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> They tend to hide the fact that they went into the process with an inheritance to fund their their nest egg and are working nearly full time in their "retirem

> They tend to hide the fact that they went into the process with an inheritance to fund their their nest egg and are working nearly full time in their "retirement" as paid frugal advocates. Whoah, do you have evidence of this? I mean, yeah, some people have certain advantages, but if they are being paid for advocacy and if it's a trust-fund baby thing that would be really interesting. On balance though, I'm not really opposed to a message to live frugally. We live in a culture that continuously bombards us with materialistic advertising, and this doesn't really lead to long-time happiness. I'm skeptical that being frugal implies some kind of deprivation or overwork. In fact if you're frugal then theoretically you can afford to work less.

s-shellfish 8y ago
I think when people describe 'the ideal way to live financially' they are looking at the problem as though they have to solve it all in one go, all at once. That's overwhelming, often leads to a sort of, yo-yo pattern of extreme frugality and extreme luxury. Frugal living are habits that accumulate gradually, as are any other habits one aims to develop. Eventually you don't have to think about them, things converge naturally. Some people might enjoy working two jobs, because everything syncs together that way.
- thanatropism 8y ago
  Is that yo-yo pattern bad? Periods that are more frugal help you appreciate the pleasures of higher-end lifestyles while realizing that not having them isn't a catastrophe. Plus the hedonic treadmill is a bitch. Someone earlier in this thread regretted his parents not having experienced certain things. Truly, it's a crying shame to die without having had truly fancy delicious dinners, for example -- that one time is almost priceless. But once a month is a nice, expensive habit. Twice a week you don't care anymore.
  - s-shellfish 8y ago
    I think it's only bad when you don't feel like you have any control over it, and you feel more like it controls you. There's the long term goal you want, but the lack of having control leads to extremes, all of these things increase the number of variable you feel compelled to reason about, to control. With finances, food, 'stuff', that can lead to overload, stress, hence, oscillating between opposites, lacking self control, self direction, autonomy, etc. These are all things people need to feel secure and stable when they have to operate as mostly independent entities.
falcolas 8y ago
I found it on his own blog, though it's almost impossible to locate now. Basically he inherited a family house, lived in it for a few years, and sold it for a large sum of money (in addition to holding a $100,000 + a year job and saving from it). As for the paid advocacy, have a look at their financials. You'll see a non-trivial amount of income from advertising on the website and speaking. EDIT: The house wasn't inherited - he got it from a failed house building business. It's unclear if the costs of building came out of the business funds or his own funds. > I'm skeptical that being frugal implies some kind of deprivation or overwork. OP was advocating working multiple jobs and living frugally.
- madamelic 8y ago
  >As for the paid advocacy, have a look at their financials. You'll see a non-trivial amount of income from advertising on the website and speaking. Because as we all know MMM's plan was always 1. Spend 20's saving 2. Save $600k 3. Quit job 4. Make blog 5. Make millions. Yes, MMM makes bunches and bunches of money but he is pretty blatant about admitting the "early retirement" was a lie. He never wanted to retire. He just wanted the option to not work and choose to work on what he wanted.
- petra 8y ago
  >> You'll see a non-trivial amount of income from advertising on the website and speaking Fuck the modern web. Such a bunch of crap. Someone needs to build a search engine for sites that don't carry any form of advertisement. charge subscription. seems worthy.
  - hfdgiutdryg 8y ago
    Micropayments were going to be the wave of the future back around 2000. It never happened. People want intangible stuff for what they perceive as free.
    - petra 8y ago
      Not micropayments. just small subscription fees for that specialized search engine(or maybe even that isn't necessary). But i want to read content from people just wanting to write, without perverse incentives, as much as possible.
gascan 8y ago
Nobody hired them for advocacy, but e.g. the MMM webpage makes a lot of money in ads. A lot.

s-shellfish 8y ago

I think when people describe 'the ideal way to live financially' they are looking at the problem as though they have to solve it all in one go, all at once. That's overwhelming, often leads to a sort of, yo-yo pattern of extreme frugality and extreme luxury. Frugal living are habits that accumulate gradually, as are any other habits one aims to develop. Eventually you don't have to think about them, things converge naturally. Some people might enjoy working two jobs, because everything syncs together that way.

thanatropism 8y ago
Is that yo-yo pattern bad? Periods that are more frugal help you appreciate the pleasures of higher-end lifestyles while realizing that not having them isn't a catastrophe. Plus the hedonic treadmill is a bitch. Someone earlier in this thread regretted his parents not having experienced certain things. Truly, it's a crying shame to die without having had truly fancy delicious dinners, for example -- that one time is almost priceless. But once a month is a nice, expensive habit. Twice a week you don't care anymore.
- s-shellfish 8y ago
  I think it's only bad when you don't feel like you have any control over it, and you feel more like it controls you. There's the long term goal you want, but the lack of having control leads to extremes, all of these things increase the number of variable you feel compelled to reason about, to control. With finances, food, 'stuff', that can lead to overload, stress, hence, oscillating between opposites, lacking self control, self direction, autonomy, etc. These are all things people need to feel secure and stable when they have to operate as mostly independent entities.

falcolas 8y ago

I found it on his own blog, though it's almost impossible to locate now. Basically he inherited a family house, lived in it for a few years, and sold it for a large sum of money (in addition to holding a $100,000 + a year job and saving from it). As for the paid advocacy, have a look at their financials. You'll see a non-trivial amount of income from advertising on the website and speaking. EDIT: The house wasn't inherited - he got it from a failed house building business. It's unclear if the costs of building came out of the business funds or his own funds. > I'm skeptical that being frugal implies some kind of deprivation or overwork. OP was advocating working multiple jobs and living frugally.

madamelic 8y ago
>As for the paid advocacy, have a look at their financials. You'll see a non-trivial amount of income from advertising on the website and speaking. Because as we all know MMM's plan was always 1. Spend 20's saving 2. Save $600k 3. Quit job 4. Make blog 5. Make millions. Yes, MMM makes bunches and bunches of money but he is pretty blatant about admitting the "early retirement" was a lie. He never wanted to retire. He just wanted the option to not work and choose to work on what he wanted.
petra 8y ago
>> You'll see a non-trivial amount of income from advertising on the website and speaking Fuck the modern web. Such a bunch of crap. Someone needs to build a search engine for sites that don't carry any form of advertisement. charge subscription. seems worthy.
- hfdgiutdryg 8y ago
  Micropayments were going to be the wave of the future back around 2000. It never happened. People want intangible stuff for what they perceive as free.
  - petra 8y ago
    Not micropayments. just small subscription fees for that specialized search engine(or maybe even that isn't necessary). But i want to read content from people just wanting to write, without perverse incentives, as much as possible.

gascan 8y ago

Nobody hired them for advocacy, but e.g. the MMM webpage makes a lot of money in ads. A lot.