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Why the fixation on coffee? If you bought a $5 latte every day you went to work, you’re look at, what, a bit more than $1200/year? If you make $150K/year, that
by sfpotter 4y ago
Why the fixation on coffee? If you bought a $5 latte every day you went to work, you’re look at, what, a bit more than $1200/year? If you make $150K/year, that is a perfectly reasonable outlay that won’t compromise your retirement plans. The key is having a balanced life. If you can’t help but buy every shiny thing you see, then that’ll be a problem. But the advice of these Internet personalities is just as poorly balanced in the direction of asceticism. Obviously this is a non-starter for nearly every normal person.
I think the problem is that people are fascinated by schemes that are extreme and highly unbalanced. Even the idea of FIREing… why are so many people obsessed with the idea of retiring early? Why not find a job that isn’t soul sucking and do that? Hey, maybe you get paid less, but maybe you’d have some coworkers you actually like and don’t mind spending time with. You have to be patient with your life to do that, and patience and balance aren’t sexy or exciting, I guess.
- noslenwerdna 4y agoI'm not fixated on coffee? I said eating out every day and coffee as two arbitrary examples. I think most people, definitely myself, find happiness in simplicity. Mindlessly consuming more and more luxury items as you progress in your career seems empty, even if you can afford it. And anyway, I prefer making my own food because it's less wasteful, cheaper, and I can make it how I want it
- dhdhhdd 4y agoAgreed. Compare coffee to having a child. Daycare expenses + everything else, and coffee is a negligible expense, almost a rounding error. In fact, that's probably one of the largest "lifestyle inflations" that happens.
- meghan_rain 4y agoYou mean getting a child is one of the largest "lifestyle inflations" that happen?
- brewdad 4y agoThe other thing so many overlook is that achieving your FIRE goals by living like a pauper means you have to continue to live like a pauper in retirement to make the numbers work. Otherwise, if you want to live those retirement dreams, plan on saving a whole lot more than the 25x the influencers tell you you need.