Desktop version: http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/meet-mr-money-mustach...
Meet Mr. Money Mustache, the man who retired at 30
161–170 of 252 posts
Re: Meet Mr. Money Mustache, the man who retired at 30
#162Earlier quoted context omitted.
> $500/month? But a simple train ticket that takes you 600km away will set you back $100. Here in Europe at least. I'm from Europe (NL) and some friends of mine did pretty much that, during college. I don't know exactly how they did it, sorry, travelling's not for me so I didn't pay attention to all the details, but they did pull off travels for very cheap. One trick is, there's a lot more to trains and public transp…
> I've booked 17h return train trips to Vienna for about 70 euros. Yes, and that's about $100 :) Well okay, it's $91. Anyway you're right about carpooling. I've noticed that when you're traveling in a group of more than 2 and less than 5, a car is always the best and cheapest option.
Back then it was even more! ;-)
Part of this affordable "life on the road" concept might also be the fact that gas prices in the US are about 2.5x as cheap as they are in Europe.
(this is always a fun conversion: https://www.google.com/search?q=1.70+euro+per+liter+in+dolla... not sure if that's the most recent gas price here, but it should be about right. This gives $8.36/gallon, and a quick google for gas prices in New York tells me they pay $3.60/gallon)
Re: Meet Mr. Money Mustache, the man who retired at 30
#163While I do think there is value in aggressively saving and reducing unnecessary expenses (avoiding excessive 'lifestyle inflation'), I can't help but feel that MMM has taken it too far to the extreme. There are tons of interesting and worthwhile experiences out there that you're going to miss out on if you intentionally constrain your budget to $25k/year for the entirety of your life.[1] There are folks here who have…
The first thing I thought of when I saw the $25k/yr figure was...do they have health insurance? How did the pay for the delivery of their child? What happens when medical and other emergencies happen?
I assume they have savings for that, but it doesn't sound like they have any bandwidth for saving. Does it all depend on the market?
Anyway, too risky for me, but good for them.
Re: Meet Mr. Money Mustache, the man who retired at 30
#164Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I've booked 17h return train trips to Vienna for about 70 euros. Yes, and that's about $100 :) Well okay, it's $91. Anyway you're right about carpooling. I've noticed that when you're traveling in a group of more than 2 and less than 5, a car is always the best and cheapest option.
Back then it was even more! ;-) Part of this affordable "life on the road" concept might also be the fact that gas prices in the US are about 2.5x as cheap as they are in Europe. (this is always a fun conversion: https://www.google.com/search?q=1.70+euro+per+liter+in+dolla... not sure if that's the most recent gas price here, but it should be about right. This gives $8.36/gallon, and a quick google for gas prices in…
And combined with the exorbitant rent those guys pay.
I've talked to a New Yorker visiting Ljubljana, he was extremely excited about getting a flat for 1700eur/month because that was about half his NYC rent. It was probably one of the ten most expensive flats you can get in Ljubljana. And we have exorbitant rent prices compared to the rest of my home country.
So yeah, I can easily see how an american would think living on the road is super cheap compared to staying home.
Re: Meet Mr. Money Mustache, the man who retired at 30
#165Why would anyone want to retire at his peak?
Re: Meet Mr. Money Mustache, the man who retired at 30
#166"Embrace challenge and shun convenience for its own sake"
This line really resonated with me as the real success he discovered.
Re: Meet Mr. Money Mustache, the man who retired at 30
#167early retirement doesn’t only happen to Powerball winners and those who luck into a big inheritance. Right. It also happens to those who get lucky in the stock market, and chose the right job at the right time. http://money.msn.com/retirement/article.aspx?post=dd544488-f... I was able to save more: $5,000 into the retirement account, $3,000 into an employee stock purchase plan, and $10,000 in cash. Year 2 'stash: $23…
I have given a lot of thought on this subject as well. I think the first few months will go nicely, putting money into savings and spending wisely. But I have a feeling that keeping up with the lifestyle is hard for most of the people. Your pace is frustratingly slow, and you really need to trust that the lifestyle you are living will pay off someday.
Just to scratch my own itch, I've built a finance independence calculator for my daydreaming needs
Re: Meet Mr. Money Mustache, the man who retired at 30
#168I think he has some valuable lessons on spending less, investing more. But there are ton of good advice from non-anonymous bloggers, don't think you should take advice from someone who is not willing to identify himself.
Re: Meet Mr. Money Mustache, the man who retired at 30
#169I don't like how judgmental he is about lifestyle choices alternative to the ones he's made. I, personally, enjoy going out to eat, I enjoy the "$100 happy hours," I'm in Turks and Caicos right now on a stretch of the most beautiful beach I've ever seen and I enjoy that, too. Oh, and I don't particularly dislike working. I'm a well paid highly skilled engineer building cool things for a fantastic .com that takes care…
I think the reason his messaging is effecting is because he's being judgmental. Maybe he does it naturally, maybe it's on purpose, but I think if he used wishy-washy language, nuancing his points to tell people that some of their consumerism is okay, that it would hurt his ability to deliver his message.
I think there is a side-effect to this, where people see what MMM is doing and take his advise to the extremes, failing to full think through their own personal situation. These sort of teachings tend to build some cult-ish/guru-type followings, but I think for the vast majority of people, the messages resonate on some level that allows them to either think about their spending choices more, or cut back.
I see what he ultimately advocates as more of a "think about how you're spending your money" rather than "don't spend money".
Re: Meet Mr. Money Mustache, the man who retired at 30
#170It surprises me how much the closing paragraph sounds like certain elements of Buddhist philosophy.