Does anyone here live very well on very little?

[Anonymous]

How do you do it?

[Anonymous]

You do it by putting a higher priority on things that don't cost money. For instance, your grocery bill only goes so far, so if your priority is eating wild-caught alaskan salmon for $19.99/lb every night, you're going to struggle. If instead your priority is spending time with your child teaching them to cook and then sitting down to a leisurely family dinner, it won't bother you that you're eating the $4.99/lb chicken instead.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't say I live "very well" on my "very little" but I would say I spend very purposefully and am great at saving, taking good care of what I have, finding deals, delaying gratification, etc.

I don't have a lot, but I take great care of what I've got, I buy it on sale, and things last forever. I am 38 and literally still wear a t-shirt I got in sixth grade.

I am trying to teach my daughter to be the same way, but it's not working. She's 12 and I've now told her I won't buy her nice things because she loses them or breaks them and I just refuse to waste my money that way. When she changes her ways, I'll change mine.

[Anonymous]

To clarify, perhaps people think you earn a lot more than what you actually do. They'd be surprised to know your actual income. Not referring to those with trust funds.

[Anonymous]

Echo PPs. You make saving a priority, and spend as little as possible. For me, that means $1.99/lb chicken, and frequenting the sale bins for half-price fish. I never buy anything I can make at home, and only eat out when I'm with friends and enjoying the experience (rather than the convenience).

[Anonymous]

Sounds like a miserable way to live.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Echo PPs. You make saving a priority, and spend as little as possible. For me, that means $1.99/lb chicken, and frequenting the sale bins for half-price fish. I never buy anything I can make at home, and only eat out when I'm with friends and enjoying the experience (rather than the convenience).

Yes! I never, ever eat out unless it's to be with friends. Dh and I love to cook so it's not a burden.

Oh and I like how you got the price right on chicken PP! $1.99! Not the $4.99 someone posted upthread.

[Anonymous]

It really is quite easy: the natural tendency is to keep increasing one's spending as income goes up. If one used to own a Honda or a Toyota when one was earning less, making more money just causes most people to upgrade to an Infiniti or Lexus - or maybe a Mercedes or BMW.

If one equates a higher standard of living with success, you will definitely not be able to live on less.

I retired in my late forties, put five children through college without financial aid - although when it came to grad school and medical school, they had to fund themselves. We still have a decent lifestyle but we are not ostentatious. When I was earning significant money we maintained a comparatively modest lifestyle without stinting. At least 80% of my bonuses went into either retirement or deferred compensation funds. This is over and above the contributions from our regular salary.

We still maintain a comparatively modest lifestyle in relation to our net worth - but we always have the money to spend on anything we choose to buy.

It can be done but it needs a different mindset. We are reaping the rewards of watchful spending and absent any financial catastrophe we have enough savings and income to last us for the rest of our lives.

BTW, I see postings about people not being able to manage on $250K or more and it just blows my mind that people have problems managing on that sort of income.

[Anonymous]

Very low housing costs. I can do a ton on less with a 1K mortgage. And very low student loans. That saves me 1-2K/month compared to my peers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like a miserable way to live.

Agree. Who wants to live waiting for sales on toilet paper, buying 1.99 a pound chicken vs 2.50 /lb, never eating out and still wearing the same tee shirt that you got in 6th grade on a 38 yr old woman.

[Anonymous]

That chicken is full of hormones. Like packed. McDonalds isn't even going to use it anymore. Go vegan if you insist on buying cheap meat.

[Anonymous]

I think it just comes down to living below my means relative to salary at any given time -- whether that was my biglaw salary or my government salary.

Golden handcuffs come really easily if you don't watch it -- it gets easy to get yourself used to luxury vehicles such that a Honda just won't do, or make it so that you can ONLY shop at Whole Foods and Giant then seems gross to you.

I don't take it to the extreme though -- 401k savings are maxed out without question and there is additional liquid savings after that, but I haven't taken it so far that I'll only eat out if friends are going. For me -- cooking isn't my thing, so I'd rather spend $10 on getting dinner some nights rather than eating a grilled cheese. So I indulge at times while keeping the overall savings goals in mind.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like a miserable way to live.

Agree. Who wants to live waiting for sales on toilet paper, buying 1.99 a pound chicken vs 2.50 /lb, never eating out and still wearing the same tee shirt that you got in 6th grade on a 38 yr old woman.

I wouod rather work two jobs than live like that.

[Anonymous]

Are you talking about trying to get by on 150K?

[Anonymous]

I think I live pretty well on not too much money but it takes a lot of time. I live in a transitional neighborhood (petworth). It takes time to cultivate relationships with my neighbors and make it a nice place to live. My kids have a long commute to our dream school WOTP. I buy or grow all organic food and make it from scratch, and that also takes time. Nice life but it costs a lot in terms of time. I don't mind though because I like my neighbors and making food from scratch is family quality time where we all get involved.