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I am also in the macro-frugal category. The little things may add up, but I don't care to nickle and dime every little thing. I don't really care whether my toilet paper cost $5.00 or $5.25. I do care whether I got a good product for the money I spent. But since I don't buy lots of stuff, big or small, in the first place, the little stuff doesn't add up very fast, anyway.
I see to it that damned near all my spending is either absolutely essential, increases my income or my value in the market, or maximally adds to my enjoyment. I love to shoot, but I shoot only .22lr, or my cast bullet reloads, which cost me about 5c each in 9mm. :-) My casting setup makes me about 5k a year, selling bullets to other people, so the fact that it cost me $700 to set it up means nothing.
Micro-frugality: Paying attention and cutting out the small expenses (i.e. food, eating out, daily coffee, etc.) since they "add up".
Macro-frugality: Cutting back on the big expenses (rent, car payment, etc.) while not paying too much attention to the small expenses.
Good article. Thanks. Many on this forum have discussed this topic before, but the article makes it simple to understand.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jtur88
Pride and self respect, though, DO stop me from that. Along with a comforting measure of laziness and the pleasure of being in control of the finite hours of my life.
Nobody on his death bed ever said "I wish I had spent more time at the office". But there are plenty who have said "I wish I had never bought that sailboat".
He didn't say anything about working more.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jtur88
In the private sector, virtually every employment is a link in a chain of transferring wealth from the consumers to the financial overlords (Wall Street) who are using their workers as pawns to maximize their share of power, wealth and de-facto royalty. Playing my part in that does not fill me with pride nor self-respect. If that is what makes you proud, then knock yourself out for some of the scraps, but don't project your own persona on the rest of us. Some of us don't want it and have found a way to escape it, and it gives us self-respect.
You make it sound like hierarchy is a bad thing. It's a requirement for society to function.
Yes, you do. This is a discussion forum, not a place for a vague meaningless 3-word quip without a noun nor a verb, with the purpose of ridiculing another poster.
I'm sorry, I gave you the bennifit of the doubt about you having a modicum of intelect, such that you would be able to contemplate the reality that there are a plethera of ways by which an individual can produce income, excludining those which would require onesself to surrender your 'pride and self respect'.
Better?
Quote:
Originally Posted by jtur88
In the private sector, virtually every employment is a link in a chain of transferring wealth from the consumers to the financial overlords (Wall Street) who are using their workers as pawns to maximize their share of power, wealth and de-facto royalty. Playing my part in that does not fill me with pride nor self-respect. If that is what makes you proud, then knock yourself out for some of the scraps, but don't project your own persona on the rest of us. Some of us don't want it and have found a way to escape it, and it gives us self-respect.
And you are claiming that there is NO WAY that you can increase your income, despite (According to your claims) having found a way to produce an income without engaging in free enterprise.
The only thing I can think of that fits this is welfare...
And even then you could buy and sell at a profit...
Believe me... I'm ALL ABOUT 'checking out of the ratrace.
Things are on schedule so far, so that by the time I'm 35 I can drop out entirely and do consulting work 4-6 months out the year.
But to claim that 'pride and self respect' keeps someone from increasing their income is to ignore EVERYTHING in the arena of free enterprise!
Although I WOULD be interested in finding out what it is you DO DO for income...
It's not how much money a person makes, it's how much they save
It's not one or the other. It's net cashflow. But income is more important than savings. If you can guarantee future income, then you don't need savings. It's impossible to guarantee future savings to the point where you could survive with no income, unless you are independently wealthy.
I'm sorry, I gave you the bennifit of the doubt about you having a modicum of intelect, such that you would be able to contemplate the reality that there are a plethera of ways by which an individual can produce income, excludining those which would require onesself to surrender your 'pride and self respect'.
Better?
And you are claiming that there is NO WAY that you can increase your income, despite (According to your claims) having found a way to produce an income without engaging in free enterprise.
The only thing I can think of that fits this is welfare...
And even then you could buy and sell at a profit...
Believe me... I'm ALL ABOUT 'checking out of the ratrace.
Things are on schedule so far, so that by the time I'm 35 I can drop out entirely and do consulting work 4-6 months out the year.
But to claim that 'pride and self respect' keeps someone from increasing their income is to ignore EVERYTHING in the arena of free enterprise!
Although I WOULD be interested in finding out what it is you DO DO for income...
Some possibilities (not implying he's any particular one of them):
Government employee
Scientist or professor paid via government grant.
Professional thief
Agreed, even then you can still save and invest your excess cash..
To a certain extent, it is a false dichotomy. Ultimately, you have to put the heaviest emphasis on the macro. If your rent/mortgage is 1/3 of your gross income or more, that is a prescription for payday to payday living. Not good. But you still have to watch the small expenses, too. Some people can fritter away large sums of money on small things. But if the big expenses are under control, then it's fine and good to blow money on small things if you enjoy them.
At very low incomes, it's difficult to impossible to keep rent/mortgage below 1/3 of income unless you own a home without a mortgage.
The key point is that people need to match their expenditures with their priorities. So for one person the best answer is that he spend half his income on their house (because that is extremely important to him) and scrimp on everything else (because he doesn't care about it), while another person spends half his income on his sailboat (sailing is his primary joy in life). Then there are some of us who save a great deal of money--because it gives us a strong sense of security. I think it is very arrogant of a number of you who seem to feel other people should have the same priorities as you do.
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