Read Mr. Money Mustache for the first time

[Anonymous]

I learned about MMM on this site and finally checked it out. While I think he has some useful info, I can’t help but think about what a cheap bastard he seems to be. Yeah, he spent all of $37 on his Hawaiian vacation, but he leached off the kindness and generosity of others to do so. Our lifestyles are obviously our choices, but I hate hearing others brag about how much they don’t spend while being fed and lodged by someone else. Is Mrs. MM on board with wearing clothes until they fall apart? And are they Canadian, and that’s how they have healthcare? I have not read the entire site.


* Or maybe he just reminds a little too much of my FIL, who’s retired with multiple homes, suggests fancy dinners out, and never offers to pay for himself or others.

[Anonymous]

MMM is as much of a slave to money as any average person with debt (car loan, student loans, mortgage etc).

[Anonymous]

As with anything in life, things are always more than they appear on the surface.

[Anonymous]

Plus now MMM makes multi millions a year from his website.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I learned about MMM on this site and finally checked it out. While I think he has some useful info, I can’t help but think about what a cheap bastard he seems to be. Yeah, he spent all of $37 on his Hawaiian vacation, but he leached off the kindness and generosity of others to do so.

Are you talking about the time Mr Money Mustache moved in with this guy and his wife in Hawaii for a couple months, slept on a couch in their living room, and worked construction to help them renovate their house to make a guest suite so the wife (pregnant) could quit her job and earn some income renting out the guest suite?

And after the two months of doing construction work, he sent for his wife and son to have a month long vacation?

Doesn't sound like he was using anyone. That sounds like barter to me!

[Anonymous]

https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2013/02/10/the-hawaii-project-final-numbers-and-a-few-pictures/

[Anonymous]

Sounds like he is cheap rather than being frugal. I hate cheap people but ok with frugal folks.

[Anonymous]

Can't stand to read his blogs bc he purports to be soooo frugal and yet makes millions off his blog. But I do think the forums are fairly good. IDK I thought they'd be full of people like making their own soap to save 6 cents but really it seems to be people talking investments etc. with goals of early retirement at all stages -- some wanting to be done at 35, others just a few yrs early at 60 or 55. I think that's the more useful part of MMM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: And are they Canadian, and that’s how they have healthcare? I have not read the entire site.

No, they live in Colorado. They buy health insurance.

https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2017/11/05/when-your-shitty-health-insurance-doubles-in-price

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Plus now MMM makes multi millions a year from his website.

Yeah, but he didn't for years, and he keeps his spending to below $35,000 a year. And did that for years which is how they saved so much money.

https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2017/05/19/2016-spending

Although, he hasn't posted their spending for 2017 yet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I learned about MMM on this site and finally checked it out. While I think he has some useful info, I can’t help but think about what a cheap bastard he seems to be. Yeah, he spent all of $37 on his Hawaiian vacation, but he leached off the kindness and generosity of others to do so.

Are you talking about the time Mr Money Mustache moved in with this guy and his wife in Hawaii for a couple months, slept on a couch in their living room, and worked construction to help them renovate their house to make a guest suite so the wife (pregnant) could quit her job and earn some income renting out the guest suite?

And after the two months of doing construction work, he sent for his wife and son to have a month long vacation?

Doesn't sound like he was using anyone. That sounds like barter to me!

Thanks, I obviously didn’t have the whole HI picture!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is Mrs. MM on board with wearing clothes until they fall apart?

This is what she wrote about it, granted it was 8 years ago. Maybe she spends more now.

http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2011/10/14/eliminate-your-dependence-on-foreign-and-domestic-clothing/

Between the ages of 25 and 29, I spent a LOT more money than I do now, even while I thought I was being frugal. We “only” went out to eat once a week, we biked to work 3 times per week (and carpooled the remaining 2 days), and we were saving quite a bit. But, after having “The Talk” with MMM (after minor arguments about some of my habits), I realized that my two big problem areas were books and clothing. The books part was easily resolved: I started using the library and in the process found a new love. The clothing part was a bit harder. I probably spent $50-100 per month, for several years, on this habit. When you add that up, it’s several thousand dollars of clothes and shoes that marched themselves into my closet.

Now, you might be thinking “if you have enough money, why is that a problem area?” Well, it’s because we had a Goal. We wanted to be financially secure before having a child, to the point of BOTH of us being able to stop working to raise our child. This goal was very important to us, and this obsession with buying clothing was getting in the way of it. And being with my future child was much more important than owning a bunch of activewear. Plus, I knew that my addiction to clothing was not making me happy in a lasting way, and was thus a self-defeating habit that I often regretted.

[Anonymous]

he’s a douche

[Anonymous]

The better place to look is the forums on his site. Yeah he can be preachy and over the top, but it doesn’t change what’s great about what he espouses. The point of accumulating money is to buy yourself options, including the freedom from paid work if that’s what you want. It is attainable for many people by reducing spending a lot. If that’s not interesting to you, that’s fine - there are lots of ways to be happy.

It was a mind shift for me when I found his site. DH and I got to the point where one of us, then both of us, could leave our jobs. We still work, but more on our own terms. Having options feels great.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I learned about MMM on this site and finally checked it out. While I think he has some useful info, I can’t help but think about what a cheap bastard he seems to be. Yeah, he spent all of $37 on his Hawaiian vacation, but he leached off the kindness and generosity of others to do so.

Are you talking about the time Mr Money Mustache moved in with this guy and his wife in Hawaii for a couple months, slept on a couch in their living room, and worked construction to help them renovate their house to make a guest suite so the wife (pregnant) could quit her job and earn some income renting out the guest suite?

And after the two months of doing construction work, he sent for his wife and son to have a month long vacation?

Doesn't sound like he was using anyone. That sounds like barter to me!

Phrasing that as spending $37 is so dishonest though. I bet everyone on this site could afford to pay for one month of vacation with two full months salary. Actually, I could stay somewhere really nice for 30 days if I was willing to spend 2 months salary on the vacation.