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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]This is s/o the Mister Money Mustache thread - I saw a couple of people post there that they live happily on $25k or $36k a year. I am not into luxury stuff - we have one car, an old Kia Soul, for example. But I also think it would be very very very very hard to live at that amount.

Can I ask a couple of questions, for those who are living at that amount by choice? (This obviously isn't about those living on very little because they don't have other options - it's really for those who are living on little while socking away more for later.)

- Do you live near your family? If not how do you afford going to see them?

- Do you have hobbies? What are they?

- Do you ever travel for fun? If so, what's your approach?

- Do you ever find yourself really wanting something that is outside your MMM budget (like a trip to Australia, or some expensive shoes)? Do you ever given in to those urges or do you just figure you'll get over it?

- What do you eat most days? Do you ever buy the expensive mustard or the fancy tomatoes?

- What do you do for yourself, that you see other people spending money on for others to do for them? Do you make your own clothes, or grow your own vegetables, or...?

- Are most of your friends in the same boat? If not how do you do it when your friends want to get together at a restaurant, or to go see a concert, or whatever? You just say no and have them over for a potluck instead, or...?

- What sort of house or apartment do you live in? Did you pick that place in order to be able to spend very little? Do you like your home?

- What do you think are the big misconceptions about how you live? What do you wish others understood about your approach to money - what do we outsiders usually get wrong?

[/quote]

$36,000 goes a LONG way when you don't owe anyone anything.
1. $80 in gas to go see family
2. I bike, run and play unlimited golf for $70/month
3. I travel whenever I want to. You can get super cheap flights when you are flexible on dates, times and layovers. You can get anywhere in the country for $200 if you are flexible. 
4. I eat mostly meat and vegetables. I don't cut corners, I get whatever I want. I drink craft beer not Miller lite
5. I clean my own house, cut my own grass, change my own oil etc. I have an extra 10 hours in my day that the average working person doesn't have.
6. When my friends get together in a restaurant, I go too. How much do you think that costs? Two people can eat at a steakhouse for $100.
7.I picked a ranch house on a golf course less than 1900 sq ft located within bike distance of grocery stores and other stores. It was $189,000. I bought it this year. Yes, it's in the south.
8.People think FIRE means living a boring, do nothing lifestyle. They are wrong. I have never been so entertained in all my life[/quote]

This is OP - and this doesn't sound SO different from how we live, though our families are a flight away, not a drive. Our house was $330k instead of $190k - so that's some difference (but we have two incomes). We have someone who cuts our yard and another who occasionally cleans the house. We get the oil changed when we get the car serviced twice a year. So I guess I'd expect our expenses would be maybe twice yours? - which is still considerably less than our HHI.

We have other expenses - a big one is student loans. My husband is paying off an annoyingly large credit card bill. And we have pets - but no kids. Still it doesn't seem like our expenses should be SO much greater that you'd feel you are a FIRE person and we are not anywhere close to being that. Or far enough from it that the lifestyle sounds very foreign to me.

Well, maybe it's time to reexamine our expenses and see where the disconnect is?

Thanks for responding - glad it's working for you.[/quote]

You have to get debt free and save a nest egg. [/quote]

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