I agree with some of your points, but disagree with the overriding sentiment that spending less isn't as significant as some other savings. I think the problem

I agree with some of your points, but disagree with the overriding sentiment that spending less isn't as significant as some other savings. I think the problem is people try to cold turkey everything at once, last a couple of days, then say "screw this". Keep TV, cut out lattes, then later you can downsize your TV (switch to netflix and OTA maybe?), etc. Track your savings and get competitive with it (make a game out of it). Above and beyond current savings, our consumption is out of control. There's a decent chance that the average person's consumption level, if unchanged, will become increasingly expensive as there's more competition for the resources required to feed it (China, India, etc.). I'm not trying to be alarmist about it or anything, but I think it's safe to assume we're at least dealing with a moderate increase in resource prices compared to salaries (which are stagnant) year after year until we retire. It follows that consuming less (and getting used to consuming less) will have increasing returns. So working on consuming and spending less seems like a worthwhile goal, just don't go all hardcore off the bat.