And it sounds like you’ve done that. 🙂

    Best regards.

  31. Robert,

    Yep. I had duct tape on the bottom of my shoes for a while where I wore holes through the soles. The issue, however, was that I had to wash cars sometimes in the back after we were done servicing them. The water undermined the integrity of the tape, so I’d have soggy socks for hours at work. Not fun!

    Cheers.

  32. NMW,

    You’re off to a great start, my friend. You’re starting extremely early, which maximizes the power of compounding for you. Plus, it’ll be easier to do certain things now than when you’re older. Living in smaller accommodations, taking on roommates, traveling through the snow to catch the bus, etc.

    In fact, the roommate thing is interesting. When I first moved up here to Michigan I was looking for people who wanted to take in a roommate in Ann Arbor or Grand Rapids. And almost every single ad was targeted to people in their mid 20s. So I guess it might actually be more difficult for someone in their 40s to find roommates, even if they want to live like that. Of course, it would be a different story if you own your own place and you’re the one doing the qualifying.

    But I don’t think your friend is wrong there. There really is no right or wrong way to approach life, finances, frugality, and happiness. You really have to do what works for you. Now, if your friend is saying all of that externally, but internally is very unhappy with all the rat racing necessary to generate the capital for his lifestyle, that’s a different story. But if he’s happy and wants to YOLO it up, then that’s cool. But one would have to consider that starting at 25 years old, like you are, means you will probably have enough passive income to sustain yourself by your late 30s or early 40s, which obviously doesn’t physically exclude you from doing many of those things. It’s the people who plan to conquer their world after a traditional retirement (in their 60s or something) that might be in for a shock.

    Thanks for stopping by!

    Cheers.

  33. Tad,

    Great point there in regards to children. I didn’t really add that into the post, but that can certainly shake your entire budget up. It’s obviously easier to live extremely frugally when your 25 and single than it is when you’re 40 with a family. That’s just the way it is. It’ll be interesting to see how my particular budget goes, as I’ll probably end up combining budgets with my significant other next year when we get married. So it’ll be a nice before and after snapshot, because she has a child. He’s in his early teens, so it’s not like we’re raising an expensive toddler. But there’s braces, a car when he’s 16, etc. It adds up. But I still think frugality will win the day. 🙂

    Glad to hear you got some of those adventures in when the saving was easy!

    Take care.

  34. Kipp,

    Sounds like you’re entering that phase I entered into a couple of years ago. You kind of start questioning what you need, and what you don’t need. It’s easy to blur the lines between wants and needs. Getting right down to the nitty gritty on what a need is drastically changes your perspective on how you spend money going forward. Have fun with the budgeting. 🙂

    Best regards.

  35. FF,

    Glad to hear it only gets better! 🙂

    I also look and feel better than I did five years ago. It’s about your lifestyle and attitude more than your calender age. Couldn’t agree more with you.

    And you’re absolutely right. Start frugality early enough and it just becomes part of your life. I view it more as a lifestyle than a savings tool. I’ve embraced it, and it’s been very good to me. Meanwhile, it might hurt a little more if you’ve been used to a certain lifestyle for all of your life and start cutting expenses in your 40s.

    Thanks for stopping by!

    Best wishes.

  36. If we were truly frugal, our lifestyle would be similar to it is now. Yes, our grocery budget could be reduced, other expenses cut, but in truth, we’re managing the balance well at the moment. If an emergency struck, we would be able to find extra funds from somewhere – a luxury some people wouldn’t be able to manage. I don’t live as frugally now as I did when I was a student, but then it’s not just me anymore – can’t have oatmeal for dinner 3 times a week! We also have life insurance and income protection in case something happens so we can still pay our mortgage. But, being frugal has definitely helped us get to a comfortable place in life so far on our journey 🙂

  37. Mrs. FW,

    You guys have an outstanding budget over there. I budget only for one, so I’ve got a bit of an advantage there with the savings rate. I plan on incorporating my significant other into things at some point in the near future, so it’ll be interesting to see exactly how things change there, especially since she has a child. So we’ll see some immediate changes.

    But it sounds like you guys have found a great balance between frugality and enjoying the day. And you have an excellent savings rate. Once you get that high, the need to really crank it up kind of diminishes. And you run out of things to cut as well that don’t impact your well being. Easier to trim fat from a 10% savings rate than it is a 60% or 70% savings rate.

    Keep up the great work!

    Best regards.

  38. JC,

    Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it. 🙂

    I hear you on the optimization. Once you trim most of the fat, it’s about optimizing what you’re left with. And I hear you on scaling back a bit. I know you guys have a house now, and you’re going to be building a family. So that changes the game plan a bit. But what you’ve been doing for the last few years has put the you of today in a great position to be a bit more flexible. And that really speaks to the point on starting young. A few years of extreme frugality and investing can literally change the rest of your life, building up an unstoppable force of momentum that allows the you of the future to kind of let off the throttle a bit while suffering no real ill effects.

    Thanks for stopping by!

    Cheers.

  39. Mike H,

    Yikes. Tailwind. Duh. Haha! That’s what I get for starting a post that late at night!! Thanks for catching that obvious error on my part. 🙂

    And I couldn’t agree with you more on frugality becoming more difficult to adapt as you age. When you’re in your 20s you’re still kind of figuring out what you want out of life, and you haven’t really adapted to anything yet. That’s very different once you’re in your 40s or so, especially if you have a family to think of along with the lifestyle they’ve become accustomed to. Plus, if you get the momentum working for you when you’re young you’ll be able to dial back a bit on the frugality just a bit while still enjoying all the benefits of building wealth.

    Take care!

  40. W2R,

    Yeah, I agree with you there. It’s probably easier for some people to just start rapidly cutting costs. It was freeing in a way I can’t really describe, and incredibly exciting. It would probably be scary and crazy for a lot of other people. Just depends on your perspective, I suppose.

    And Claudia and I have maintained a similar schedule of eating out. I often say that’s the one area I enjoy splurging a bit on. But we generally only go out on the weekends, and even then we definitely keep it within reason. Again, it’s all about finding value on your purchases there. And we often find a lot of value when we go out and have a reasonably priced meal.

    Best wishes!

  41. RBD,

    I remember your post on traveling around the world on a pretty tight budget. And that kind of came to mind for me as far as being able to do something like that when you’re young. I mean not only do you maybe not mind being uncomfortable when you’re in your 20s, but you certainly fit in more as well. I can imagine there are a lot less 50 year-old backpackers rummaging around in hostels, but I could be wrong. So there’s probably a big social/psychological aspect to it as well.

    Early extreme frugality really changed the rest of my life. In fact, I could stop saving and investing tomorrow and I’d still be a millionaire in my 60s. That’s really the power of starting early and maintaining perspective on what really makes you happy.

    Thanks for stopping by.

    Cheers!

  42. luckydog17,

    That’s great to hear that even though you didn’t necessarily embrace saving and investing when you were younger, you still had that tax-advantaged account working for you in the background. And that probably speaks even more to the power of compounding. You basically lived at your means for a good portion of your life and yet you still have six figures to rely on. A little bit goes a long way when you give it time to work. 🙂

    Appreciate the support very much!

    Best wishes.

  43. A-G,

    Sounds like you’ve done incredibly well for yourself over there, my friend. If life was a video game, you already beat the boss at the end. As I said in a comment over at your site, you’ve essentially won at life.

    Now, it’s like you’re just going back and completing old quests you passed up on (like your new brewery project), adding to your gold pile! 🙂

    Cheers.

  44. Chris,

    That’s a great comparison there. I wrote a post way back when on how saving money is a lot like losing weight, and your comment there is extremely apt. It’s easy to just cut all the fat in the beginning, but eventually you have to find a balance that works for you over the long term. Otherwise, you might fail altogether. And while I was certainly guilty of not really keeping a good balance early on, I’ve been very comfortable lately while still regularly saving and investing.

    But you definitely have to find a sustainable balance. Tiling the scale too far in the direction of deprivation for too long will only make you miserable, and really unnecessarily so. Once you put in the work at the beginning to start rolling that snowball downhill, you can kind of let it do some of the work and roll by itself.

    Thanks for dropping in!

    Take care.

  45. Debbie M,

    Sounds like you have found a really healthy balance. You’ve increased spending on things that matter to you (high-quality food, travel, housing) and have spent less on things that don’t matter to you so much (soda, having a nice car, makeup). And that’s really what it’s all about. It’s about finding value and balance. I find value in some things that aren’t necessarily frugal, like going out to eat, hitting the occasional sporting event, and even some of the relationships in my life. And I balance that by eliminating things that don’t really provide my life a lot of value (a new sports car, a big house, bar tabs). So that’s really it. If you find value in something and it makes you happy, then you should probably find a way to spend money on that while simultaneously cutting/eliminating those things that really don’t bring a lot of value or satisfaction to your life.

    Plus, being financially independent allows you the time to focus on these things. And do more DIY stuff and thrift shopping. When you’re busy working all the time it might make it difficult to DIY a lot (like cooking or repairing) or shop the best deals.

    Cheers!

  46. Addison,

    That’s awesome. And all of that progress you’ve made over the last 18 months has allowed you to step back and examine your life. You’re doing something you enjoy a lot more, and that’s awesome. Even though you’re not actively saving, I’m sure the money you’ve already saved in the past and the lifestyle changes you’ve made allowed you the flexibility to take on this new opportunity/challenge. That’s great! 🙂

    Thanks for dropping by.

    Best wishes!

  47. Great job with frugality. It is very important to live a little modestly when you’re young. Lifestyle inflation is inevitable and if you let it inflate when you’re young, you’ll keep spending more and more as you age. Starting off frugal and living a little more comfortably every few years is much more reasonable.
    We live pretty modestly in our 20s and 30s and I’m thankful for that. It makes lifestyle inflation easier to control. I have friends who live it up and they will continue to do so until they can’t work anymore.

  48. Syed,

    That’s fantastic! You already know what $500/month can do, as I pointed that out in the post. Doesn’t seem like much, but it adds up to incredible sums of money after time. Good for you. 🙂

    And you’re absolutely right. Even if you have to take a break from saving for some reason, the savings you’ve already built up will continue working there for you. A lot better than the way our bodies work. You take a break from the gym and those muscles start to go bye-bye.

    Cheers!

  49. PIM,

    No doubt things are difficult out there. Life is hard. Which makes the thought of achieving financial independence at a young age all the more insane for a lot of people. But I don’t think there’s any reason to feel disheartened. If anything, it’s just a challenge to overcome.

    I mean I could have easily said at the beginning of my own journey that there was nothing I could do. How could I get around Sarasota, Florida without a car? I must be crazy. This isn’t Chicago or New York. People drive cars here. And I work at a car dealership. Am I nuts?

    And I liked where we were living. It was a beautiful apartment in a beautiful complex. And moving sucks. Especially without a car! Why not just stay put?

    So you see it’s all about choices and overcoming personal barriers. Only then you can discover what’s possible and what you’re capable of.

    But I agree it’s more challenging when you have a family to think of. That all really depends on the size of the family, whether both partners work, etc. But I imagine my partner and I will combine our budgets at some point, so we’ll see what that looks like. 🙂

    Best regards!

  50. Good post, as always. I wholeheartedly believe in living modest and within means. I’ve recently adopted a new method of saving and investing. Sadly, I didn’t reap the benefits when I was single and in my 20s. Now married with children, it’s a tad harder to live to extreme frugality. However, we have reduced expenses greatly and increased savings, so we turned the page hopefully to building financial freedom

  51. Nicola,

    Finding a balance that works for you is really what it’s all about over the long haul. It’s difficult to sustain extreme frugality for years on end, but sizable savings rates for a few years while you’re young can literally positively impact you for the rest of your life.

    But it sounds like you guys are healthy, happy, and financially stable. And that’s really what it’s all about. That’s what we’re all after. 🙂

    Cheers!

  52. Joe,

    Excellent point there. It’s all about starting from a small base. Increasing your spending by 10% or so when you’re already saving 50-60% of your net income will probably have pretty dramatic differences in your quality of life, while still allowing you to save enormous sums of your income. Meanwhile, constantly living at your means and inflating your lifestyle with every pay raise will do you no good.

    Thanks for stopping by!

    Best regards.

  53. Hi DM

    After almost 1 year of reading you from Israel I’ve decided to go on public 🙂 .

    I’ve lost my job 2 weeks ago and I have to pay alimony of $800 (for 2 kids) , now I have to sell some ETF’s + Stocks until I find a new job, but will still getting those Div. each month, so far this month I got $39, but from next month I will get less, even I live realy frugal – like eating 1 meal a day, taking shower at the sea etc.

  54. Agent Dividend,

    That’s what it’s all about, my friend. It’s about maximizing your potential and optimizing your lifestyle. You might not be able to save as much as the 25 year-old version of yourself could have, but you’re finding a balance and have the support of your entire family. And that’s wonderful. You’re not alone.

    So it’s really just trying to value your expenditures. If you find value in something commensurate with the expense, then that’s okay. However, if you look at your budget and see you’re spending $200-$300 on stuff that really brings no extra happiness or value to your life then you already know where to begin.

    But I’m glad you’ve taken those steps and you’re embarking on the great journey to financial independence. 🙂

    Best wishes!

  55. I solve that problem by using the Walmart bags and put it over my socks before I put on my shoes. I am a landscaper and it is always wet here in New Orleans. Even the new shoes need that same help once in a while or it is wet feet all day long. The worst is hitting the ankle deep water on the first yard of the day.

    Good to hear we have other things in common.

    Keep cranking ,

    Robert

  56. I always ask this question to anyone who lived in Florida. Did you ever make it to Disney World?

    I have been going religiously since 1992 and stop at different towns on each trip. I rarely find people who live there that have ever gone once.
    Just figured I would ask a former Floridian also.

    Keep cranking,

    Robert

    I am with you on the GE purchase this month. I also purchased some more.

    Later

  57. I agree with cutting unnecessary expenses to save for the future. I also agree becoming more frugal than necessary. What I don’t agree is to cut food budget to an extreme where you’re eating ramen noodles every single day. We’re what we eat and eating junks like that cannot be good for your health in the long run.

  58. Hi Dm,

    Great post. I enjoyed reading it. Being frugal really helps to get the dividendmobile started. And I don’t feel like I miss a thing I couldn’t care less that I don’t own a Iphone6 or the newest shoes. The 600$ saved on the Ipone wil give me 18$ dividends( 3% yield) that will hopefully increase for the rest of my live. Oh and the initial 600 wil raise in value to.

    Cheers,
    G

  59. Sharon,

    Appreciate your readership very much! And thanks for taking the time to comment. 🙂

    Terribly sorry to hear about your situation over there. That’s quite unfortunate. I hope that you’re able to find a new job very soon that offers pay commensurate with your value and experience. Every personal setback I’ve ever had has just been a challenge to grow, and I’ve overcome those challenges. I’ve confident you will as well!

    Best wishes.

  60. Robert,

    My parents took me to Disney World once when I was very young. When I lived there in FL I did make it to Epcot once. My significant other is a big fan of the international stores and what not. I will say I had one of the best meals I ever had at the Mexican station. I thought it was kind of cool, but an awfully lot of money for what you really get. I’d rather just have a great meal in Sarasota and skip the trip. But it was nice to check it out. 🙂

    Glad to have you on board with GE! May it continue to serve us well. The next couple of years will tell us whether or not these strategies are working. I’m hoping by 2016 or 2017 to start seeing some massive improvement in operations.

    Cheers!

  61. Tawcan,

    I hear you on the food. Although, it is funny. I remember co-workers making fun of me and my ramen noodles while they were eating 12-inch submarine sandwiches loaded with mayo and what not. It’s like unless you’re bringing in chicken breast, rice, and a side of broccoli, I don’t want to hear about it. Especially while your noshing your double cheeseburger. Funny how hypocritical people can be.

    Cheers!

  62. Thanks Jason,

    I have been improving throughout the year on trimming down monthly expenses without sacrificing too much lifestyle. And the lifestyle changes I have made such as drinking less pop, eating out less, and eating less snacks, were necessary for my health as well. Actually a big change has been eating just smaller portions and then having leftovers. And it is clearly the right thing to do as I have lost quite a bit of weight and since leftovers are generally good I do not desire to have lunch out. But there is probably still alot of purchases that are made that aren’t necessary, like occasional adult beverages.

    That said… I am looking at the big lifestyle changes. I don’t think moving is on the menu presently, besides we would like to keep our current place after reaching FI. So that leads me to the transportation piece, an electric car doesn’t seem to be the answer presently, being we have taken the brunt of depreciation on our newer vehicle I don’t see any good options for trading with a few browses at used cars. The biggest challenge is the bridge over the highway which prevents any safe riding of a bicycle for myself to work, I see cars all the time driving on the shoulder to get around traffic going on the expressway.

  63. What’s weird is when some DIY stuff doesn’t take any more time than the typical throw-money-at-it method. It can take the same amount of time to research a way to fix something as to research a reliable repair person. I’m single and I like leftovers, so I can cook a meal for four once (which takes about the same time as a restaurant trip) but then have something that quickly reheats for three more days. Cutting my own hair is way quicker than waiting around at a hair-cutting place. Shopping at thrift stores for clothes takes less time than at stores, especially if what’s in style this season is hideous. (Though buying online from companies you already know and love is even quicker and costs more.)

  64. Hey Jason,

    Incredible post. Very motivating! Your writing is getting better! But whoa wait, getting married. I don’t recall seeing you talk about that before. Sounds serious. Glad she is as thrifty as you. Hey, let me know if you decide to go back to FL. I’ll have to hop over to your town to meet you before you go. I’m only 30 minutes away. Meanwhile, keep on keeping on!

  65. mikeschn,

    Thanks! Really appreciate it. Glad the writing quality has picked up! I’ve definitely had more time to focus on that, so you’ll notice longer posts. I try to maintain conciseness, but I also want to get a point across.

    As far as marriage goes, I was never interested in it. And she pretty much agreed when the topic would be brought up. Thus, my girlfriend and I have been together for five years now and we’re still unmarried. But life changes, and your perspective changes. And she has increasingly brought up the idea that she’d like to get married.

    She’s been so incredibly supportive through this transition in my life, and I’ve realized that I don’t want to live life without her. So there was some begging there on my part for her to take me back, which she did. And after that I conceded my desire to remain unmarried. So I’m flying her up in late October to spend a few days with me in Ann Arbor, Michigan. We’re going to have an adventure and a lot of fun. And we’re going to plot our next adventure, which will likely be me moving back to Florida after which we get married sometime next year. Fun times!

    Appreciate the support and encouragement very much. And I do hope we can meet up sometime before late October.

    Cheers!

  66. Epcot at night is spectacular. The World Showcase is a true wonder when you are almost alone with your family. On a cool winter night, it is truly magical. I know the restaurant you are talking about. We do the free dining every year and the buffet style restaurants are very good.

    Thanks for sharing your experience.

    Keep cranking,

    Robert

  67. Harrison,

    Thank you very much. Most kind of you to stop by and leave a comment like that. Truly appreciate it. 🙂

    I hope you continue to stop by and stay in touch!

    Best wishes.

  68. Great stuff! I learned to embraced being frugal. Life is so much simpler if you have less to worry about. I see people all the time at work waiting for their next paycheck so they can afford their lifestyle. I think if you can find a partner who shares the same passion and lifestyle then life can be good!

    Cheers.

  69. Henry,

    Couldn’t agree more. The simple life makes things simpler. I remember back in the day when I was living paycheck to paycheck, and it was incredibly stressful. That sucked!

    Life is good now. I know that there’s pretty much nothing life can throw at me that I can’t take on. And I don’t say that only because I have some capital on my side, but because I’ve overcome a lot of challenges and come out ahead. That gives you plenty of strength to take on future challenges.

    Thanks for stopping by!

    Best regards.

  70. Dan,

    Nice job there! Gotta love the Corolla. What a car, right? Super affordable and super reliable. I got really lucky with mine. There was an older woman on Siesta Key that could no longer drive, and wanted to get rid of it. $5,400 with a little over 20,000 miles. Incredible deal.

    Glad to be a fellow Corolla owner. 🙂

    Best regards.

  71. There’s a balance between frugal, cheap, and miserly. Finding your personal sweet spot on things is where the real values lies. You splurge on the things that matter, and go light on the ones that you can get by on.

    My family eats good food, but that’s because we place a premium on that, and I’d say we eat out maybe 3-5 times a month, and that includes all meals. The garden in the front, side, and back yard is nice as well. No stigma brown bagging it for us. Eating a lot of meatless or meat minimal meals also stretches the budget when done right; although I did grill up some steaks for my birthday yesterday, but even then I only cooked two of them and we have leftovers for two additional lunches or one dinner for three as it will probably go into a salad as extra flavoring.

    Hostels can be fun. We’re older (42/46) and stayed at one on the coast just last month; granted we did have a private room and weren’t in the “dorm” part, but there were plenty of us 40+ there, even with the HS track team. Plus those backpacking/sightseeing vacations are pretty nice.

    We have a single 9 year old Prius for a family of three (almost four years now with a single car). Walk, bike, shuttle, train, and bus to a lot of places when we can; drive when we have to. During that time we’ve rented maybe 4 times; a one weekend car rental is much cheaper than having a 2nd car.

  72. Thrift stores are your friends!! We go clothes shopping for my son twice a year: $20 and he’s good for 6 months, and little boys go through pants like no tomorrow. We do spend money on solid shoes, but even those I can pickup at the thrift store; found some nearly brand new golf shoes a few sizes too large for him a couple of years ago for $3, had to snag them 🙂

  73. You might want to consider keeping your money in the 401k vs. doing a rollover to an IRA. There are some advantages to the 401k vs. the IRA. Dig into the particulars to see if the various scenarios work for your situation. There are also inheritance differences between them as well.

  74. My frugality level ebbs and flows. Right now it is flowing due to a confluence of several big life changes (new job with higher income and new house with bikeable commute) which have afforded me (in just the last couple of months) the opportunity to push my monthly savings (percentage and absolute) to new highs. It’s an exciting time for me to see just how far down I can push my expenses.

  75. It’s actually not that bad cutting expenses in your 40s. We’ve kind of been on cruise control putting enough money into the joint account to cover everything for the past five years not really looking at where it’s been going. Since I’ve discovered the FIRE community and DG investing, I’ve relooked at the entire budget and found out exactly where things have been going and looked for places to optimize/cut back.

    Just in the last 6 weeks we’ve been able to scale back our spending by $250/month and that wasn’t really even trying: satellite (we had it mostly off in June, so that’s kind of cheating), house cleaning every three weeks instead of two, reduced eating out (never a big expense for our family of three, but my son does love his sushi…), trimmed the internet by switching plans (same service, but DHCP vs. static IPs). The phone plan is the next to be migrated. The penalty to break the contract will be nearly covered in a few months by a much cheaper plan. Also exploring a mortgage refinance going to an ARM (nearly 1% less), which would be around a $450-500/month savings, and we’re looking to sell near the end of the fixed period.

    That being said we did just book 4 days at Disneyland and Lego;and, but through some suave timing manipulation and choices I saved $800 from our original estimate/budget, so we splurged for the LEGO resort; my 7 year old will go bonkers and those types of experiences just can be cut and he will get a lot out of it, so in the end we felt it was worth the extra $120, esp considering our other savings.

  76. I was reading the book “The Tightwad Gazette” by Amy Dacyczyn & starting on page 831 she has an article called “The unemployment opportunity” its an article about FI, anyway she talks about contacting the authors of the “your money or your life” book and one of the authors Vicki Robin wrote to her,

    “I buy my freedom with my frugality” on page 834. So keep going Jason ^_^

  77. $400 a month for three should be doable, that’s what we spend and everything I buy is organic, local, and pastured/grassfed and I live in a very expensive part of the country; granted the excessive farmer’s markets help with that. Eating out and alcohol are different tracking categories than food

  78. Dividend Harvester,

    “You splurge on the things that matter, and go light on the ones that you can get by on.”

    Couldn’t agree more with you on that one.

    Striking a balance with frugality in our lives is something that can be difficult, and it’s something very personal as well. Frugality will vary from person to person, not only because the meaning of frugality varies from person to person, but also because, as you state, what I’m willing to splurge on might be totally different from what you’re willing to due to our personal values. Add in different income and lifestyles and you have countless outcomes.

    Good to hear you’re still rocking out with frugality while also having fun in your 40s. That’s awesome! I must say my own case is unique because I’m still fairly young, but my significant other is quite a bit older than myself. And she’s also incredibly frugal. She actually prefers to get around by bus, as she hates driving. She has a cheap cell phone plan, and enjoys cooking at home. So we’re a great fit. I hope to introduce her to the readership at some point, and maybe compare/contrast our personal differences in the way we approach frugality and the purpose behind it. I will tell you that she doesn’t make a lot of money and has always pursued what she enjoys, rather than doing anything for the money. Meeting me has really opened her eyes to savings and frugality, but she’s always been someone who wanted to maximize the potential of every day. She’s an eternal optimist.

    That nine year-old Prius will probably last another decade. Those things are pretty bulletproof, as I understand it. Though, I thought the battery packs can be expensive to replace.

    Great job finding your balance. You and your partner sound like you guys have struck a great balance between saving for tomorrow while enjoying today. Keep it up! 🙂

    Cheers.

  79. Josh,

    That’s awesome! Glad to hear of the new job with more money and being able to bike your way there. You, my friend, are in a pretty fantastic spot right there. A car really wears your money down, even if they’re reliable. So being able to save that money is just awesome!

    I hear you on the ebbs and flows. I’m probably more in an ebb right now as I undergo some personal and professional changes, all of which are truly wonderful for my long term well-being, but perhaps slightly bad for saving money right now. But it’ll make an interesting post a year or two from now when I look back and see how it all went.

    Keep it flowing, my friend. 🙂

    Best regards.

  80. DH,

    Sounds like you’re rocking right along there! And the great thing is that you’re not even really suffering. Nobody “needs” satellite television, right? And I’m lucky in that Claudia doesn’t mind cleaning. I’m quite horrible at it, and personally hate it. So I’m lucky in that regard. Although, she has to have her cable television. You’ll notice in my budgets that I haven’t had cable in a very long time. But she’s already informed me that she turned cable back on after I left Florida and it’s NOT going away. Haha. Compromises. 🙂

    The refinance is big money. If you can leverage the savings on the ARM and sell before it hikes up on you it sounds like you’ll make out like bandits there. Good luck with that!

    Never been to Legoland, but I hear it’s pretty amazing. I’m sure you and the family will enjoy it there.

    Best wishes.

  81. Lila,

    Love that quote from the great Vicki Robin. She’s an idol of mine; her and Joe, may he rest in peace.

    I’m basically doing the same thing. My frugality has taken a hit lately, and a comment by Josh above was spot on with frugality ebbing and flowing as we change and grow. We just have to make sure it flows more than ebbs. I’m anxious to get the savings rate back on track next year after the $300 amortization is off the books, but I’ll have an engagement and wedding to contend with. Add in the lack of a conventional job, and it’s challenging. But I’m giving it all I’ve got, while striking a great balance as I truly enjoy my time now. 🙂

    BTW, I see you have a blog. I didn’t notice it before. It’s really nice. My significant other, Claudia, would probably love it. She’s really big into art and paints as a hobby. And your picture is very nice. I wouldn’t take it down.

    Thanks for dropping in!!

    Cheers.

  82. DH,

    I definitely agree. I don’t think $400 in monthly groceries for two or three people is challenging at all. However, I assumed Spoonman was talking about all food, including restaurant visits, takeout, etc. I could be wrong on that.

    But I think Claudia and I spend well under $400 in groceries, and you can see what I spend on just myself. It’s a fraction of that. But we do go out to eat a couple times per month, on average. And that adds up, even though we largely avoid expensive restaurants. And then there’s takeout pizza, and I’m the king of that! 🙂

    Cheers.

  83. Awwwwww yes, Toyotas are pretty awesome, and so dependable! I drive a Prius, myself. Love the 50+ mpg.

    I’m usually pretty frugal, but with the heat wave these past few days (110 degrees), I must admit that I splurged a bit. Had the AC going in the house, drove to work instead of biking, bought more ice cream than usual, took extra cold showers…

    Saving money is definitely high on my list of priorities, but I had to relax the budget a bit for this doggone weather! Short-term flow and ebb of frugality, I guess.

  84. Great post Jason. I know I’ve said it before but i will say it again. but It sure is hard to want to save most of your hard earned money when you are young and want to YOLO it up. I am struggling right now, and it puts pressure on me and the people i care about. but i know that in the long run it will be worth it all and for the ones that put up with me during this time they will benefit as well. I completely agree that you should be aggressive at an early age and have a nice nest egg. Compound interest is more powerful that 1000 angry feminists 😛 thank you for sharing, keep fighting the good fight!

    Ace

  85. I wondered after you made some references earlier about what was going on with your girlfriend – congratulations on your happy and re-newed adventure together. I think it’s pretty great that you ended up back together – and are planning marriage even – after everything!

  86. I look forward to seeing your budget on the engagement and wedding. Will it be splurge (I doubt it), or extreme frugality (I hope not). My bet is on somewhere above extreme frugality as from what I can see about you from your posts that you want to honor her.

    Now, I am not going to judge you as my total wedding costs were under $2500 including the ring!. I was married in my home in front of 25 or so close family and friends.

    Budget
    Ring $1700
    Food & Beverages $500
    Justice of the Peace $75

    P.S. We will be celebrating our 20th Wedding Anniversary in April 2015. If you want to get married, just get married. It doesn’t take a lot of money to get married and God will honor you.

  87. Great post! More young people need to read something like this so they don’t look back in hindsight and wish they had been more frugal and aggressive with savings/investments from the start!

  88. It is funny you mention reasonably priced meal. The most my wife and I typically spend on a meal out is $20. Usually we are in the $8-15 range for both of us. She would rather go to a Five Guys than a sit down place, and who am I to complain since I prefer that as well! Once in a while we will go to a more traditional sit down restaurant, but that isn’t all that common, and is usually when family is visiting.

  89. I remember the good old days of having 3-4 roommates and my rent + utilities was only $200/mo. I survived and had fun on the hourly wage job during college. Like you said it changes with time. First job, marriage, kids. Each major event in my life changes how I live so it is a constant adaption. My recent job switch has really changed things (and not for the better.) Hopefully I will get back on track soon.

  90. I’m one of those old guys that was only able to save 10-20% of my income over the years. Still, I raised 3 kids and I made it to 7 figures. You can too and all you young pups reading this blog have a big advantage over me with the resources available today. You will make it because 1) You have an interest in saving and investing. 2) You are starting young. 3) You have the encouragement of guys like Jason and you are saving at higher rates.

    I look around at many people my age that had none of the 3 above and they have no money. It’s like they suddenly woke up and they are wondering what happened. Keep the faith.

  91. Seraph,

    I’m with you! I haven’t owned my Corolla for too long, but I’m loving that thing so far. I don’t see any reason it shouldn’t last another decade and then some, which means its overall ownership costs should be quite low.

    Nothing wrong with adapting to the times. Not long ago I had a 49cc scooter, but I would take the bus when the summer season was in full swing in Florida, which brings crazy rainstorms in the afternoons. So I hated paying the $2.50 to get to work and back when I knew it would cost even less than that to take the scooter, but after getting caught in one of those storms on the scooter I started to pay up. 🙂

    When the weather cools down you’ll be back to where you need to be, I’m sure. The key isn’t so much saving more this month than last month, or hitting a 55% savings rate over a 54% savings rate. The key is to save substantial portions of your income over a decade and beyond to build up sizable enough assets to generate enough passive income for you to live off. So it’s really about being fairly consistent over a long period of time, but being a bit more extreme at the beginning can really build a lot of momentum that can carry you for the rest of your journey.

    Keep up the great work!

    Cheers.

  92. Ace,

    Haha, compound interest is indeed powerful.

    It might be tough for you right now, but those struggles can literally change the rest of your life. And I’m not saying one should ever sacrifice happiness, health, or well-being in the name of saving money. But at the same time I think it’s valuable and worthwhile to find the limits of one’s comfort. You might think you can’t go on without a car, until you actually do so. So sacrifice and unhappiness is all relative to what really makes you happy. Furthermore, you can naturally adjust as you go and perfect your own unique balance.

    Thanks for stopping by!

    Cheers.

  93. Dee,

    Thank you! I’m quite excited about it, and so is she. She’s been incredibly supportive through all of this. She tried to tell me that moving back to Michigan was a bad idea, and I just didn’t listen. And that’s why she was hesitant to go with me. She thought I had changed too much, and my family wouldn’t really understand our unique vision on life. I didn’t take her counsel seriously enough, but that won’t happen again.

    I hope to introduce her to everyone here at some point, and kind of allow her to explain her point of view on frugality and financial independence. She’s quite a bit older than I am, which might offer an interesting perspective. And plus it might be unique to see what she thinks about being with someone who can be kind of extreme at times, and any stresses that might place on a relationship.

    Thanks again for the support. Really appreciated.

    Best regards.

  94. The Aiki Trader,

    Wow, you guys did it pretty cheaply there, with the ring obviously costing more than anything else.

    We have already talked about it and have pretty much settled on doing a courthouse marriage for under $100. She truthfully has no interests in a fancy wedding, and neither do I. And that will allow us a little financial flexibility for the honeymoon/celebration. I think we’ll be in a similar circumstance where the ring costs far more than the actual ceremony.

    It’s about love, commitment, and honoring each other more than the ceremony, in our view. I actually never planned on getting married, but after her putting up with me for five years now it’s the least I can do.

    Congrats on having almost 20 years together. You guys definitely have the secret to a successful relationship/marriage figured out. That’s wonderful to hear! 🙂

    Thanks for sharing.

    Best wishes.

  95. Steve,

    Thanks!

    I agree that more young people should be thinking about saving/investing while time and flexibility is on their side. Much harder to catch up later when compounding isn’t as powerful and you might have obligations (family, etc.) that make it more difficult to really scale back on spending.

    Cheers!

  96. W2R,

    Nice job there. We avoid expensive restaurants, and I’m totally with you on Five Guys. It breaks my heart when I go there because I try to spend my money with companies I’m invested in (MCD), but Five Guys is my favorite burger joint. Too bad they’re a private company!

    When we do go out to eat it’s generally for a special, like 2-eat-for-$20 or happy hour. There are quite a few restaurants in Sarasota that offer $5 “appetizers” (they’re really almost meals all by themselves) between 4-6. So those are always good deals.

    I could actually scale back even on that, but I’m not quite sure Claudia would be okay with that. She’s frugal, but she enjoys certain things. Cable television, for instance, has been a sticking point for us. I absolutely hate paying for cable TV, but after I left Florida she had it installed. So we’re going to have cable from now on. I do love her. 🙂

    Keep up the great work over there. Totally with you on eating cheaply when going out. I’d much rather have four solid $20 meals than one great $80 meal. Furthermore, I usually enjoy the $20 meal more anyhow. There’s no fancy steakhouse in the world you could take me too that I’d enjoy more than a cheap burger joint (like Five Guys). Sushi, however, is my one weakness. Expensive, but oh so good.

    Cheers!

  97. I do believe going the extreme frugality route early in your life is the best way to shave off the years it will take to reach FI and it is easier if your are single or with someone before kids. We always were frugal (3 kids) but adopted a balanced frugal lifestyle so it would be sustainable not only when I was working but beyond without feeling deprived. We always challenged our personal frugality threshold but settled on what worked for us. I started a little later in life (40) before starting my FI/retire early plan and was saving 30% so it took me until age 51 to get fully there.

  98. DFG,

    Sorry to hear that some recent changes have added difficulty for you. That’s unfortunate.

    But life does indeed change. And we change with it. Saving money is something I think about everyday, but in the end it’s not so much spending $5 here or maybe $10 there (though, that does add up!), but rather more about saving substantial portions of your income over years and years. Being too lean and forcing yourself of the savings wagon is more damaging to your long-term wealth than finding a good balance and sticking with it for most of your life.

    I hope things turn around for you and you’re back on track in no time!

    Take care.

  99. trostock,

    That’s good stuff there. And congrats to you for having such financial success even while raising three children. I can imagine that’s difficult without some hard work and planning on your end.

    But you are right. Those who are conscientious about saving at a very early age have a substantial advantage over those starting much later, or those that aren’t so serious about saving at all. It creates a situation where you almost can’t avoid succeeding. The money you’re saving will compound, and success begets success. You’ll feel good, want to save and invest more, and you’ll be wealthy almost without even trying very hard. But those habits are important to develop early on.

    Thanks for stopping by. And congrats again. You’ve obviously done very well for yourself. 🙂

    Best wishes.

  100. Tommy,

    That’s great stuff there. You guys challenged yourselves and eventually settled on a comfort zone. I think that’s really the essence of the article.

    It’s easier to be extreme when you’re young, and time is definitely on your side at that point. That’s why I was so interested in cutting everything I could, because I knew those dollars would multiply themselves over and over again over the course of my life.

    But it’s like setting your home’s temperature. Some people are more comfortable at 50 degrees than others. But if you don’t challenge yourself to find out what you can live at, you’ll never really know. And you can always adjust it as you go to find that happy medium between staying comfortable and saving on your heating/cooling bill.

    And like Joe was saying, getting used to being slightly uncomfortable at a young age creates better expectations for the rest of your life. It’s much easier to increase spending from a low base than it is when you’re already maxed out, and lifestyle inflation from that low base will likely not hurt your overall chances at success like it would if you were already living at your means.

    But congrats on getting there at 51! That’s far earlier than most. Even though you started late you still did excellent. Great job! 🙂

    Cheers.

  101. Jason,

    you made a great point. Testing extremes will not only give you a jumpstart at saving, but it will also allow you to grow.

    As we seek financial Independence I believe the real price to win is personal development. As you put it nicely money won’t buy you happiness. Money will only give you the freedom of choice. It’s takes a grown self to utilise these chances and turn them into a fulfilled life.

  102. quick ? for you would a stock like duke energy(DUK) not be attractive to you because of its payout % being so high 116% even thou it is a very stable growth company 10 years dividend growth !

  103. I find that as we get older and start having kids and such, it is inevitable that expenses will increase. Hope the job market gets better for you. Just keep chugging along and keep your head up.

    Good luck,

    Robert

  104. Eating out is one of the categories I’ve been working hard to cut back on. I’d say we’re right at $150/month. I do track them separate as I feel they are things we can control better; and one’s a necessity and one’s a luxury.

    As far as pizza…we make pizza at home about once a week. My son’s new favorite pizza is shrimp and pesto. I have a bone simple dough recipe and make a double batch and just stick one in the fridge if we’re not making two pizzas that night.

  105. Actually I think you visited my blog once and commented a couple of months ago but then comment spam took over my comments and when I was deleting spam comments I accidentally deleted yours :P. Anyway I have a plugin now that will take care of spam so I’m not accidentally deleting peoples comments.

    Thanks for visiting and I appreciate your sweet comments. 🙂

  106. I find that I am able to work under the most intolerable heat waves, but once I am not working in the field, I need to be very comfortable in the A/C. It is like a remote control- once you get used to it, there is no going back. Anyway, being comfortable probably increases your productivity and overall job performance.

    Keep cranking,

    Robert

  107. Jason – I am a new reader and really enjoy learning about your journey, which I believe will prove successful for you. Your investment approach is similar to mine, and I am about 25 years older, and having dividend income provides me comfort in times of volatility, and assurance for reinvestment in all seasons, and the dividend income will comprise a large portion of my retirement income. Charlie munger has it right, when you are young the most difficult challenge is to get the first 100,000 to essentially create the snowball. Many people can’t do this or unwilling, so never get to critical mass which makes the difference.

  108. Although this is probably not a topic for this particular blog, I would be interested in hearing more about the trade offs between rolling over your 401k into an IRA or leaving it in a 401k.

    It seems like most financial professionals advocate a roll over. I suspect it is because they get paid more if you roll over.

  109. Wow, you’re totally awesome! I know someone who really made a good income every month but still continue to live paycheck to paycheck. He owns a very luxury car, always buy his foods and hang out with his friends every weekends!

  110. Stef,

    Absolutely. It’s not just about saving money, but living a more enlightened life. I have grown tremendously while pursuing frugality, minimalism, investing, and the idea of freedom. My eyes have been opened, so to speak. It’s along the same lines of Plato’s “Allegory Of The Cave”.

    Appreciate you stopping by. Sounds like you’ve figured it out. 🙂

    Best wishes.

  111. Alex Gregory,

    I’m not a big fan of utilities in general, so I’m biased.

    But I don’t really see much of anything I like with DUK, other than the yield. They sport a 10-year dividend growth record, but the raises have been pretty meager over the last few years. So I’m not sure you’re looking at a real increase in purchasing power moving forward. Furthermore, the stock appears to be quite expensive right now (as a lot of utilities are). Just not a stock that would interest me, but that’s just my view on it.

    Best wishes!

  112. Keith,

    Critical mass, indeed. That was exactly the point I was trying to illustrate in the post. I should have used that term. 🙂

    Glad to read things are working for you! I couldn’t agree more with you on the reduced volatility that relying on dividend income provides. The smooth upward predictability of my dividend income assures me that I’m reaching ever closer to my own goals, and it sounds like you’re enjoying the same kind of progress/success.

    Keep it up!

    Thanks for stopping by.

    Take care.

  113. Teffany,

    That’s sad to hear there. It’s a shame that people continue to buy into the idea that more money buys happiness. It’s often not until much later in life (sometimes too late) that they find that it’s not really true. Furthermore, it’s not what you make, but what you keep. 🙂

    Of course, I don’t prescribe this lifestyle or the idea of financial independence for everyone. If you’re happy with a more “work hard/play hard” mentality then I say more power to you. Some people love their jobs, and enjoy having the finest things in life. More power to them.

    But I find that some people think they’re happy with that kind of lifestyle when they’re really not. And I hope I’m inspiring those people to change for their own betterment.

    Cheers!

  114. Great Post as the investing journey cant begin unless you begin to appreciate the value of money. Being wasteful with dollars will never leave room in your budget to invest, because people are always wanting a new thing. If 1 dollar invested today can earn me .05 cents, it might not seem like a lot, but if you multiply that .05 by 200,000 thats a pretty good annual income. The secret is your not really working for that compounded money.

  115. I’ve done a rollover and it’s pretty painless if you’re a DIY person. I’ve rolled over 401ks into Vanguard and Fidelity and each were easy. I actually had exchange control over one of them and probably should have just left it a 401k, the other I couldn’t change anything in it, so a rollover was needed so I could rebalance.

    If you plan on doing a backdoor Roth IRA conversion (high wage earners no longer eligible for direct Roth additions), all IRAs are looked at so you’re stymied by those rules.

    There are also inheritance differences, probably too many to list here. I did find these:http://moneyover55.about.com/od/RetirementAccountWithdrawals/a/401k-Beneficiary-Inherited-401k-When-And-How-You-Can-Take-Money-Out.htm and http://www.forbes.com/pictures/mjd45jihd/a-valuable-inheritance/ (hate the formatting, but oh well)

  116. Rich Uncle EL,

    I’m totally with you. An appreciation of freedom is really what’s necessary, though. Once you crave your freedom, you’ll be motivated to reverse engineer the best possible solution to get you there. 🙂

    Thanks for dropping in!

    Best regards.

  117. Yes yes yes!! I’m so happy you wrote this 🙂 Whenever I pitch new clients or interested people with a “frugal lifestyle,” they come back with, “well, I couldn’t give up X for the rest of my life.”

    Who said anything about the rest of your life?! Even a few years without a car can spark huge savings for someone who is living paycheck to paycheck. 6 months of saving an extra $400 a month due to cutting out restaurants can be the start of an emergency fund, or a Roth IRA, etc.

    I did the roommate / super frugal thing for years, and it helped me save the money to buy my first house. I lived in that house with roommates, which helped me save the money to buy my second house…now I’m finished with roommates. It’s a tough lifestyle, it helped me a lot, and eventually I grew out of it.

    You really hit the nail on the head here 🙂

  118. Excellent article! I have a question for you though – I am 29 and not making good money (roughly 40k). To compensate for this, I still live at home. I’m considering moving out and getting my own apartment (with roommates). Do you have any insight?

  119. Emma,

    Thanks for stopping by!

    Absolutely. “Who said anything about the rest of our life?!” I love that line. 🙂

    That’s awesome that you used extreme frugality to fund the money necessary to buy your first home, and later your second house. That’s fantastic. And now you’re in the position to where you don’t need those roommates anymore. Frugality is a lifestyle, in my view. But it need not be an unflinching lifestyle where you deprive yourself of everything you enjoy for your entire life. That’s silly and ridiculous. Rather, you crank it up a bit when you need to get things really rolling and dial it back a bit when you’ve got some wealth working for you.

    I’m a pretty good example of that. I’ve increased my lifestyle quite a bit over the last year or so and my savings rate isn’t a whole lot different than it was when I was eating ramen noodles every day. An extra $400-$500 in passive income will do that for you.

    Keep up the great work over there. And thanks for the support. 🙂

    Best regards!

  120. Alex,

    Thank you! I hope you found some value in it. 🙂

    As far as your question goes, that’s tough. If you have a good relationship with your parents, you don’t have a significant other (requiring privacy), and nobody is burdened by the situation I don’t see why you have to move out and get your own place. I would say your age is starting to probably make living at home difficult from a social/society aspect, but as long as you’re helping out around the house and paying some rent it shouldn’t cause relationship issues with your parents.

    I’d bank the extra money for another year or two if everyone is comfortable with the situation and you’re already helping your parents out. There are many cultures around the world where multiple generations live in the same home. The abundance of wealth here in North America, however, makes that idea weird from our perspective.

    Wish you luck!

    Cheers.

  121. Jason,

    Great article, thanks for sharing your personal life in combination with your financial life.

    When I started to earn income, soon I noticed that I had ‘left over money’, even when inflating from my student lifestyle. After two years I finally discovered that I could actually invest that left over money. And than it just happened, like a light switch.

    I got overwhelmed with the urge to invest more, mainly driven by the inspiration of your blog & MMM (thanks!). I would have never come up with the idea of being able to retire before 65, as someone with an average income (“that is only possible for successful lawyers, lottery winners, businessman etc”).

    The ‘extreme frugality’ part than just followed naturally. As well I removed all the cheap clutter from the house (donated, trash, sold) and lost a lot of body weight by not eating the expensive and unhealthy instant food anymore. As a side effect I now have more time and energy to work out more and spend time with my friends.

    Amazing how realizing the real value of money (my time!) can change your life so quickly. I am really astonished that you seem to have gone trough to same phases. Thanks for your writing efforts!

  122. William,

    Appreciate you stopping by and sharing that.

    It happened the same way to me. It was like a light switch. I felt like I had been living my life blind all along, but my eyes were all of the sudden opened to the truth right in front of me. It kind of makes you mad that you didn’t see it before, but it’s just wonderful to realize what you’re capable of.

    There’s just so much abundance and wealth here in the USA. It’s almost ridiculous that most people aren’t millionaires in their 50s, but it is what it is. I’m just here to inspire others out there that want more out of life than the work-make money-waste money-sleep-work routine. Freedom is attainable even if you don’t make a lot of money, and I’m going to prove it. 🙂

    Keep up the great work over there. Sounds like you’re on the path to financial independence and with it the benefit of owning all of your own time.

    Best wishes.

  123. Happy,

    Thanks for stopping by.

    I remember reading that article by some professor out of Chicago complaining about not making enough money, even though he was making hundreds of thousands of dollars per year. But instead of looking at the people below him, he was comparing himself to people making much more than him.

    Perspective is incredibly important. Whenever I think of how tough frugality might be I try to imagine what it’s like living in India with massive pollution, corruption, lack of basic utilities, and a sense of hopelessness. Then I realize eating a PB&J sandwich for dinner isn’t so bad. 🙂

    Best regards.

  124. Frugality when you’re young and investing the money saved is clearly the way to go to achieve early retirement, but how many young people are thinking about retirement? They’re much more interested in cars and clothes and the latest iPhone so they can keep up with their friends. You’re only young once, right? And they don’t realise they’ll be looking back 10 or 20 years from now wishing they’d done things differently. I forgot who said it first, but there’s certainly some truth to the phrase “youth is wasted on the young”.

  125. Myles Money,

    Yep, that’s a great quote. I definitely agree with it. Unfortunately, it can be extrapolated to “money is wasted by the masses”.

    It’s tough for people to change. I’ve run across many 25 year-old people that are crying out YOLO. And I’ve run across many 50 year-old people who are more concerned with the size of their house, model of their car, and type of clothing they’re wearing. So it’s not just young people that waste money.

    But young people have time on their side, and have the capability to set themselves up for a really wonderful life of freedom. I’m doing all I can to spread the message. 🙂

    Cheers!

  126. A car when he’s sixteen? Is that like a rite of passage there in the US and everyone ‘has’ to do it? Braces I understand. Glad to hear you’re planning to get married. 😀

  127. Get a used child bike trailer (two wheel, covered type). They generally hold about 100lbs which should more than cover your groceries. You can even carry a cooler inside to protect the cold/frozen stuff from heat on the way home. Added advantage, if you use roads rather than bike paths on your route, cars seem to give you a wider berth because they assume there is actually a child inside! These trailers are also excellent for most stuff at a home improvement store (except long items like lumber etc), but great to pick up paint and a few garden supplies. Other than long road trip or a very large or heavy item there aren’t many errands that can’t be done with a bike and trailer.

  128. Debs,

    Haha. It’s probably about as close to a rite of passage as we have here in the US, from my experience.

    Ultimately, we both want her son to be independent. And since we don’t live in a big city with excellent public transportation, a car will probably be the best tool to that end. We’re doing our best to share our views on frugality and life with him. It’s up to him, however, to live his life his own way.

    But even if we buy him a $2,000 car, it’ll be up to him to get a job, pay for insurance, gas, etc.

    Cheers!

  129. blaze,

    That’s great stuff there. I remember reading MMM’s article a while back where he was actually transporting construction materials via a bike trailer setup. Pretty gnarly. 🙂

    We’ll see what happens with the car. I enjoyed not having a car for a couple of years due to the savings, but it’s almost impossible to get around in Michigan without one. I’m likely moving back to Florida, and I can certainly get by without one in Sarasota, but life is definitely a lot easier with one.

    Appreciate the information and suggestion! If I decide to sell the car and go car-free again I’ll definitely consider it.

    Best wishes.

  130. My husband and I are just realizing the “Frugal Lifestyle”. We are trying to find a direction in which to go. It seems very simple, but when we really look at the beginning, where do we start. There are only the two of us. I am retired and work a part-time job and he is disabled. I am very interested in getting this started, but the starting point is a mystery.

  131. Sandra,

    Welcome to the lifestyle! 🙂

    There are plenty of articles here on the blog as well as out in the greater blogosphere. I’d recommend some of the personal finance books I’ve recommended here:

    https://www.dividendmantra.com/getting-started/

    Your Money or Your Life is especially helpful and inspirational.

    Beyond that, it’s simply about aligning your spending with your priorities and values. Once you start to save, it becomes easier. And the more you save, the more you want to save. It snowballs, just like investing.

    Have fun and best of luck!

    Cheers.

  132. Im not sure if this is the place for this but it is kind of about frugal living or why we should. Years ago PBS ran two shows one was called Influenza the other was Escape from influenza. It was an eye opening show and actually made my stomach churn a little thinking of the extreme waste we generate here in the USA ( of garbage and waste )
    Im sure if you go to the local public library you can get both they are a great watch and make you think about your way of life in general. They were produced by Bullfrog

  133. Great article! I quit my job a few months ago and started driving for Lyft and Uber. I’m not exactly financially independent at this point, but my hours are flexible and I have been able to generate substantial income from my website. Looking forward to full financial independence in the future!

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