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Maladaptive Frugality

herbertlui.net

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Re: Maladaptive Frugality

#151

Post by Nifty3929 »

To me this is so much about where you focus your attention. Even from a purely financial perspective. Mental space dedicated to watching your expenses is space you aren't using to improve your top-line. Some people are very proud of being frugal, spending time optimizing expenses - while earning far less than they could otherwise because they don't spend any mental energy on how to earn more. Meanwhile others are spendthrifts, but allocate a lot more energy to earning more - and do earn more.

Stay focused on earning more money and don't spend any more time than you need to watching expenses - just so long as you save/ivnest plenty. You'll enjoy life a lot more.

Re: Maladaptive Frugality

#152

Post by Mezzie »

catlogbindiff wrote: post #136
RickJWagner wrote: post #112

Spending money sparingly is like reducing weight in an automobile. A car will get better gas mileage, go faster, break less often, and be more responsive with less weight. So it is with spending. When you spend less, you can retire earlier, your finances are more secure, you feel less pressure and stress, etc. You have more flexibility in the kinds of jobs you can take. Perhaps best of all, you end up accumulating le…

Retiring early is a single guy internet myth. If you have a family, forget it. If you have a health condition, forget it. If you don’t have low risk investments, forget it. In the US health care can reset your bank account in the blink of an eye which is why so many many people in tech work until Medicare kicks in. Early retirement with a family is at least 10 mil in cash. Better enjoy your job because you’ll be doin…

If you're truly fortunate, you can end up with an expensive chronic but not deadly condition that penalizes you for saving and having assets. Your healthcare isn't an emergency, so if it isn't paid for, you don't get it. But if you have any money, no Medicaid for you. Instead, you get to drain your accounts until you're impoverished and then they'll help you.

Re: Maladaptive Frugality

#153

Post by wat10000 »

chromacity wrote: post #4

Most people in the US are pulled into living on credit straight out of school. You get a student loan, then a car loan, then a credit card, then a mortgage. You finance vacations, appliances, kitchen remodels, smartphones - mostly to keep up with friends and coworkers who finance their lifestyles too. A lot of people are in non-stop debt from the age of 18 to 55, if not longer. By most estimates, only about 10-20% of…

This really struck me when I bought a new car and my mother asked me how much it cost. I told her what we'd paid, and she said, but how much is it per month? The idea of just buying a car didn't compute.

At least I finally got her off the lease treadmill. Toyota helped a lot by not making anything she particularly liked. When I suggested she buy out her lease instead of getting a new one, it was a revelation.

Re: Maladaptive Frugality

#154

Post by anticorporate »

bluefirebrand wrote: post #140
anticorporate wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You know there’s an upcoming generation of developers who are so jealous of you? Not your fault or anything. I do, and and I think that's part of the reason I feel guilty about not working. Why should I get an easy ride when other people did not? I suppose there's some small element of worrying that I'm wrong about my future needs . I know I have some skills that are still useful and I can put them to work now, but…

> I do, and and I think that's part of the reason I feel guilty about not working. Why should I get an easy ride when other people did not? Devils Advocate: Why don't you feel guilty for continuing to work, continuing to absorb a salary that doesn't really matter for you but could be life changing for someone else who is looking for their chance? Just a slightly different perspective

That's certainly a consideration. The story I tell myself is that brought a skill set to the job that the organization I work for otherwise couldn't afford and took a salary well below the market rate for the position. It's a worker-owned cooperative retailer with a relatively flat pay scale that doesn't differentiate between types of roles, only levels, so I'm on the same pay ladder as our cashiers and dishwashers. I am, though, perhaps taking a job from someone else who wanted to pivot their career. There are no perfect answers.

Re: Maladaptive Frugality

#155

Post by david-gpu »

forgotTheLast wrote: post #109
david-gpu wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The problem that high humidity cold causes is increased convection Can you help me understand? How does higher relative humidity increase convection?

Humid air has higher heat capacity and higher heat conductivity than dry air which both increase convective heat loss.

All of that is true, but how does that relate to convection? That is the part I find puzzling.

Re: Maladaptive Frugality

#156

Post by wat10000 »

terrabitz wrote: post #117
Havoc wrote: post #77

> What I took away: eating at a good restaurant was bad, taking out cheap food was good because it saved money. Any sort of morality like framing around it is likely to lead to issues imo. The closer you can get to an analytical approach the better I think - can I afford it, is it good value for money, is it useful/furthers my goals etc

It's really a shame. I grew up in a frugal household that venerated Dave Ramsey, and there was a ton of moralizing of finances that didn't need to be moralized. Stuff like "debt is always evil, buying frivolous things like fancy coffees is stupid", etc. There are unfortunately a lot of people that base their spending and saving decisions not on what they actually value or what their goals are. Rather, they base them…

Ramsey is for people who can't be analytic with their money, and need some moralizing to counteract the "I can afford it, it's less than the remaining limit on my credit card" impulse.

Re: Maladaptive Frugality

#157

Post by watwut »

Nifty3929 wrote: post #151

To me this is so much about where you focus your attention. Even from a purely financial perspective. Mental space dedicated to watching your expenses is space you aren't using to improve your top-line. Some people are very proud of being frugal, spending time optimizing expenses - while earning far less than they could otherwise because they don't spend any mental energy on how to earn more. Meanwhile others are spe…

> Some people are very proud of being frugal, spending time optimizing expenses - while earning far less than they could otherwise because they don't spend any mental energy on how to earn more.

This claim really requieres some kind of proof. Because I have never seen this in real life - a person who realistically could earn more if they spent less time trying to save money.

It sounds like a made up dichotomy or an extremely rare situation.

I met people who earn a lot and save absurdly lot. Or earn a lot and waste it all. Or dont ear and either save or not. But, there being realistic path to bigger earnings that is ignored because of spending too much saving is a corner case.

Re: Maladaptive Frugality

#158

Post by errantmind »

You can be frugal without spending a lot of mental energy on your expenses. It seems contradictory but it is possible to 'live' frugally without thinking about money all that much (assuming you aren't broke and have positive cash flow). The real challenge is escaping consumerism as a means of (superficial) fulfillment.

> When you default to the lowest cost option without considering the drawbacks, procrastinating or hesitating on spending[...]

This is terrible advice, one of the easiest ways to be frugal is not to be overly attached and to defer spending.

Re: Maladaptive Frugality

#159

Post by pphysch »

Nifty3929 wrote: post #151

To me this is so much about where you focus your attention. Even from a purely financial perspective. Mental space dedicated to watching your expenses is space you aren't using to improve your top-line. Some people are very proud of being frugal, spending time optimizing expenses - while earning far less than they could otherwise because they don't spend any mental energy on how to earn more. Meanwhile others are spe…

There's a substantial difference between "reducing what you would otherwise spend" and "not spending / defaulting to the minimum". The latter mindset is less about active money management and more about completely avoiding unnecessary consumption.

Re: Maladaptive Frugality

#160

Post by super3ta »

Nifty3929 wrote: post #151

To me this is so much about where you focus your attention. Even from a purely financial perspective. Mental space dedicated to watching your expenses is space you aren't using to improve your top-line. Some people are very proud of being frugal, spending time optimizing expenses - while earning far less than they could otherwise because they don't spend any mental energy on how to earn more. Meanwhile others are spe…

This

I went broke ordering pizza 4 nights a week to fuel my 6-hour-a-night stretches of job searching and upskilling.

But after 3 months, I doubled my income, at the cost of a few pounds of stomach fat.

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