I think the general message is fine but his execution is overboard for me.

I think a lot of it is penny-wise, pound-foolish. I also think scrounging every penny for the sake of early retirement is not realistic for a lot of families. For example, he made a six figure income before he was married or had a child- that is when he saved the majority of his money! Then, he decided to move to an area with crappy schools, and guess what, the school was crappy and he didn't want his son to go there! So now he is homeschooling his son. Great for him, but not all of us want to do that. He also sacrificed having a second child. Again, not something I would want to do, and I am super frugal!

I enjoy perusing the boards on MMM, sometimes I get good, fresh ideas and sometimes I get a huge laugh. Many of his followers take things to a huge extreme. Yesterday I was reading about people who willingly live out of their car to save money and others who only eat items that cost less than a dollar to keep their grocery bills to under $25 a week (so basically eating all heavily processed food, at least on that thread a doctor came on and pointed out how unhealthy that was, this particular poster wanted to get it down to $10 a week). I definitely try to be smart with my money, but many MMM followers take it to such an extreme I can't imagine finding much joy in life if you are so stressed, willingly stressed, to spend each and every cent.

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Anonymous wrote:Penny wise, pound foolish. Suggestions often times assume that your time is free. Does not understand the concept of opportunity cost.

Well he doesn't work so he has plenty of free time.

And your time isn't worth anything unless it would keep you from doing your paid job at work. For instance, cooking at home from scratch doesn't have an opportunity cost because otherwise you'd be watching Netflix or being lazy, not putting in hours towards work.

No, it assumes an antiquated labor model. If you can freelance on the side, then cooking from scratch could be really expensive for you. Or perhaps you could use the time to tutor your kids instead of cooking. Life is about trade offs. MMM assumes that your default activity is sitting around doing nothing.

I agree with you, but truthfully, most American's default mode IS sitting around watching TV after dinner and before bed.

Not 2 income families in the DC area. If we want to watch TV we have to schedule time for that and is always in the form of Family Movie Night.

Yes, totally agree! The only downtime is scheduled, and quite limited, at that.

Right? TV, what's that? I'm up at 5am, in the gym by 530am, home by 640am (gym literally a block away). Breakfast, dressed, kids off by 745, me on the road. Home by 5pm, homework, dinner scramble, sports practice sometimes, pack lunches, clean, prep for tomorrow, laundry, read books to the kids, tuck them in, snuggle, and I'm lights out at 9pm. No time AT ALL for TV.

Whrn people talk about Game of Thrones or Walking Dead or whatever else is on TV, I have no idea what they are talking about.

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Penny wise, pound foolish. Suggestions often times assume that your time is free. Does not understand the concept of opportunity cost.

Well he doesn't work so he has plenty of free time.

And your time isn't worth anything unless it would keep you from doing your paid job at work. For instance, cooking at home from scratch doesn't have an opportunity cost because otherwise you'd be watching Netflix or being lazy, not putting in hours towards work.

No, it assumes an antiquated labor model. If you can freelance on the side, then cooking from scratch could be really expensive for you. Or perhaps you could use the time to tutor your kids instead of cooking. Life is about trade offs. MMM assumes that your default activity is sitting around doing nothing.

I agree with you, but truthfully, most American's default mode IS sitting around watching TV after dinner and before bed.

Not 2 income families in the DC area. If we want to watch TV we have to schedule time for that and is always in the form of Family Movie Night.

Yes, totally agree! The only downtime is scheduled, and quite limited, at that.

Let me just say that I generally like his blog. But MMM assumes that you can move closer or get a different job to avoid a long commute. Sorry, many of us live 40 minutes from work because we can't afford anything closer in! Or our jobs exist only in downtown DC. (For the record, I have a modest 3 bedroom 60s-era house in the VA 'burbs, not a McMansion.)

As other posters have noted, his perspective is very narrow -- what works for him will not work for everyone, especially if you are female, not handy, not in an area where you can bike everywhere, etc.

Anonymous wrote:The opinion that working is bad. Did the man also try and finish high school early?

I like my job. Doesn't mean I don't save money. But I've worked hard to get where I am and genuinely enjoy working 99 percent of the time. I wouldn't want to quit and wouldn't know what to do with myself, especially if I didn't have the money for travel or entertainment. I guess I would bring sack lunches to rock creek park?

Same here. I save for retirement like everyone else, but I'm not really looking forward to it. Maybe I'll change my mind, but im.planning on working until I'm 70. Only thing that would pull me out is if my kids needed me to watch their kids on a full-time basis. My mom gave my kids that gift and they have such a special bond with her. I'd love to have that too one day.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Penny wise, pound foolish. Suggestions often times assume that your time is free. Does not understand the concept of opportunity cost.

Well he doesn't work so he has plenty of free time.

And your time isn't worth anything unless it would keep you from doing your paid job at work. For instance, cooking at home from scratch doesn't have an opportunity cost because otherwise you'd be watching Netflix or being lazy, not putting in hours towards work.

No, it assumes an antiquated labor model. If you can freelance on the side, then cooking from scratch could be really expensive for you. Or perhaps you could use the time to tutor your kids instead of cooking. Life is about trade offs. MMM assumes that your default activity is sitting around doing nothing.

I agree with you, but truthfully, most American's default mode IS sitting around watching TV after dinner and before bed.

Not 2 income families in the DC area. If we want to watch TV we have to schedule time for that and is always in the form of Family Movie Night.

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Anonymous wrote:I think he underestimates expenses, including healthcare, to the point that it is dangerous for people. Also, I had a relative that saved money and died a miserable miser with a house that didn't have a functional sewage system. Too cheap to fix her septic tank, you had to use a bucket of water to flush the toilet. Left a high six figure estate.

I had an older relative who peed in the sink of his Chevy Chase Village home until the day he died.

This would never happen in the Town of Chevy Chase.

I also notice the sexist undertones in some of the forum posts, less in the blog. I don't do all the diy stuff and am happy to outsource some cleaning, childcare, etc. But the blog and forums are inspiring. We've become financially independent since I started reading MMM a few years ago and though we both still work,it's an amazing feeling every day to know that we work because we enjoy it and can quit or change jobs when it's no longer fun or stimulating. I work largely on my own terms now and am a braver employee because I don't need the job. It's is very freeing and MMM showed me the light.

Anonymous wrote:I think he underestimates expenses, including healthcare, to the point that it is dangerous for people. Also, I had a relative that saved money and died a miserable miser with a house that didn't have a functional sewage system. Too cheap to fix her septic tank, you had to use a bucket of water to flush the toilet. Left a high six figure estate.

I had an older relative who peed in the sink of his Chevy Chase Village home until the day he died.

I think he underestimates expenses, including healthcare, to the point that it is dangerous for people. Also, I had a relative that saved money and died a miserable miser with a house that didn't have a functional sewage system. Too cheap to fix her septic tank, you had to use a bucket of water to flush the toilet. Left a high six figure estate.

The opinion that working is bad. Did the man also try and finish high school early?

I like my job. Doesn't mean I don't save money. But I've worked hard to get where I am and genuinely enjoy working 99 percent of the time. I wouldn't want to quit and wouldn't know what to do with myself, especially if I didn't have the money for travel or entertainment. I guess I would bring sack lunches to rock creek park?

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Anonymous wrote:I find him sexist and have read responses from him with sexist undertones. So many of his ideas work for men but not for women. For example, as a woman riding a bike you're subject to harassment and more aggressiveness from drivers. Studies show that. It also costs more money to maintain your looks. Maybe he's okay with his natural wife who doesn't need manicures or waxing, but I wouldn't be okay with myself.

His lifestyle is also better suited for a place like Colorado. He happens to like many of the free things to do out there and because he lives in a lower col city, he can afford the room to stay at home.

I noticed sexist undertones to his posts too. I recall reading a post with a very negative view of working moms which completely turned me off.

Agree. I've always felt bad for his wife.

Anonymous wrote:I find him sexist and have read responses from him with sexist undertones. So many of his ideas work for men but not for women. For example, as a woman riding a bike you're subject to harassment and more aggressiveness from drivers. Studies show that. It also costs more money to maintain your looks. Maybe he's okay with his natural wife who doesn't need manicures or waxing, but I wouldn't be okay with myself.

His lifestyle is also better suited for a place like Colorado. He happens to like many of the free things to do out there and because he lives in a lower col city, he can afford the room to stay at home.

I noticed sexist undertones to his posts too. I recall reading a post with a very negative view of working moms which completely turned me off.