Mr. Money Moustache article in WaPo

[oldhat]

I only recently discovered the Mr. Money Mustache blog, so I was pleasantly surprised to come across this article (http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/meet-mr-money-mustache-the-man-who-retired-at-30/2013/04/26/71e3e6a8-acf3-11e2-a8b9-2a63d75b5459_story.html) in the Washington Post.

As usual, the comments were more interesting than the article itself. The amount of hostility, skepticism and pure venom that these kinds of stories inspire never ceases to amaze me. It's pretty obvious that the idea it's possible to step off the consumerist treadmill really touches a raw nerve in some people.

[catherine]

Thanks for posting.. I like MMM, too. Interesting to see him featured in the Washington Post. I agree with you about the comments: I love the "we have to spend ourselves silly because the economy would collapse if we all lived like he does."

[Rosemary]

great article - I hope a wide audience reads it and remembers even small tidbits. Thanks for sharing!

[AmeliaJane]

Always nice to see frugality in a major media outlet! (And entertaining to read the comments when people who know nothing about the frugal lifestyle run up against it). I particularly enjoyed his comments about living in a high-expense city--it has to be worth your while in either a) paying enough to enable you to live close in or b) being something you love so much, and that is unique to that area that you are willing to be poor (and use frugality) to do it. It seems like very few "money people" address the question of where you live.

[lac]

MMM is one of my favorite blogs. Glad to see the great article.

[awakenedsoul]

Loved this article, oldhat. Thanks for posting it. He's got an infectious enthusiasm. I've been applying the same habits and principles to my life, and it's made my finances smooth sailing. When I take my bicycle in to the bike shop to be repaired, the owner always tries to get me to buy a new one. "No," I tell him. "I ride a bike to save money, not to spend money. I want to fix this one." I bought it three years ago for $70.00, and it's still getting me around town for free.

[pinkytoe]

I saw the article yesterday and was surprised to see it featured on the front page. I like the concept of simple living as efficiency - I guess that's the engineer in him. Got me inspired again...loved reading about Car Clowns on his blog.

[Spartana]

Thanks for posting. I love MMM blogs and forum as many of the topics are more inline with my particular version of simple living than the topics on this forum. I read his blog regularly and am always inspired. Too bad the mainstream media readers seem to have a problem with his forums and ideas. Maybe they actually need to practice some of his ideas sometimes!

[fidgiegirl]

I also enjoyed it, and was amazed by the sheer volume of comments - 623 when I was on last night!

Car clowns really stuck with me, too, pinky. I was picturing myself in my "moving throne" on the way home last night and thinking of those 24 plates of salmon salad.

If that made no sense whatsoever: http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2013/04/22/curing-your-clown-like-car-habit/

[rosarugosa]

There's over a thousand now - must not get sucked in! Amazing how many clueless, negative comments there were in just the few I read. I'm a fan of the blog too.

[Florence]

Wow! I had never heard of MMM! There goes the next couple of hours reading his blog! Thank you, oldhat, for posting it! That is what I love so much a out this board-- how much we learn from each other!!

[Gingerella72]

Never heard of him before, but good article. I popped over to the blog and browsed a bit, and was a little disillusioned. Sure, it's easy to spend less when you have a ginormous salary like both he and his wife had. Not so easy to dig yourself out on a low income and there is nothing else left to cut back on or to put aside into savings.

[redfox]

Starting young helps too.

[chanterelle]

Everybobody has a different situation. and makes different choices..I saw the light around 42..having supported and then put my younger sibling through uni and dug myself out from under my mother's medical and other bills.
I left the wonderful wonderful world of work 10 years later with a very modest paid for house, new paid for car and no other bills. I did not have a second salary from a spouse or a giant salary. I worked my @ss off at multiple jobs and saved everything possible.
I took advantage of my employers matching 401k fund and, like junkman is always telling us on these boards I educated myself in finance, investing and bonds. It was a long and steep learning curve but I did it .
In my very great favor, I did not have school loans, having had the benefit of City of New York education when educated people were considered an asset to society and not seen as an ATM. The last years that I worked I did have employer health care, which, when I got really sick, kept me from becoming bankrupt.

[Gardenarian]

Excellent post. I think MMM is a real hero. Yeah, he does stuff that is not possible for every single person - but perhaps you have talents or opportunities that would not be available to him.

He now and then publishes a reader case study and gives them specific advice. I really think there is something to be learned there for everyone.

What struck me about the comments is that everyone thinks he is some kind of fake! To me he seems very sincere, his posts are heartfelt and funny and spot-on.

[try2bfrugal]

I don't think his numbers add up, but I like a lot of the general lifestyle advice. We kind of live like that, too, leaving the corporate jobs, working from home and trying to live well without spending a lot of money. I wouldn't save money by biking in city traffic though or on rainy or snowy days.

I don't think it is so much that people think he is completely fake, but many of his budget and income number are fairly implausible, even for people on the simple living band wagon. Plus being a landlord, having a construction company, having a working wife and making money blogging aren't being retired unless you feel entitled to change the English language to meet your personal definitions.

[Gingerella72]

I think he defined "retirement" as no longer being required to work for money, but being able to work at something you love and if it earns you money, yippee skippee. But as Redfox says, it does help to start young.

[try2bfrugal]

I think he defined "retirement" as no longer being required to work for money, but being able to work at something you love and if it earns you money, yippee skippee. But as Redfox says, it does help to start young.

It is unlikely at his age and savings he posted he would never have to work again. There are long threads about the math flaws in his plan on the Boglehead forum and his own forums.

If you subtract out the value of his own house, and plug say a 500K investment portfolio into Firecalc for 60 years, the probable success rate of not running out of money is less than 50%. And that doesn't include college costs, increased expenses for a teenager compared to school age kid, major medical bills, Medicare premiums, orthodontics, divorce or any of the other major curve balls life throws at you now and then by the time you reach old age.

[chanterelle]

try2bfrugal, why do you say that being a landlord is not being retired? Property is an investment just as stocks/bonds/401k's are. I'm a landlord and consider my rental income to be the same as that from my other investments. I manage both my portfolio and my real estate..neither are full time or even part time jobs. I do some work myself because it's cheaper and faster and some I hire out, just like my other income streams.
MMM does more than I do as he is younger, has all the tools and really enjoys the hands on experience while not having to pay out cash to some outside source.

[try2bfrugal]

try2bfrugal, why do you say that being a landlord is not being retired?

The experiences of friends who own rental property and threads like these -

http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f28/living-on-rental-income-64959-3.html

[The Storyteller]

The experiences of friends who own rental property and threads like these -

http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f28/living-on-rental-income-64959-3.html

We have 3 rentals and manage another. I do not consider managing them to be work. Sure, we have to put in time once when folks move on, and there is the rare bad tenant. So, we do some work once in a blue moon. Other than that it is just collecting rent. Not exactly what I would call a job.

[Spartana]

I look at managing and maintaining one's own rental property the same as managing and maintaining one's own home or any investment. It is "work" (often hard work) but not a "job". You are just caring for something in order to retain the value, or to to maximize the value, of your investments - be that your primary home, rental homes, or financial investments for better returns. Now if I was employed by a company and paid to maintain and care for other's homes or stocks and mutual funds, then it would be a job.

Now as far as MMM being "retired" - well I don't consider him retired. But not because he maintains and manages his own rental properties or writes a blog that earns income (I think he'd do all those things irregardles of earning money or not), but because he actually does construction work for others for pay - plus some other paid employment things. He may have retired from one job or career, but he is still employed and working by my standards. He's just doing something else. If you retire from acting to direct, you are not retired. If you retired from acting to build bird houses in the garage for enjoyment rather than to earn a living (even if you occasionally sell some) then I'd comsider you retired.