finally I do think it's interesting how Financial bloggers are usually very transparent about their spending but not about their income especially income derived from social media like blogs

I've actually read his blog and I. I have to go back and look for a new post every few months or so so here's a few things

- he is retired in this sense that he claims to have enough in savings and Investments and rental property profits you do not have to work for a living. I think he does construction projects, and runs a co-working space as a hobby, not as money making activities

- I don't think he's making millions off of his blog it's probably more like thousands. I don't think blogs are really that profitable. He's also not someone who updates regularly like some professional bloggers who have a regular schedule and editorial calendar he just seems to post things maybe once a month or every other month.

- the Hawaiian construction vacation was pitched to him by a reader to come out and build the in-law suite so they could use that as income generation and then as a MMM and his family could stay there for free for a little while. I guess local law says if that if you build an in-laws see it you can't rent it out right away so he was helping to occupy it until it could be rented out legally.

- I don't remember what his clothes buying budget is but I do know that the he shares his spending reports every year. I don't know if spending on clothing was a line item but I don't really care enough to look it up

- I completely agree that he's a sanctimonious and self-aggrandising ass. he just has this word of myopic view of the world and doesn't seem to understand that other people can't always make the same life choices that he can or will find the same joy that he does in life philosophy.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

He lives off the blog. Someone who wants to replicate lifestyle needs not only to be frugal but to also have a good side gig as a source of supplementary income.

He documents his family's spending and it is less than $35,000 yearly. Why do you say he is living off his blog?

Because it gives him the security that someone who just made 35K a year wouldn't have.

That is absolutely true. But he isn't "living off" that money. He isn't using the investment income to add to his spending money. So someone who wants to replicate his < $35K lifestyle doesn't need to have the good side gig. Just the investment to throw off < $35K a year. Which, if you read the forum, many especially young people in the tech industry are able to do in just 10-15 years. They have high salaries, and save 50% or more of it, and achieve "FIRE" before the age of 40.

I wish I had known about this when I was younger. This is my favorite blog post:
https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2012/01/13/the-shockingly-simple-math-behind-early-retirement/

I love MMM. Maybe he’s cheap, but ultimately he’s throwing cold water on the idea that we have to consume, consume, consume to be happy.

And his lifestyle is extremely eco-friendly.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

He lives off the blog. Someone who wants to replicate lifestyle needs not only to be frugal but to also have a good side gig as a source of supplementary income.

He documents his family's spending and it is less than $35,000 yearly. Why do you say he is living off his blog?

Because it gives him the security that someone who just made 35K a year wouldn't have.

Anonymous wrote:Stop complaining. He just brings to light that it is very possible to live simply and cheaply but still a fulfilling life.

His message is very encouraging to lots of people who feel trapped in the rat race of everyday life, work and expenses.

The goal is reaching financial independence, which is different for everyone. Once you do, you feel like the world opens up to you and you have choices. Its a great feeling.

Exactly! Financial independence doesn't mean you never will earn any more money. It means you do not HAVE to earn more money!

And I would say that HIS goal was financial independence. That doesn't mean it has to be someone else's goal. He just wants to show you that it is possible for people to be financially independent.

If you are the kind of person saying "But I don't want to drink cheap coffee"... fine! If you WANT financial independence, and don't already have it, there are probably ways for you to get it that let you still drink fancy schmancy coffee. But if you keep finding reasons you don't want to cut back your spending; if you EVERYTHING is not up for discussion... Financial Independence probably isn't in the cards for you.

The people I think MMM is not useful for are people with a very low HHI. Yes, they can still benefit from being frugal. But they may never be able to save up enough of a "stache" to be financially independent. His advice to this group seems to be "Get a Better Paying Job". Which honestly is probably the only solution, but not everyone has that ability.

Anonymous wrote:

He lives off the blog. Someone who wants to replicate lifestyle needs not only to be frugal but to also have a good side gig as a source of supplementary income.

He documents his family's spending and it is less than $35,000 yearly. Why do you say he is living off his blog?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He lost me when he said he buys his coffee from Costco. We live well within our means and are good savers, but I just can’t get behind denying myself some basic pleasures of life to save a little money.

I’ve done the math and for my household being ultra-frugal vs. taking reasonable steps not to waste money doesn’t make sense. It doesn’t get me to retirement that much faster and would make it such an unpleasant slog to get there.

I think what all of this really boils down to (and this gets toward where MMM really irks me) is where you find pleasure in life. MMM finds pleasure in extracting as much value as possible out of every penny and living on as little as possible. That's why his lifestyle works for him, because he derives joy out of the art of frugality more than what his money actually does for him. It's not unlike someone who makes their own clothes not because what the stores have is inadequate or because they couldn't afford to shop at stores, but because they love the act of creating clothing. MMM doesn't seem to appreciate this about himself, though, and instead treats his lifestyle as some kind of heightened moral virtue to which everyone should aspire because it's the "right" way to live (just look at one of his highlighted "Classic" posts entitled "Luxury is Just Another Weakness). It's not the "right" way to live (heck, if everyone lived like he does the world economy would come crashing to the ground and poverty would skyrocket), it's just a different way to live that suits his preferences.

This.

One more point- if you are happy with your choices, you don’t need to badger others to make the same choices.

There’s a bit of nonsense with all these guys who claim not to work while they are running professional websites...

Like Tim Ferris who claimed that he works four hours because his website, books and lifestyle stuff “isn’t work.”

That being said, I think this mustache guy and others like him are helpful in terms of challenging our frist principles of consumption.

While my income has gone up I’ve taken pleasure in recent years in deleting certain expensive consumption habits, inspired by this sort of thinking.

So, bottom line for me- I don’t need a guru in my life , but if I can learn from someone, I’ll take it!

Anonymous wrote:He lost me when he said he buys his coffee from Costco. We live well within our means and are good savers, but I just can’t get behind denying myself some basic pleasures of life to save a little money.

I’ve done the math and for my household being ultra-frugal vs. taking reasonable steps not to waste money doesn’t make sense. It doesn’t get me to retirement that much faster and would make it such an unpleasant slog to get there.

I think what all of this really boils down to (and this gets toward where MMM really irks me) is where you find pleasure in life. MMM finds pleasure in extracting as much value as possible out of every penny and living on as little as possible. That's why his lifestyle works for him, because he derives joy out of the art of frugality more than what his money actually does for him. It's not unlike someone who makes their own clothes not because what the stores have is inadequate or because they couldn't afford to shop at stores, but because they love the act of creating clothing. MMM doesn't seem to appreciate this about himself, though, and instead treats his lifestyle as some kind of heightened moral virtue to which everyone should aspire because it's the "right" way to live (just look at one of his highlighted "Classic" posts entitled "Luxury is Just Another Weakness). It's not the "right" way to live (heck, if everyone lived like he does the world economy would come crashing to the ground and poverty would skyrocket), it's just a different way to live that suits his preferences.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He makes money off his blog. Therefore it's not a model everybody can replicate. Beware of people giving advice and making money off the same advise. Goes for investment seminars of all kinds where organizers don't earn the bulk of money on investments, but on seminar fees.

If you want good advice, go to boggleheads forums, much better than MMM.

Running a blog is not the lifestyle that he models. He models a low-spending lifestyle. His blog is about that lifestyle, and now he makes money off of his blog. But he was frugal before the blog.

He lives off the blog. Someone who wants to replicate lifestyle needs not only to be frugal but to also have a good side gig as a source of supplementary income.

Stop complaining. He just brings to light that it is very possible to live simply and cheaply but still a fulfilling life.

His message is very encouraging to lots of people who feel trapped in the rat race of everyday life, work and expenses.

The goal is reaching financial independence, which is different for everyone. Once you do, you feel like the world opens up to you and you have choices. Its a great feeling.

He lost me when he said he buys his coffee from Costco. We live well within our means and are good savers, but I just can’t get behind denying myself some basic pleasures of life to save a little money.

I’ve done the math and for my household being ultra-frugal vs. taking reasonable steps not to waste money doesn’t make sense. It doesn’t get me to retirement that much faster and would make it such an unpleasant slog to get there.

Anonymous wrote:He does not claim to be broke. He does not try to make people think that he is broke. He tries to show that you can live happily at a dramatically lower level of consumption and spending. That is all. He now makes money off of his blog. He continues to live a low-consumption or spending lifestyle.

I can understand that someone would be uninterested in his lifestyle or blog, but to be offended by it strikes as insecurity about one's own choices.

ITA with this. I read MMM, I roll my eyes at a lot of what he writes, I laugh out loud and roll my eyes at other parts.

He's just showing what can be done if you think very differently about money and accumulating capital, which is what he and his wife did for 10 years as software engineers.

You can pick apart "Well, *I* don't want to work construction as a hobby job, and I would never want to do X, Y, and Z, so that means he's an idiot!" but you're missing the point.

He has some really brilliant, almost philosophical insights into questions about life, happiness, satisfaction, consumption, materialism, purpose, and the concepts of "enough." Those who are so eager to discredit him reveal a very real insecurity and a strange defensiveness about what they obviously feel are their own shortcomings.