211–220 of 252 posts
Interesting how so many of the top comments thus far fall into a few categories: "He did this at a time when the market was going up"... therefore it's impossible and I don't need to try doing this and it's OK to just keep doing what I'm doing. "He could only do this by living in poverty "... which would totally suck, so I'm better off not doing this and just continuing the way I am. "He can only pull this off becaus…
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But why? Seriously, why can't he come to his own conclusion about said lifestyle choices? You don't have to agree with him, but why can't he judge certain lifestyle choices as better or worse? Just as you have done for yourself. I think if he doesn't clearly define what he thinks is better and why, then what advice is he really providing? People can choose to agree or not, without taking it as a personal insult.
It's not really the same. If I pick a lifestyle for myself, that's not a judgment on other people's lifestyles. If I pick a lifestyle then start calling other people wasteful, that is a judgment on others. Be it true or not, that rubs some people the wrong way. Personally I don't care if he judges me. He's living within a few tens of percent above the poverty line (based on his comments in this article). Of course th…
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I live half the year in Vietnam, half the year in NYC. I'm mildly frugal, but Vietnam still runs me about $2K a month, $1.2k if I don't leave my apartment. NYC, a frugal month costs me $3.5k. SE Asia is cheap, but its not as cheap as people think it is.
My wife and I spent a month in Thailand a few years back. We paid $120 for an apartment in Bangkok for the month, including utilities, and spent about $6/day on food. Travel to and hotels in Laos, N. Thailand, a beach town, and Cambodia probably cost us about $300. I do speak the language, but that only helped with finding a cheap (i.e. Thai-priced) place to rent.
There you go. Things develop at light speed down here in SE Asia!
That being said, GP's version of Vietnam living is perhaps like my Phnom Penh version: "costing as I would in Europe, but get way more bang for the buck" (to qualify---not that kind of bang, thank you very much..)
So down here I can get a furnished condo thingy with pool/gym/view/flatscreen/balcony for the same bucks that would get me an unfurnished hole without all of these in say Berlin, to not even mention other parts of Europe.
BUT, it's still a multiple of $120. If I were harder-pressed financially, indeed $120 would also rent me .. "something".
Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's not really the same. If I pick a lifestyle for myself, that's not a judgment on other people's lifestyles. If I pick a lifestyle then start calling other people wasteful, that is a judgment on others. Be it true or not, that rubs some people the wrong way. Personally I don't care if he judges me. He's living within a few tens of percent above the poverty line (based on his comments in this article). Of course th…
Poverty isn't a consumption level; poverty is when you're on the edge of losing everything.
I have a hard time seeing the appeal of intentionally living long term with a near poverty level income. I could never be content watching my son bike to school in 20 degrees because I don't want to work. Let alone spend years bragging about it.
While I agree with you, it sounds like he doesn't pay a mortgage any longer which makes that poverty level income go much further. For most of us that would be the biggest single expense. I'm not sure how that figures into the income calculation but it probably counts for something.
I 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…
He's judgmental about people who want to retire, wish they could save up money, have boatloads of debt, and complain incessantly about how unfair life is when they keep taking on piles of debt making luxury purchases and mismanaging their lives. That's all.
As long as you're happy with your lifestyle choices and either 1. Make enough to be able to retire comfortably when you want to or 2. Won't complain when you're broke and impoverished in the future, then good for you!
I 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.
early 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…
Interesting how so many of the top comments thus far fall into a few categories: "He did this at a time when the market was going up"... therefore it's impossible and I don't need to try doing this and it's OK to just keep doing what I'm doing. "He could only do this by living in poverty "... which would totally suck, so I'm better off not doing this and just continuing the way I am. "He can only pull this off becaus…
As a counterexample, here is a list of things you should do before you turn 30: http://www.policymic.com/articles/7704/29-amazing-things-you... While many of the examples are silly, I agree very much with all the advice to travel a lot . That takes money. Actually most of the things on that list go way beyond "live cheaply", and I agree with that. Anyway, as my economics professor said in college. There are those peo…