Mr. Money Mustache

I grew up in a pretty low-key family, financially speaking. We always had plenty of money for groceries and my parents never went into debt, but if you were one of the Joneses* living down the street from us, you’d be hard-pressed to notice any flashy spending. This upbringing occurred in a pretty small town [...]

It’s definitely late fall here in Colorado, and the trees have dumped most of their leaves onto the ground. In my neighborhood, this invariably triggers a flurry of lawn contractor activity. A pickup truck pulling a long trailer full of equipment pulls up, a fleet of young guys gets out and each picks up a [...]

A few years ago, I learned the most shocking fact about public libraries: Not everybody uses them! “No!”, you may say, “That’s impossible – how else do people get their books?” The scary answer that I discovered is that some people have developed a habit of regularly buying books which cost them $10 – $30 [...]

By the Realist Mr. Money Mustache has been a bit more reasonable lately, posting some numbers to back up his assertions. But I thought I should join in at this point to address something that has probably been in your mind: how much can I really give up, without going crazy? After all, we all [...]

I just saw one of those automatically generated text ads at the top of my Gmail account. Here’s what it said: 2011 Pilot 4WD LX $319/mo It gave me shivers to look at it, just because it is advertising a purchase that is so wrong on so many levels. We’ll get into all of those [...]

By Mr. Money Mustache The Realist thinks he has me pegged. He’s right about the 1999 REI Bookpacker Plus backpack, but in his calm by-the-numbers approach he is missing a lot of the reasons frugality is great.. no, not just great.. it’s the only non-ridiculous lifestyle for the thinking person. And this is because for [...]

Hi, It’s me the Realist again.   I think I’ve noticed a pattern with Mr. Money Mustache. He is part of what I like to call, “The Religiously Frugal”. For him, the avoidance of spending is not just a way of reaching a goal… the frugality itself is the goal. He actually likes this shit! If [...]

Ahh, I see that sissy the “Realist” has been posting on my blog. I hope that doesn’t happen too often. Sukka’s too soft. You’ll never get anywhere with piddly numbers like $5/month or $5/day. And I had to laugh at that example.. would anyone really start buying lunch at a restaurant when they were already [...]

Whoa, did you read that opinionated garbage yesterday? Who is this Mr. Money Mustache? The guy thinks he’s got it all figured out. And is he trying to offer financial advice, or just financial scorn to those less fortunate than himself? Sure, maybe you can retire early if you are born to a frugal family, [...]

“What do you mean you retired at 30?” This is a blog about money. We’re going to cover a lot of ground and make plenty of amusing side trips into lifestyle and culture issues, but when it boils down to it, we are talking about money, and the freedom it can give you. Freedom from [...]