One thing I am noticing a lot lately is people who have money and could be living a nice lifestyle, but still live like they are poor. I think being frugal with your money is never a bad idea, but on the flip side I am also a believer that one should "treat themselves, not cheat themselves."
If you have money, but still shop at the discount grocery outlet where you get shitty food on the verge of expiring, you drive an old beater car that's a P.O.S., never go on vacation or travel, or wear old unstylish clothes, I think you are missing out a lot on life.
I have two friends that have done well for themselves over the past year, but if you ask them to go out and eat a nice restaurant they will scoff. One of my buddies, bought an old beater 95' Ford F-150 with almost 200,000 miles, while I was trying to convince him to drop a bunch more, (he has the money), and get a 2006-2010 with under 100,000. Well, he claims he doesn't need anything fancy, and bought the old beater for $3,000. A month later the beater blew the head gasket and my buddy had to drop $5,000 to get a new engine, since then he has dropped at least another couple grand on it. Overall, the amount he dumped into that old truck is how much he could've bought a newer used one for.
My other buddy, has a bunch of cash stacked, but lives like he is on welfare, the guy shops at the dollar store, his idea of eating out is hitting the taco truck, his apartment is sparse (barely any furniture, no art, a tv that looks like it's from the 90's). Meanwhile he could easily afford to give himself nice things that would vastly improve his lifestyle.
The point of this post, is having money is one thing, but knowing how to spend it and enjoy it is another. I'm about 1/4 of the way through The Millionaire Fastlane, and enjoyed the 4 Hour Work Week, these books have kind of opened up my eyes on lifestyle and having money. What's the point of slaving away money to save away for when you're an old man, if you're not enjoying it now?
I do want differentiate between enjoying one's money and blowing on frivelous things. I dropped $3500 on an omega watch a few years ago when I was doing real well, now looking back, I kind of think it may have been a waste because there is other stuff I would prefer to do with that money. But, what I didn't do was drop $10,000 on the equivilent model of a Rolex. I kept my spending within my means of what I could afford, without breaking the bank. If you only have $20,000 and you spend $10,000 on a Rolex, that is idiotic, but if you have $200,000 and spend $10,000 on a Rolex, it's still a large expense, but within your budget.
Another thing is I see people I know that are making way more money than I do, my earnings are modest compared to their's, but at the end of the year we are making about the same when it comes to our time spent. A friend may make twice what I make, but if he works 50 hours a week, and I only work 20 hours, it kind of evens out, especially in the quality of lifestyle I can lead.
So I guess the idea is find a balance, between being frugal and living cheaply, with enjoying the money you do save, and live a full and rich lifestyle. If I never traveled around the world, I'd easily be $50,000 richer than I am now, but then again I wouldn't have seen and done all the cool shit I've done, I guess it's all relative.
If you have money, but still shop at the discount grocery outlet where you get shitty food on the verge of expiring, you drive an old beater car that's a P.O.S., never go on vacation or travel, or wear old unstylish clothes, I think you are missing out a lot on life.
I have two friends that have done well for themselves over the past year, but if you ask them to go out and eat a nice restaurant they will scoff. One of my buddies, bought an old beater 95' Ford F-150 with almost 200,000 miles, while I was trying to convince him to drop a bunch more, (he has the money), and get a 2006-2010 with under 100,000. Well, he claims he doesn't need anything fancy, and bought the old beater for $3,000. A month later the beater blew the head gasket and my buddy had to drop $5,000 to get a new engine, since then he has dropped at least another couple grand on it. Overall, the amount he dumped into that old truck is how much he could've bought a newer used one for.
My other buddy, has a bunch of cash stacked, but lives like he is on welfare, the guy shops at the dollar store, his idea of eating out is hitting the taco truck, his apartment is sparse (barely any furniture, no art, a tv that looks like it's from the 90's). Meanwhile he could easily afford to give himself nice things that would vastly improve his lifestyle.
The point of this post, is having money is one thing, but knowing how to spend it and enjoy it is another. I'm about 1/4 of the way through The Millionaire Fastlane, and enjoyed the 4 Hour Work Week, these books have kind of opened up my eyes on lifestyle and having money. What's the point of slaving away money to save away for when you're an old man, if you're not enjoying it now?
I do want differentiate between enjoying one's money and blowing on frivelous things. I dropped $3500 on an omega watch a few years ago when I was doing real well, now looking back, I kind of think it may have been a waste because there is other stuff I would prefer to do with that money. But, what I didn't do was drop $10,000 on the equivilent model of a Rolex. I kept my spending within my means of what I could afford, without breaking the bank. If you only have $20,000 and you spend $10,000 on a Rolex, that is idiotic, but if you have $200,000 and spend $10,000 on a Rolex, it's still a large expense, but within your budget.
Another thing is I see people I know that are making way more money than I do, my earnings are modest compared to their's, but at the end of the year we are making about the same when it comes to our time spent. A friend may make twice what I make, but if he works 50 hours a week, and I only work 20 hours, it kind of evens out, especially in the quality of lifestyle I can lead.
So I guess the idea is find a balance, between being frugal and living cheaply, with enjoying the money you do save, and live a full and rich lifestyle. If I never traveled around the world, I'd easily be $50,000 richer than I am now, but then again I wouldn't have seen and done all the cool shit I've done, I guess it's all relative.