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How to Afford Anything

kenrockwell.com

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Re: How to Afford Anything

#91

Post by lotharbot »

An important insight he misses: the goal is not to eliminate "wasteful" spending in every one of the areas he lists, or to save in every one of the areas he identifies, or to be a complete cheapskate in every way possible. The goal is to figure out what's actually important to you and find ways to refocus spending away from the unimportant stuff into the important stuff. If having a big house is not really that important to you, don't pay extra for it; if eating out isn't that important, do it less; if having the top-of-the-line camera is something you care about, take what you save from having a smaller house and not eating out and use it to buy the camera you want.

A lot of people believe they can't afford nice stuff, but often it's simply a matter of priorities and analysis.

Re: How to Afford Anything

#92

Post by callahad »

imp wrote: post #41

I can't tell if he's joking or not. He has a section titled "Don't Have Kids," yet he has two himself: http://www.kenrockwell.com/about.htm So he obviously isn't taking his own advice. Maybe he could have posted tips on how to raise children cheaply instead of discouraging having them at all.

Not having kids is consistant with the goal of maximizing your personal time and disposable income, consonant with the brunt of the article.

He does not, in fact, claim to have optimally implemented his own suggestions :)

Re: How to Afford Anything

#93

Post by lacerus »

tjmaxal wrote: post #90
BrandonM wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Really? Which parts?

For starters if none of us have children then eventually we cease to exist as a species.

You, just as many others here, have not noticed the sarcasm in the paragraph about not having kids. He has two himself.

Re: How to Afford Anything

#94

Post by houseabsolute »

harpastum wrote: post #85
sailormoon wrote: post #23

All this pain to drop $2.5k per year on a Nikon camera? Dude, seriously, just take a few months and learn some skills at something, then get a decent job using them. You'll be able to buy a new camera every freaking month . I mean I'm all for living within your means and planning and frugality but seriously, don't eat out except for the cheapest fast food around? That's the wrong way to go about it. Upgrade your cash…

Reminds me of Sun on the Moon by James Taylor: I’ve been talking to a friend of mine He says making money’s just a waste of time He’s a lazy gent, he don’t pay no rent He’s all bent out of shape from living in a tent ... One for a nickel and two for a dime Time may be money but your money won’t buy time

    the sun on the moon, the sun on the moon
    the sun on the moon makes a mighty nice light
    the sun on the moon my man,
    ooo, bow wow wow, honk your horn
I know that song too, we should be friends. :)

Re: How to Afford Anything

#95

Post by bobbin »

kmt wrote: post #75
gjm11 wrote: post #31

I'd be more impressed by his advice -- in order to be able to afford anything you need, be frugal about what you don't -- if he hadn't happened to mention the time that his wife bought a house for $2.8M (and returned it, whatever exactly he means by that). If you can afford houses that expensive, your ability to afford nice stuff is probably not entirely the result of frugality.

And what about the hypocrisy of "don't have kids" combined with his "support my growing family" footer? Incidentally, for those interested in photography I wouldn't take this guy's photo advise either. The guy lacks depth in understanding and sometimes makes statements that are just ridiculous.

> And what about the hypocrisy of "don't have kids" combined with his "support my growing family" footer?

That's just a contradiction, not hypocrisy.

Re: How to Afford Anything

#96

Post by kmt »

bobbin wrote: post #95
kmt wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And what about the hypocrisy of "don't have kids" combined with his "support my growing family" footer? Incidentally, for those interested in photography I wouldn't take this guy's photo advise either. The guy lacks depth in understanding and sometimes makes statements that are just ridiculous.

> And what about the hypocrisy of "don't have kids" combined with his "support my growing family" footer? That's just a contradiction, not hypocrisy.

Agree that hypocrisy is a strong word for something that's just a how-to.

Anyway, my point was that his recommendations are not worth much.

Re: How to Afford Anything

#97

Post by Tichy »

billybob wrote: post #65
JohnFritzen wrote: post #54

What he mentioned about riding a bicycle instead of using a car is a huge win. The money saved is incredible and you cannot put a price on the health benefits.

It sounds great, but like anything, there are tradeoffs. "What's the best-paying job I can find" vs "what's the best-paying job I can find within biking distance" are very different questions. The difference in income may far outweight the commuting costs. Then again, they may not. But it should be considered. One strategy would be to find the job, then move to within a few miles of it. But again, do the real estate…

Work+commute+gym is difficult to manage. There are only 24 hours in the day.

Re: How to Afford Anything

#98

Post by rythie »

afterburner wrote: post #55
edw519 wrote: post #9

...women don't give a crap what kind of car you have... How strange. OP advises being able to afford anything by being "frugal" and then claims to know what women care about. He must not be married. I agree with much of OP's advice. Just be aware that the quickest way to stop following it isn't loss of discipline but falling in love with someone who doesn't want to live that way.

"women don't give a crap what kind of car you have" Not when you're married, no... but when you're single? It's taken as an indicator of your wealth and status (whether consciously or not).

Well in the U.K. we have a very easy system that tells you age of the car based on the number plate. Despite this, very few women know the ages of the cars they see. If the car is clean and a good make, they don't know the difference. If not, a personalized plate hides the value to most of the rest.

Re: How to Afford Anything

#99

Post by ahoyhere »

rdouble wrote: post #87
ahoyhere wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, they're not. You start as a self-employed person with the basis of 30% - because employees are subsidized by their employers, you have to pay both shares. That 30% is Federal, FICA, and SS, doesn't include practically any services you can use or that will protect you as a young person. Then there's state tax. And oh yes, if you move overseas, you have to be very careful in arranging your affairs if you no longer…

US taxes are about as low as it gets for the 1st world. Taxes in the US are bracketed. If you are poor in the USA you pay essentially no taxes (if you do pay, you get it all back in a refund). Welfare benefits in the USA are also for the poor, whereas in western europe there are more benefits available to the middle class. On the other side, if you are rich in the USA your taxes are much lower than if you are rich so…

The poverty line in the US is ludicrously low when basic health insurance costs $300-400 a month for the not-fucking-your-life plan, birth control isn't covered, and a gallon of milk costs $5.

In Austria, a person doesn't even pay taxes until they earn over 1200 euros a month. Until the whole silly Greek affair, that was the equivalent of $21,000 USD for an individual.

And... they still get retirement, maternity leave, unemployment insurance, free childcare, and great health care.

Not to mention, despite a 20% sales tax, raw food ingredients in Austria cost less than the equivalent I paid in Maryland 2 years ago when I left.

Additionally: Healthcare in the US is a hidden tax.

Yet more, how many people do you know who receive social benefits in the US? I have known quite a few, most notably a woman who was deeply involved in an abusive church and marriage and had 10 children with her husband before realizing she was in a very bad situation. Her family and his family disowned her, and what did the government do? Denied her food stamps. A woman who hadn't worked since she was 18, had no college, and 10 children!

So yes, I think paying 50% to Austria is actually cheaper than paying 40%+ to Uncle Sam, while also having to pay $600/mo for COBRA because I was denied by private insurance, and still hoemmorhaging money when I hurt myself. US taxes? Really not that low.

Except, as I said, for the very rich, and the large corporations, and people who can afford/have the balls to maintain genuine tax shelters.

Re: How to Afford Anything

#100

Post by GFischer »

jemfinch wrote: post #32
muhammadatt wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even if he suffered a loss (i.e. if the appreciation in the home value was not enough to offset his accumulated outflow of principal and interest) it probably would not be as much as he would have lost by renting. Your scenario assumes that (1) he could rent the same or an equivalent property for much less of cash outflow than buying and (2) he could have invested the difference in some other asset that had a much hi…

> Your scenario assumes that (1) he could rent the same or an equivalent property for much less of cash outflow than buying Of course he could. If your rent is paying your landlord's mortgage, you're overpaying. > and (2) he could have invested the difference in some other asset that had a much higher return than appreciation of the condo. Finding an asset with a better than 1% return is not difficult. > If the amoun…

On the "If your rent is paying your landlord's mortgage, you're overpaying" point: sadly, not every market is equal.

Over here (Uruguay), rents are way more expensive than an equivalent mortgage... simply put, people (myself included) don't have capital for the down payment (and the mortgage process is expensive in itself, at least U$D 1000 which is not a small sum here), so they don't have an option - it's renting, or the street/slums.

And no, there are no "no capital down" mortgages.

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