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Hard to have an opinion because do not know what their income is.
While avoiding debt is great, living life is great also. For all the blabbing about people in over their heads in debt, there are also numerous people who manage debt just fine, and never had any issues.
But if some appliances are going to drive them into debt, then I am taking it they do not make much money at all, so it would be wise to be overly cautious about spending.
Condos also come with HOAs and the potential for special assessments; there are still plenty of single family communities in good areas with no HOA costs. We were looking art buying a condo as a rental property a while back and for a nothing special complex where we could have charged maybe $1300/month in rent for a 2 bedroom, the HOA fees would have been $500/month. (Which was one of the reasons we ended up passing on it.)
I think he should splurge, a little. I will agree with him, it might not make sense to take on a larger mortgage. I am personally in that situation, staying in my current home that has a very affordable mortgage payment.
I'd say he should allow some treats. Perhaps he could let his wife have a new(er) car, but nothing high end. I don't see the harm in a vacation or two each year, this can always be cut back on if he loses his job.
While I am not as frugal as the guy in the article, but I appreciate his sentiment. I am often frustrated when I see lavish homes and vacations being posted on Instagram. I sit here maxing out retirement savings each year and traveling on a budget.
I try to tell myself the financial security will bring me great peace of mind in my 50s!
I get his fear about housing. Having a low mortgage helps me sleep at night and provides more financial flexibility in an economic downturn as your housing costs (mortgage, taxes, utilities, etc.) are lower.
Maybe a good compromise would be to make the condo "fancier" with newer appliances and other upgrades...still cheaper than even buying a small house.
I am in the same boat as you, but I feel like we are often the odd men out! I feel like so many people buy at the high end of what they qualify to borrow. We bought a house that was about 40% of the amount that we qualify for.
Anyway, it's nice to know the mortgage can be paid off sooner and it won't be as much of a problem if there is a job loss in the household.
Why on earth do we keep discussing the 50K car? There are a variety of options other than the $50K new car, like a reliable old car or even a less expensive but reliable new car. I got a new car because my old car wasn’t particularly reliable and was super expensive to fix. We’re talking $4K a year for a car that I don’t think was even worth $5K at that point.
Pick your price then. Its about cost per mile. Usually ANY new car will not be cheaper per mile than repairing an old one. People have been conning themselves into buying new car, cause old one is a money pit, for decades, probably as long as there have been cars. Simple fact its usually poor economic choice unless you are so wealthy, you pay cash and its trivial to your yearly income. My notion is most new cars are money pits, you are just paying bunch money to the bank rather than the mechanic.
When ones frugalness starts to intrude And hurt and effect others you live with that is turning in to cheapness and you need to reevaluate your life style as it applies to those you live with
I think it depends on their income and the stability of the work they do. If you are a doctor, that's a pretty high stable income. If most of their income is from being on an OF site, that's not very stable income. You should save a higher percent of your income if it's less stable. Other factors that matter are how long do you want to work? and what are your expectations in retirement?
It's a complicated question. You don't want to be a penny pincher your whole life and then get hit by a bus before you can spend it. But you probably don't want to have to work until you're 80 either.
Personality match is really important. I think money spent on things you really enjoy is well worth it. If you dislike traveling but your spouse loves it then you are going to resent spending money on it. If you're both spending money on things you both enjoy then it won't feel like waste.
You don't want to be a penny pincher your whole life and then get hit by a bus before you can spend it. But you probably don't want to have to work until you're 80 either.
Hurts worse to be a spend thrift all your working life, then live to be 100 on SS with exponentially increasing rent. Forcing you to get some peon job with a pimply teenager as your supervisor.
I have enough food to eat, and a rocking chair next to warm fire in winter, no debt and no serious monthly bills to worry about, then I'm all set. The real trick to happiness is to want less but enough to keep your mind pleasantly occupied.
Others need that barn size house with servants, eat every meal out, and chauffered around in limo. More power to them, not the life I ever wanted.
I had couple that were good friends. Worked hard whole life. Both died just before retirement. Him of heart attack and her of cancer. That sucked, really nice people and deserved at least ten to fifteen years of retirement. He kept saying he was just going to play golf in retirement, when he died. I kept thinking, he is going to be so bored so quick as he had been very active man his whole life. But at least he should had chance to find that out. Oh well not sure either were really able to "just take it easy". They were workers.
Originally Posted by sandlines
You don't want to be a penny pincher your whole life and then get hit by a bus before you can spend it. But you probably don't want to have to work until you're 80 either.
If you don't want to work until you're 80 you're in the wrong line of work. I plan to work until I'm 90 if I live that long.
"Our appliances are 20 years old. Much to my wife’s dismay, I keep fixing them with a $10 part. I am comfortable living this way. I grew up on hand-me-down clothes and I shop in thrift-store shoes. Our quality of life is really good compared to when I was a kid.
This is affecting our overall happiness. Our friends have much nicer homes with stone facades, big bedrooms and hotel-like master bathrooms. Every other neighbor drives a newer Lexus or Audi. Our friends and other people on social media are doing fun things all the time, or at least creating the impression that they’re in the Florida Keys every couple months.
I live in fear. I’m afraid of credit-card debt. I never want to go through that again. I fear that if I bought a $300,000 home in the suburbs I could lose my job next month. People lose their jobs all the time. I don’t want to be one of those people who lost their house due to financial hardship.
I worry that another downturn could happen, and the house would lose a third of its value. I don’t even know if I want to live here for the rest of my life. My issue is more than simply living frugally. It’s an everyday, obsessive worry about money."
This is an interesting article. I think many of us may be in a similar situation. You want to live as cheaply as possible, avoid debt and be free of being controlled.
She wants what her friends have; newer expensive stuff that requires being in debt.
What do you think?
There's a difference between being frugal and being a cheap bastard who is afraid of his own fiscal shadow.
My wife and I are frugal. We have saved beyond the seven digit mark in retirement savings, downsized into a 1,400 sf condo, and drive base model cars.
At the same time, what we have is nice. We take nice vacations. We enjoy dining out, seeing shows, and everything else. Because the point of frugality is to be able to not throw your money on frivolous things while enjoying what life has to offer. Because what's the point of dying with a pile of cash if you never experienced anything?
My in-laws are cheap. As in they live in a 7,000 sf house that's paid for, but they will nurse along a pot of coffee for three days. Never go anywhere, never do anything. And pretty much critique how everybody else spends money.
Cheap bastards suck all the joy out of life.
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