My one pet peeve with MOST personal finance blogs out there is their almost religious commitment to being thrifty. I have read articles lately about refilling toothpaste bottles and reusing cereal liners. In my opinion that’s not personal finance, that is borderline homelessness.
I know there are people out there that are mired in debt and need to use these gorilla tactics to crawl out of the hole they are in. I have been at those points in my life where I had to stretch every dollar reeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaallllllllllllllyyyyyyyy far. However, I suspect that there is another group of individuals out there that are so turned off by the “personal finance paupers” that they eschew personal finance blogs, articles and tv shows. My belief is that you can still have a comfortable life and build wealth. You just need to budget accordingly.
I have a confession to make: I eat out every day. That’s right. Every day. No, I don’t buy my food in bulk at Sam’s Club. And you know what else, I drink alot of beer at bars. I have budgeted these things into my life because they make me happy. Could I sock a little bit more into my savings account if I ate at home and drank a six pack all by my self. Sure, but what fun would that be? I have been able to invest a hell of alot of money from age 22-29 without living a boring life. Does it help that I am single with no children? Sure. Does it help that I live in a city with a low cost of living (Philly)? Sure. Does it help that I have made a decent salary over the last few years? Sure. But I am convinced you can have your cake and eat it too. In college, I made $12,000/year. My pay was able to cover rent, electric, gas, car insurance, food and alot of partying. Did I have to skimp on luxuries? Obviously. But I budgeted around my priorities and 12K went a long way.
My view is personal finance should be about finding the sweet spot between growing your net worth and living a fulfilling life. Just my 2 cents.
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October 17, 2007 at 5:43 pm
[…] Original post by Nicole […]
October 17, 2007 at 6:18 pm
My guess is those who advocate such techniques are doing exactly what you do: budgeting what matters into their lives.
Their happiness is probably not dependant on ceral liners or toothpaste, so they save dilligently in those areas, to be able to enjoy aspects of life more dear to them. For you it’s eating out and beers. For someone else, it may be concerts, or books, or education, or whatever.
I can’t see how being very frugal in areas that aren’t important to one contradicts your philosophy you discuss here. To me, they seem like parts of the same philosophy. And like you said, some people need to be very frugal and stretch ever dollar. They may need to do that to have their version of your beer and eating out.
Just my two cents. I simply don’t see the offputting aspect of that type of frugality. Especially if it allows people to make more room in their lives for the things they love that they might not be able to otherwise afford.
October 17, 2007 at 6:45 pm
M-
You are probably right. I guess it doesn’t contradict my philosphy. Great comment!
October 19, 2007 at 1:47 pm
Each of us has a relationship with money. One person may overvalue it and would do just about anything to have/get more of it in the sense of “building” on that relationship. Another person may undervalue it and would rather exchange it for other needs/wants in life in the sense of “sharing” that relationship. And, yes there are those who have learned how to value it accordingly in the sense of “balancing” that relationship on an individual and collective basis.
October 23, 2007 at 1:29 pm
Mimi-
Great point. You are one smart cookie! It is so important to look at money from a psychological perspective. all of our behaviors start in our mind.