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Today, too many people have jobs to support their lifestyles, not their lives. People end up working to continue making monthly payments on houses larger than

Today, too many people have jobs to support their lifestyles, not their lives. People end up working to continue making monthly payments on houses larger than they need, cars fancier than they need, and they won't be able to fully enjoy those things because they're always working 9-5. Today, we are a lot further along than we were 50 years ago. People aren't working in factories to put bread on the table, people are working in offices to pay for their next new car or big screen TV. My goal is to make as much money as I can as fast as I can so that instead of trying to become the next billionaire, I can stop working and become the next great thinker. I value knowledge and happiness over money.

Afforess 13y ago
People buy things they can't afford, with money that they don't have, to impress people that they don't like I realized I could live off of $25000/yr and maintain a modestly comfortable lifestyle at the same time. I am on track to retire before I am 40. Anyone can do it. http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2013/02/22/getting-rich-from-zero-to-hero-in-one-blog-post/ http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2013/02/22/getting-rich-from-...
- javert 13y ago
  If I may ask, where do you live? Do you have family to support? I am under the assumption I could do it a lot cheaper if I were to choose not to have a family and to live in rural or semi-rural North Carolina. (Edit: I picked North Carolina becuase that's where I already am.)
  - Afforess 13y ago
    No, Raleigh NC.
    - javert 13y ago
      Thanks for the response, and wow, we are actually very close geographically. I'm surprised that you came up with $25,000.
- Casseres 13y ago
  That's the quote I was looking for to include in my post, but couldn't find :-) Awesome! Congrats on being on track to retire early. Just be prepared for it. From what I understand, a lot of people who retire get bored. If I didn't have to worry about money today, I would be volunteering a lot. If money was no object, I would be traveling a lot.
- enraged_camel 13y ago
  >>Anyone can do it. Correction: anyone who graduates without debt and starts their careers making good money can do it.
  - mistercow 13y ago
    ... if they (or their spouse or their children) don't have chronic health problems.
  - eropple 13y ago
    And is willing to live in fairly shitty places. (You're not retiring on $25K a year in any part of Boston, NYC, Seattle, or any other reasonably vibrant urban area without making brutal compromises in terms of quality of life.)
    - lotharbot 13y ago
      There are plenty of areas that are cheaper than Boston, NYC, or Seattle, and yet not "fairly shitty". For example, $25k a year can be quite comfortable in Denver, which is a reasonably vibrant urban area.
      - eropple 13y ago
        If you like flyover states (I don't, but I'll grant that you might), Denver with even just one kid and a car--because the RTD isn't very good, and honestly for me at least that's a huge gamebreaker because I am happy to never own a car again--is going to be a pretty shitty life.
        lotharbot 13y ago
        > "Denver with even just one kid and a car ... is going to be a pretty shitty life." I'm living in Denver with one kid, a car, and less than $25k in income. And my life is awesome. Maybe you have a different definition of "shitty" than me. Or maybe you don't realize how well you can live on that kind of money with a paid off house.
- wwweston 13y ago
  I've recently lived in reasonable comfort on less than that, but I've also learned to be suspicious about the phrase "anyone can do it" (no matter what "it" is). Sometimes it doesn't take much of a disadvantage to make certain things dramatically more difficult.
mikegagnon 13y ago
> People aren't working in factories to put bread on the table, people are working in offices to pay for their next new car or big screen TV. People are still working in factories to put bread on their tables. There is a huge amount of poverty in the world. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2046.html https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty
- Casseres 13y ago
  You're right, but I'm referring to the United States. I'm sorry I didn't make that clear.
  - deleted 13y ago
    [deleted]
  - PavlovsCat 13y ago
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty_in_the_United_States http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty_in_the_United_States I still don't see the rosy picture you're painting. edit: Poverty in the US is hovering at the same rate since the 60's from what I can tell, while absolute numbers obviously are rising. So.. what am I missing? Something like People aren't working in factories to put bread on the table, people are working in offices to pay for their next new car or big screen TV. just sounds nuts in the face of this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunger_in_the_United_States http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunger_in_the_United_States In the later half the of twentieth century, other advanced economies in Europe and Asia began to overtake the U.S. in terms of reducing hunger among their own populations. By 2011, a survey found that among 20 economies recognized as advanced by the International Monetary Fund and for which comparative rankings for food security were available, the U.S. was joint worst. [..] In comparison to other advanced economies, the U.S. had high levels of hunger even during the first few years of the 21st century, due in part to greater inequality and relatively less spending on welfare. Maybe I'm dealing with this? In the 1980s and 90s, advocates of small government were largely successful in de-politicizing hunger, making it hard to launch effective efforts to address the root causes, such as changing government policy to reduce poverty among low earners. and I can only say, if only getting rid of poverty was as easy as ignoring the poor, or downvoting a post instead of responding to it. Corporate profits are soaring, people for the most part are still struggling, and they even seem to have lost their voice. So now we're free to just dream? Why actually make progress when you can just imagine it?
ojbyrne 13y ago
I'm failing to see how your goal is any different from having a job to support your lifestyle.

Afforess 13y ago

People buy things they can't afford, with money that they don't have, to impress people that they don't like I realized I could live off of $25000/yr and maintain a modestly comfortable lifestyle at the same time. I am on track to retire before I am 40. Anyone can do it. http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2013/02/22/getting-rich-from-zero-to-hero-in-one-blog-post/ http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2013/02/22/getting-rich-from-...

javert 13y ago
If I may ask, where do you live? Do you have family to support? I am under the assumption I could do it a lot cheaper if I were to choose not to have a family and to live in rural or semi-rural North Carolina. (Edit: I picked North Carolina becuase that's where I already am.)
- Afforess 13y ago
  No, Raleigh NC.
  - javert 13y ago
    Thanks for the response, and wow, we are actually very close geographically. I'm surprised that you came up with $25,000.
Casseres 13y ago
That's the quote I was looking for to include in my post, but couldn't find :-) Awesome! Congrats on being on track to retire early. Just be prepared for it. From what I understand, a lot of people who retire get bored. If I didn't have to worry about money today, I would be volunteering a lot. If money was no object, I would be traveling a lot.
enraged_camel 13y ago
>>Anyone can do it. Correction: anyone who graduates without debt and starts their careers making good money can do it.
- mistercow 13y ago
  ... if they (or their spouse or their children) don't have chronic health problems.
- eropple 13y ago
  And is willing to live in fairly shitty places. (You're not retiring on $25K a year in any part of Boston, NYC, Seattle, or any other reasonably vibrant urban area without making brutal compromises in terms of quality of life.)
  - lotharbot 13y ago
    There are plenty of areas that are cheaper than Boston, NYC, or Seattle, and yet not "fairly shitty". For example, $25k a year can be quite comfortable in Denver, which is a reasonably vibrant urban area.
    - eropple 13y ago
      If you like flyover states (I don't, but I'll grant that you might), Denver with even just one kid and a car--because the RTD isn't very good, and honestly for me at least that's a huge gamebreaker because I am happy to never own a car again--is going to be a pretty shitty life.
      - lotharbot 13y ago
        > "Denver with even just one kid and a car ... is going to be a pretty shitty life." I'm living in Denver with one kid, a car, and less than $25k in income. And my life is awesome. Maybe you have a different definition of "shitty" than me. Or maybe you don't realize how well you can live on that kind of money with a paid off house.
wwweston 13y ago
I've recently lived in reasonable comfort on less than that, but I've also learned to be suspicious about the phrase "anyone can do it" (no matter what "it" is). Sometimes it doesn't take much of a disadvantage to make certain things dramatically more difficult.

mikegagnon 13y ago

> People aren't working in factories to put bread on the table, people are working in offices to pay for their next new car or big screen TV. People are still working in factories to put bread on their tables. There is a huge amount of poverty in the world. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2046.html https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty

Casseres 13y ago
You're right, but I'm referring to the United States. I'm sorry I didn't make that clear.
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
- PavlovsCat 13y ago
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty_in_the_United_States http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty_in_the_United_States I still don't see the rosy picture you're painting. edit: Poverty in the US is hovering at the same rate since the 60's from what I can tell, while absolute numbers obviously are rising. So.. what am I missing? Something like People aren't working in factories to put bread on the table, people are working in offices to pay for their next new car or big screen TV. just sounds nuts in the face of this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunger_in_the_United_States http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunger_in_the_United_States In the later half the of twentieth century, other advanced economies in Europe and Asia began to overtake the U.S. in terms of reducing hunger among their own populations. By 2011, a survey found that among 20 economies recognized as advanced by the International Monetary Fund and for which comparative rankings for food security were available, the U.S. was joint worst. [..] In comparison to other advanced economies, the U.S. had high levels of hunger even during the first few years of the 21st century, due in part to greater inequality and relatively less spending on welfare. Maybe I'm dealing with this? In the 1980s and 90s, advocates of small government were largely successful in de-politicizing hunger, making it hard to launch effective efforts to address the root causes, such as changing government policy to reduce poverty among low earners. and I can only say, if only getting rid of poverty was as easy as ignoring the poor, or downvoting a post instead of responding to it. Corporate profits are soaring, people for the most part are still struggling, and they even seem to have lost their voice. So now we're free to just dream? Why actually make progress when you can just imagine it?

ojbyrne 13y ago

I'm failing to see how your goal is any different from having a job to support your lifestyle.