Nickel and dimed everywhere these days

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:luxury spending is an expensive therapeutic accomodation for people who can't form rewarding human social relations.

I see it in my extended family. We have a mix of high income and low income, and high spenders and low spenders. The high spenders , whether they are rich and spending a ton, or poor and spending more than they earn and getting subsidies, are not enjoying themselves more than the people who spend less than the most they can.

A complicated Instagram-worthy international trip or driving to a restaurant is ice as a rare or occasional treat, but as a regular occurrence, isn't more rewarding than a middle-class lake retreat or spending that 60 minutes in travel time cooling dinner as a family.
A family you enjoy, and staying physical healthy, is the best luxury.

Thank you for this. I have felt that cutting back has been rewarding in its own way but I am still stuck in the phase of craving and missing the spending. But I see the truth in what you wrote and will keep going.

The longer you cut back, the better you will feel. I stopped spending in November and have been feeling great. I enjoy not feeling screwed over and my savings is increasing just by making small changes--lots of hikes with the family, walks with friends instead of insanely $$ dinners eating out, cooking healthy food at home, shopping my closet, etc. One exception: last week I ended up in a bind (long story) and my son and I made an impulsive decision to eat lunch at Shake Shack at 2:30pm because we were starving. It cost FORTY SIX DOLLARS. Screw that. I'm out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:luxury spending is an expensive therapeutic accomodation for people who can't form rewarding human social relations.

I see it in my extended family. We have a mix of high income and low income, and high spenders and low spenders. The high spenders , whether they are rich and spending a ton, or poor and spending more than they earn and getting subsidies, are not enjoying themselves more than the people who spend less than the most they can.

A complicated Instagram-worthy international trip or driving to a restaurant is ice as a rare or occasional treat, but as a regular occurrence, isn't more rewarding than a middle-class lake retreat or spending that 60 minutes in travel time cooling dinner as a family.
A family you enjoy, and staying physical healthy, is the best luxury.

Thank you for this. I have felt that cutting back has been rewarding in its own way but I am still stuck in the phase of craving and missing the spending. But I see the truth in what you wrote and will keep going.

The longer you cut back, the better you will feel. I stopped spending in November and have been feeling great. I enjoy not feeling screwed over and my savings is increasing just by making small changes--lots of hikes with the family, walks with friends instead of insanely $$ dinners eating out, cooking healthy food at home, shopping my closet, etc. One exception: last week I ended up in a bind (long story) and my son and I made an impulsive decision to eat lunch at Shake Shack at 2:30pm because we were starving. It cost FORTY SIX DOLLARS. Screw that. I'm out.

+1 I'm the poster who packs snacks and meals when we're out and about. If you're hungry and didn't pack food, then stop by a grocery store to pick up snacks or even prepared food will be much less expensive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you going to just swim through your gold coins like Scrooge Mcduck?

I mean, I get it, prices are very inflated. But making yourself into a miser as a one person protest isn’t going to change that. It’s just going to isolate you, make you grumpy and cause you to miss out on cool things in the prime of your life.

Frugality is liberating. It speeds up your path to financial independence, it allows you to unchain yourself from consumerism, and to spend more time on productive activities that are free or cheap.

Not one mention of fun anywhere in there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you going to just swim through your gold coins like Scrooge Mcduck?

I mean, I get it, prices are very inflated. But making yourself into a miser as a one person protest isn’t going to change that. It’s just going to isolate you, make you grumpy and cause you to miss out on cool things in the prime of your life.

Frugality is liberating. It speeds up your path to financial independence, it allows you to unchain yourself from consumerism, and to spend more time on productive activities that are free or cheap.

Not one mention of fun anywhere in there.

Well, it depends on what your idea of fun is.

For the next few years most of us won't be able to afford any fun that costs money, so it helps if you like fun things that are free or inexpensive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you going to just swim through your gold coins like Scrooge Mcduck?

I mean, I get it, prices are very inflated. But making yourself into a miser as a one person protest isn’t going to change that. It’s just going to isolate you, make you grumpy and cause you to miss out on cool things in the prime of your life.

Frugality is liberating. It speeds up your path to financial independence, it allows you to unchain yourself from consumerism, and to spend more time on productive activities that are free or cheap.

Not one mention of fun anywhere in there.

"Fun" is self-generated financial security, instead of living in poverty in retirement or expecting the government to provide you with a comfortable lifestyle because you can't provide for yourself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you going to just swim through your gold coins like Scrooge Mcduck?

I mean, I get it, prices are very inflated. But making yourself into a miser as a one person protest isn’t going to change that. It’s just going to isolate you, make you grumpy and cause you to miss out on cool things in the prime of your life.

Frugality is liberating. It speeds up your path to financial independence, it allows you to unchain yourself from consumerism, and to spend more time on productive activities that are free or cheap.

Not one mention of fun anywhere in there.

There are plenty of ways to have fun while being frugal. Frugality doesn't have to be about spending as little as possible, just about not spending more than you need to.

For example I love to play golf. Many people I play with spend thousands of dollars every couple of years to buy new clubs. I've spent about $400 on clubs in my entire life. My first set I got off freecycle and after I had a few years experience under my belt I went to Second Swing and got a nicer $400 set that was a few years old which I've been playing for several years and will continue to play for years to come.

Any good golfer will tell you your score is 99% your skill and 1% your equipment. Back in the 60s Arnold Palmer was doing things with hickory clubs nobody I play with will ever come close to no matter how much they spend on the latest gear. Is there anything wrong with spending thousands on gear every year if you have the money? Absolutely not, but there's no need to. I'm having just as much fun as my buddies while spending a fraction of the money. That's being frugal but still having fun.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you going to just swim through your gold coins like Scrooge Mcduck?

I mean, I get it, prices are very inflated. But making yourself into a miser as a one person protest isn’t going to change that. It’s just going to isolate you, make you grumpy and cause you to miss out on cool things in the prime of your life.

Frugality is liberating. It speeds up your path to financial independence, it allows you to unchain yourself from consumerism, and to spend more time on productive activities that are free or cheap.

Not one mention of fun anywhere in there.

Well, it depends on what your idea of fun is.

For the next few years most of us won't be able to afford any fun that costs money, so it helps if you like fun things that are free or inexpensive.

Not true. You don't have to justify your frugality by assuming most DCUMers are in the same boat as you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just wait till the tariffs hit. Maybe FORD should make a better product if they want people to buy their POS cars.

Ford trucks sure seem popular.

So they have one popular model, whoopie. How many times had Ford declared bankruptcy now?

The problem with Ford getting more marketshare is that a lot of people value reliability and they already pay a premium for it to get a Honda or Toyota. Compare used car values, the difference is eye boggling. Making Hondas and Toyotas even more expensive via tariffs is not going to make that segment of the consumer suddenly interested in buying Fords.

Exactly! We will just keep our Honda/Toyota until 200K miles/an extra year or two to pay for the extra tariffs costs. I'm not going to save $6K when I purchase a car to end up spending that 6K+ in the next 6 years on repairs, not to mention costs associated with your car constantly being in the shop

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My wealthy friends have always been cheap - multimillionaires buying used clothing on Primark or going on holiday to a beautiful place in Africa, but staying at a local hotel with no amenities rather than the expat-oriented luxury hotel cheap. I loved them for it but always was happy to shell out for the expensive hotel ... now, I am embracing their lifestyle.

When you suck billions out of the economy overnight, it sucks even more money out of the economy. It's called the money multiplier effect - every dollar the USG spends creates 5 or 6 dollars in the economy. And if the government stops spending, and the money supply goes down, people like us have less to spend so my family will spend nothing. The good news is that it turns out my family likes curried lentils.

Many rich/wealthy people are frugal or rather best described as "well aware of where we choose to spend our money". Especially those who earned their wealth (not given to them from family), and likely spent years living within their means.

If I'm on vacation at a beach resort, yes I'm going to choose to spend for luxury. But if I land in Europe and going to get to a hotel at 6pm and take a train at 9am the next morning, even if I'm in Paris, I am looking for a really good value hotel and a good location not far from the main train station. So I'm spending 300-400E, not 900E because it just doesn't matter for that evening at all. But if I'm spending a week in Paris, then I will splurge for a nicer hotel.
Similarly, if it's a 2 hour flight, I'm not spending $600 extra for first class, if I can get an aisle seat in economy Plus/comfortPlus. But if it's an overnight to Europe, yeah I'm paying the cost to be in business with a flatbed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:College tuition for my current freshman came out. Increase of 6%!! Meantime, the college is sitting on billions of endowment funds. Ridiculous, but what choice do I have? DD is happy but we're going tighten up in all other areas.

Umm. that has been happening for decades--the 3-6% increase. You do have a choice. You could have chosen a state U that is more affordable or a private that gave your kid great merit, so costs are not as much of a factor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:luxury spending is an expensive therapeutic accomodation for people who can't form rewarding human social relations.

I see it in my extended family. We have a mix of high income and low income, and high spenders and low spenders. The high spenders , whether they are rich and spending a ton, or poor and spending more than they earn and getting subsidies, are not enjoying themselves more than the people who spend less than the most they can.

A complicated Instagram-worthy international trip or driving to a restaurant is ice as a rare or occasional treat, but as a regular occurrence, isn't more rewarding than a middle-class lake retreat or spending that 60 minutes in travel time cooling dinner as a family.
A family you enjoy, and staying physical healthy, is the best luxury.

Speak for yourself. You can be plenty happy and still take luxury international trips. Yes, we can have fun and enjoy ourselves just traveling locally as well. But we take the trips because it's what we love. And nope, we don't Instagram them


However, yes the key is to be able to afford them (and everything else in life---like kids education and retirement should be saved for before you take a luxury vacation).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:College tuition for my current freshman came out. Increase of 6%!! Meantime, the college is sitting on billions of endowment funds. Ridiculous, but what choice do I have? DD is happy but we're going tighten up in all other areas.

Raising tuition after enrollment is the biggest scam. It should be illegal. College is a 4-year product.

They can set your price for the entire 4 years. Some schools do it.
Don't kid yourself. They have already built in the "3 years of increases" into that price. Most just are not smart enough to recognize that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:luxury spending is an expensive therapeutic accomodation for people who can't form rewarding human social relations.

I see it in my extended family. We have a mix of high income and low income, and high spenders and low spenders. The high spenders , whether they are rich and spending a ton, or poor and spending more than they earn and getting subsidies, are not enjoying themselves more than the people who spend less than the most they can.

A complicated Instagram-worthy international trip or driving to a restaurant is ice as a rare or occasional treat, but as a regular occurrence, isn't more rewarding than a middle-class lake retreat or spending that 60 minutes in travel time cooling dinner as a family.
A family you enjoy, and staying physical healthy, is the best luxury.

This is false, sorry. Horses are so, so fun. So is being next to the ocean. Lakes are icky.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My wealthy friends have always been cheap - multimillionaires buying used clothing on Primark or going on holiday to a beautiful place in Africa, but staying at a local hotel with no amenities rather than the expat-oriented luxury hotel cheap. I loved them for it but always was happy to shell out for the expensive hotel ... now, I am embracing their lifestyle.

When you suck billions out of the economy overnight, it sucks even more money out of the economy. It's called the money multiplier effect - every dollar the USG spends creates 5 or 6 dollars in the economy. And if the government stops spending, and the money supply goes down, people like us have less to spend so my family will spend nothing. The good news is that it turns out my family likes curried lentils.

Being careful with spending is how they became wealthy in the first place. It's tempting to spend up to one's income, but that results in little net worth. Accumulation of wealth requires spending well below income, which can be done by anyone at any income level, if they have the discipline and don't yield to indulgence in wants over needs.

+1

That is how most do it. Hard work, risks and living below your means (whatever they currently are)
The perks of doing that is by time you are 40/50, you typically can focus more on spending because you are well set for life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you going to just swim through your gold coins like Scrooge Mcduck?

I mean, I get it, prices are very inflated. But making yourself into a miser as a one person protest isn’t going to change that. It’s just going to isolate you, make you grumpy and cause you to miss out on cool things in the prime of your life.

Not really.

The anticonsumption thread on Reddit shows a lot of people are buying less. Trump is really effing up because spendy people will change their behavior for good.

Yes! Those who are "wasting" on non-essentials will realize just how much they are spending, and while they will add some back, they likely will not return to the "wasteful" levels of current