4 ms·

25k/3 people is like a welfare amount of money to live on.

by pfisch 14y ago

meistro 14y ago
True, but I'd say %99.99.. of those on welfare don't own their own house.
- pfisch 14y ago
  Yeah but I think it is silly to suggest he has retired on a 25k a year pension. I mean have homeless people retired? Have people on food stamps retired?
  - fnordfnordfnord 14y ago
    One of his themes is to maximize frugality/stinginess. He claims to have no debt. He has some assets, has some income. Still, I doubt it's as easy as he makes it sound. But OTOH, there are a lot of optimizations I know I could make, yet have tended to ignore.
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
- afterburner 14y ago
  Not just own their own house, but also own a second rental property (another house).
moxie 14y ago
In San Francisco, I think the most a family of three could get a year (GA + CalFresh) is $10,416. Maintaining GA for any length of time is almost impossible, though, and you need to do eight hours of "workfare" a week to remain qualified (so no retirement). Not to mention that you need to somehow figure out how to rent an apartment for three in SF for less then $300 a month.
31reasons 14y ago
He owns and runs a VERY popular blog. He is probably making at least $10k/month from advertisements on the blog alone.
- brown9-2 14y ago
  If this is the case, then the figures mentioned in the article are incomplete and misleading.
  - Zimahl 14y ago
    At one point he was making $4k per month on credit card referrals[1]. [1] http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2012/06/21/i-just-gave-up-4000-per-month-to-keep-my-freedom-of-speech/ http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2012/06/21/i-just-gave-up-400...
  - jonknee 14y ago
    Shocking that someone giving financial advice online is not entirely upfront... (Though it is interesting in this case because the sales pitch is pretty universally unappealing.)
  - georgemcbay 14y ago
    "More recently, even my hobby of writing the blog has started producing some cash" So technically the blog money was somewhat covered in the article, though in a way that I agree is likely very misleading. As a "living frugal guru" you can't exactly come right out and say "Also, I'm making a bunch of money by selling advertising to you all", though it is almost certainly the truth.
citricsquid 14y ago
You would need to know the value of their house to fully judge their situation. If we assume they live in a reasonable house that would cost $1,500 per month to rent / mortgage and we assume they save $750 per month on the costs of working (commuting, baby sitting, eating out) they have an effective income of... $52,000. The median household income in the U.S is $51,000 and that's for households that will often have debt too and not be very good at spending little money.
- brown9-2 14y ago
  Why does the value of their home factor into their annual income? You can't pay for healthcare with pieces of your house.
  - citricsquid 14y ago
    The value of their home factors into their annual income when comparing to other household incomes. The grandparent said that $25,000 is a level of income someone would expect on welfare, however MMM does not have costs that people on welfare have. For example I spend $18,000 per year on my rent, I would need to earn $25,000 + $18,000 to have the same effective income as MMM. For most households housing costs are one of the largest (if not the largest) ongoing cost, when comparing MMM and others (as the grandparent did) you need to take that into account.
  - deleted 14y ago
    [deleted]
- neohaven 14y ago
  I'll just chip in here. I don't know where the guy lives, but in some places, living is inexpensive. The rent you quoted (1500$/month) is the entirety of my living expenses where I am. I pay ~600$/month to have a 4 1/2 apartment close to a big-chain supermarket and all necessary amenities. This includes the Hydro bill, the fridge and oven-stove. I have an interior pool. Yes, at that price. Food is about 500$ a month. Internet a further 60$, for a 30/8 Cable pipe. I'm about 200km from Montreal, close to a university.
- 14y ago
primelens 14y ago
That's only what he spends, not what he's earning. All his income from his investments get reinvested because he doesn't need to tap into that for expenses.

25k/3 people is like a welfare amount of money to live on.

by pfisch 14y ago

25k/3 people is like a welfare amount of money to live on.

meistro 14y ago

True, but I'd say %99.99.. of those on welfare don't own their own house.

pfisch 14y ago
Yeah but I think it is silly to suggest he has retired on a 25k a year pension. I mean have homeless people retired? Have people on food stamps retired?
- fnordfnordfnord 14y ago
  One of his themes is to maximize frugality/stinginess. He claims to have no debt. He has some assets, has some income. Still, I doubt it's as easy as he makes it sound. But OTOH, there are a lot of optimizations I know I could make, yet have tended to ignore.
deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
afterburner 14y ago
Not just own their own house, but also own a second rental property (another house).

moxie 14y ago

In San Francisco, I think the most a family of three could get a year (GA + CalFresh) is $10,416. Maintaining GA for any length of time is almost impossible, though, and you need to do eight hours of "workfare" a week to remain qualified (so no retirement). Not to mention that you need to somehow figure out how to rent an apartment for three in SF for less then $300 a month.

31reasons 14y ago

He owns and runs a VERY popular blog. He is probably making at least $10k/month from advertisements on the blog alone.

brown9-2 14y ago
If this is the case, then the figures mentioned in the article are incomplete and misleading.
- Zimahl 14y ago
  At one point he was making $4k per month on credit card referrals[1]. [1] http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2012/06/21/i-just-gave-up-4000-per-month-to-keep-my-freedom-of-speech/ http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2012/06/21/i-just-gave-up-400...
- jonknee 14y ago
  Shocking that someone giving financial advice online is not entirely upfront... (Though it is interesting in this case because the sales pitch is pretty universally unappealing.)
- georgemcbay 14y ago
  "More recently, even my hobby of writing the blog has started producing some cash" So technically the blog money was somewhat covered in the article, though in a way that I agree is likely very misleading. As a "living frugal guru" you can't exactly come right out and say "Also, I'm making a bunch of money by selling advertising to you all", though it is almost certainly the truth.

citricsquid 14y ago

You would need to know the value of their house to fully judge their situation. If we assume they live in a reasonable house that would cost $1,500 per month to rent / mortgage and we assume they save $750 per month on the costs of working (commuting, baby sitting, eating out) they have an effective income of... $52,000. The median household income in the U.S is $51,000 and that's for households that will often have debt too and not be very good at spending little money.

brown9-2 14y ago
Why does the value of their home factor into their annual income? You can't pay for healthcare with pieces of your house.
- citricsquid 14y ago
  The value of their home factors into their annual income when comparing to other household incomes. The grandparent said that $25,000 is a level of income someone would expect on welfare, however MMM does not have costs that people on welfare have. For example I spend $18,000 per year on my rent, I would need to earn $25,000 + $18,000 to have the same effective income as MMM. For most households housing costs are one of the largest (if not the largest) ongoing cost, when comparing MMM and others (as the grandparent did) you need to take that into account.
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
neohaven 14y ago
I'll just chip in here. I don't know where the guy lives, but in some places, living is inexpensive. The rent you quoted (1500$/month) is the entirety of my living expenses where I am. I pay ~600$/month to have a 4 1/2 apartment close to a big-chain supermarket and all necessary amenities. This includes the Hydro bill, the fridge and oven-stove. I have an interior pool. Yes, at that price. Food is about 500$ a month. Internet a further 60$, for a 30/8 Cable pipe. I'm about 200km from Montreal, close to a university.
14y ago

primelens 14y ago

That's only what he spends, not what he's earning. All his income from his investments get reinvested because he doesn't need to tap into that for expenses.