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Being Frugal Makes You A Loser

ajkesslerblog.com

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Re: Being Frugal Makes You A Loser

#171

Post by BrandonM »

dprice1 wrote: post #51

I'm in a state of disbelief that this is the top article on HN right now. Reading this article made me feel like I was shopping in the discount aisle of the pop-psych megalo-mart. This article is cheap shoes. It is poorly written, contains numerous abuses of the English language, and aims low at an obvious insight; the comments have been an order of magnitude more insightful. The author utterly misunderstands the mea…

"This article is cheap shoes."

I love this metaphor. Your comment perfectly summarized my feelings about the submission.

Re: Being Frugal Makes You A Loser

#172

Post by rglover »

The author definitely makes a solid point: quality always wins. But the tone and delivery of this article made me feel like an idiot for ever buying anything on the cheap. Generally, I felt like I was back in high school being put down for buying the wrong pair of shoes. Reiterating that point, the author's delivery makes me feel like I've done something wrong, not put me on the path to being naive about frugality.

Re: Being Frugal Makes You A Loser

#173

Post by copenja »

gjm11 wrote: post #80
copenja wrote: post #20

Wow, I disagree. Starting with expensive shoes. I wear flip-flops, shorts, and a t-shirt to work everyday. I'm pretty comfortable. I don't see the correlation between expensive footwear and comfort. Beds. Yes, you spend 1/3 your life in bed. And you spend it unconscious. You spend about 0.03% of your conscious life in bed while falling asleep (30 mins a day). But more importantly: Relax. Just because you make a certa…

30 minutes a day is about 2% of your life, not 0.03%. If a less comfortable bed makes it take longer to fall asleep, then that figure just got bigger and there's an extra cost in time every single day . If a less comfortable bed means you sleep worse, then again there's an extra cost in happiness and productivity every single day. Now, whether spending more on your bed always makes it more comfortable, and whether th…

I meant 3 percent of my waking life. 30 / (16 * 60)

Re: Being Frugal Makes You A Loser

#174

Post by c0riander »

There is a difference between cheap and frugal. In accepted parlance "cheap" means making purchasing decisions based solely on price. "Frugal" means paying for value, which is what this post is ultimately recommending (despite the title) - a "lean" mentality, where you avoid needless cash burn (or saving) in favor of those things that really matter.

Ramit Sethi likes to go on about this topic - see his "Cheap vs. frugal" blog post, for example: http://sandbox.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/archives/2005/09/ch...

Re: Being Frugal Makes You A Loser

#175

Post by pwthornton »

danssig wrote: post #60
jerrya wrote: post #25

I tend to buy in two strategies. Either so cheap but functional I don't mind throwing it out later (as eco bad as that might be), or buying good quality wares. I believe that if you can afford good quality wares, that that will both make you happier and leave you with something of substantial resale value. So it may be a better financial strategy. Compare cheap Target cabinet with "Handmade Amish Furniture." That sai…

> and makes no effort to understand that many people cannot afford the quality goods the author can A study done years ago found that the reason poor people stay poor is because they always buy the cheapest option so any money they save up ends up getting used right away to replace something. A never ending cycle of buy cheap/replace broken cheap stuff. >For example, I use to drive sports cars and convertibles, but n…

Source please?

Re: Being Frugal Makes You A Loser

#176

Post by nickpinkston »

As someone who just voluntarially went from a house, 3 cars, and tons of junk - down to what I can fit in my hatchback (including furniture) and a basic apartment, I can tell you that nothing is more liberating to me than throwing away / selling junk that I didn't need, and being able to live without stuff owning me.

Sure, my backpack has a nice laptop, iPad, etc. - but to me those are true conveniences. I've slept for years on shit mattresses, and I've come to conclude that it's how hard I worked that most affects my sleep.

Just my two cents...

Re: Being Frugal Makes You A Loser

#178

Post by encoderer »

abalashov wrote: post #124
encoderer wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's so much I find wrong here I don't know where to begin. I'm not the type to line-by-line somebodies post, but I'm tempted here. Remember what Einstein called "The most powerful force in the universe" -- compound interest. Small savings, done consistently, can grow into fortunes. Haggling; Couponing; Finding the best cash-back credit offers (and changing regularly to the currently-best credit card), the best AP…

I think you've severely hyperbolised my comment. I didn't say you shouldn't be smart with your money, most especially when the cost of doing so in resources or obnoxiousness is small. I didn't say you should always pay sticker price, and never seek a good deal. I merely encourage judiciousness about the wisdom and worth-it-ness of bargain-hunting in a given situation, and the recognition that doing it in every situat…

To be fair, the example you used was haggling over a loaf of bread.

Your comment was hyperbole before I got to it.

Re: Being Frugal Makes You A Loser

#179

Post by pwthornton »

CaptainDecisive wrote: post #85
jerrya wrote: post #25

I tend to buy in two strategies. Either so cheap but functional I don't mind throwing it out later (as eco bad as that might be), or buying good quality wares. I believe that if you can afford good quality wares, that that will both make you happier and leave you with something of substantial resale value. So it may be a better financial strategy. Compare cheap Target cabinet with "Handmade Amish Furniture." That sai…

I agree. The way I see it there is a price/value curve where it's worth buying things at both ends. At the high end you're paying a premium but you're getting a well designed and constructed item, which should last you a long time. At the low end you're buying cheap crap but you're paying peanuts. You know there's no high end features, that it's not well made and if it breaks you just throw it out. But in the middle…

There is a cost to just throwing things out, even if its externalized. This cheap stuff has to be landfilled and much of it doesn't break down for thousands or millions of years. Many of it is also harmful to the environment, impacting and shortening human lives, including yours.

Re: Being Frugal Makes You A Loser

#180

Post by afterburner »

scotty79 wrote: post #47

For mattresses buy pocket spring or latex foam. When me and my girlfriend switched to pocket springs we literally felled asleep the first time our heads touched the mattresses ... in the middle of the day, right after we set it up in our apartment. It's incredibly comfortable. For shoes buy some trekking shoes with goretex membrane. You'll never have wet feet in your life again. My Garmont's served me well for last 8…

As a counterpoint to those reading:

I personally went with the Tempurpedic Cloud memory foam. Very soft, but supportive. I'm tall (and therefore heavy), so I appreciate the lack of pressure points memory foam has going for it. The most importing thing, though, is to bargain them down to at least 40% off the original sticker price.

Goretex membrane shoes can be quite hot; often the non goretex versions of the same shoes are quite water resistant anyways, I never had a problem with my non-goretex hiking shoes until I wore them so much several holes appeared.

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