120 comments

$656,000 of Frugal Things I Still Love Doing

“I used to read Mr. Money Mustache”

some people say these days, 

“Until he got all rich and fancy so that he no longer understands the common person’s plight.

Stash probably doesn’t even practice any of these money-saving things he preaches any more!” 

When I read things like this, I can’t help but laugh. Because on the one hand, when you put a bunch of personal life details online like this, being misunderstood is just part of the package. But on the other hand, if the critics could peek in and see our real lives – not just mine but those of all the Mustachians – they would have to give up their conspiracy theories and accept the fact that this stuff just works.

Because really, not much has changed when it comes to the basics. Like many MMM readers over the past twelve years, my total wealth level has increased pretty regularly.  But also like many of us, I haven’t felt the need to change very much about my spending because I was doing my best to live an enjoyable life in the first place.

How have so many people found such great success? I think we Mustachians have something that’s a bit more rare and special than standard financial advice, which is what makes it work so well:

Standard Advice:
Slash your spending and make sacrifices until you reach a certain savings percentage, and beyond that it doesn’t matter, it’s all personal choice. More income? Great, that means you don’t have to sacrifice as much! FatFIRE for everyone!

Mustachianism:
Cultivate a love of efficiency, creativity, self awareness, and self improvement. Use this knowledge to improve your life in all ways, including those which help you live better even as your monthly expense rate drops over time.

So what does this mean in practice? 

Well, I’ll give you some examples from my own present-day life. Things I do because I happen to enjoy them, which also happen to save a lot of money. Some of these are normal, some are silly and may end up in some future gossip magazine hit piece, but all of them happen to work for me, so the critics can be damned.

As I list each item, I’ll include an estimate of how much the activity saves me per decade, because you should always think at least in terms of decades.

To make that calculation yourself, just use the “rule of 172” – take a monthly expense and multiply it by 172 to estimate how much it would compound into over ten years, if invested.

1) Fixing my own House (and everybody else’s too)

Construction projects from recent years, at home and around the state.

I’m a big believer in self-sufficiency, and working to build up the skills to manage the most important parts of your own life without depending on too many things (or people) that are outside of your control. In other words, one giant recipe for a happy life is simply to Become a Producer of the Things You Most Enjoy Consuming.

And in my case, I happen to love houses. I like living in beautiful, functional spaces and sharing them with friends. But most houses are ugly and poorly designed when you buy them, so I realized that I also love solving problems and redesigning old buildings to become new again. I enjoy this process so much that I spend most of my free time doing it – on both my own properties and the homes of friends. 

And I love teaching other people to gain power over their own houses too. It’s amazing how great people feel as they lose their fear and dependence on outside contractors, and gain the ability to fix and maintain things with their own two hands.

Savings: An average of $20,000 per year = $287,000 per decade

2) Craigslist and Community

Members of our coworking space, swapping valuable free stuff every day.

You know what’s great? Having so much money that you can buy whatever you want – high quality things which get delivered to your front door the very next day. 

You know what’s even better? Not buying some of those new things, and instead finding ways to share, repurpose and buy equally high quality items from other people who don’t need them any more. All while building up your own community and creating new friendships in the process.

Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, and even NextDoor all have Buy Nothing groups for most areas. In the MMM-HQ community, we run a Discord server with about 200 local people, who chat around the clock on a wide range of subjects. They help each other with major projects in one channel called #diyhowto, and give away and sell things on #forsale and #buynothing. 

Although our private Discord group is my favorite, I also use Craigslist regularly, and probably save (and earn) a few thousand every year thanks to the habit:

Savings: About $42,000 per decade

3) Bikes over Cars

Sure glad I’m not stuck in a Jeep on these off-road trails!

We all know that Mr. Money Mustache’s biggest contribution to personal finance is to insist that bike transportation is the best way to get around. And I still feel this way. As we learned in The True Cost of Commuting, cars cost at least 50 cents per mile to operate, while bikes are much cheaper, mainly due to reduced depreciation and maintenance costs (which are even bigger than the gas savings).

I do still use bikes (or walking) for at least 95% of my local trips these days, but because I live in the center of a small city, my life is pretty local. So this still only adds up to about 2000 miles per year, a savings of “only” $14,000 per decade.

But when you choose active transportation, there’s much more to the picture than just cutting your car expenses. You’re changing everything about your physical and mental health picture for the better, which brings us to the next point of…

4) Muscle over Motor

Digging out the crappy old window wells to build a bigger terraced garden.

Although I’m no competitive athlete, whenever I see an option to make my body work a bit harder, I usually take it. Stairs instead of elevators, running the golf course instead of using a golf cart, moving my own furniture and appliances instead of calling a mover, shoveling snow and raking leaves instead of using a machine. 

When I face a decision like this, I simply ask myself the question:

“Well, Mustache. Do you want MORE health and fitness, or LESS?”

Putting it in that context makes the answer obvious.  Every bit helps, because when it comes to your body, the rule is pretty much use it or lose it.

But how much money does this save? There’s no real way to calculate it exactly, but I like to think of it this way: The US average health care spending is about $13,000 per person per year. My lifetime costs due to illness or medication so far have been just about zero, plus I know I’ve had more energy and greater productivity due to being healthy. Let’s just put it very conservatively and set the estimated savings and benefits at $10k per year which means

Estimated Savings:  $140,000 per decade.

5) Saving Energy by Running my home like a Glamping Retreat

Outdoor cooking, showering, laundry and even a homemade gym? Why not?!

Here’s where things get a bit silly, but my level of joy is actually at its greatest. 

My personality type is probably a weird combination of an engineer, a carpenter, an artsy hippie, and a mad scientist. Oh, and a devoted homebody too. Because of this, my favorite activity most days is to just run around my house taking care of things and trying new little experiments and improvements.

Sometimes I’ll cut a few big holes on on the South side of the house and install sliding doors and big windows to allow nice sunbeams and passive solar energy to get into my house and give me free heat in the winters. Other times it’s just smaller things to save energy and live more at at one with the seasons of my area:

  • optimizing the use of air conditioning by running fans at night and building heat tolerance during the days (we set the A/C to only kick on at about 80F)
  • Enjoying most of my showers outside, with free hot water from the 100 foot garden hose that happens to be coiled in a sunny spot
  • Cooling myself and get free energy boosts by jumping in the “cold plunge”, which is simply an unheated hot tub I have set up in my back yard
  • Doing most of my cooking and dining outdoors with an induction cooktop, gas grill, espresso machine, and mini convection toaster oven deal that I keep set up outside during the warmer months of the year
  • Drying 99% of my loads of laundry out on the line instead of using the clothes dryer
  • I even charge my car with a little off-grid array of solar panels set up in the driveway (from Craisglist, of course!), which gives me free electricity for driving without going through the permit-hell hassle of a full grid-tied system in my city’s currently solar unfriendly environment.

Even taken all together, these things are pretty small – the average combined gas and electric bill for my area is about $250 per month, while my usage adds up to about $75. So while we’re only saving about $30,000 per decade for what sounds like a lot of work to most people, I consider this to be the biggest win because I enjoy living in “MMM’s Energy Efficiency Playground” so much.

6) Local Living over Constant Travel

This little lake right behind my house is a great daily “vacation” which allows me to savor home life more and travel a bit less.

“Hey, we’re having a big back yard pool party next weekend to celebrate Amy’s graduation from kindergarten, can you make it?”

“OH NOOOO!!! We will be off in at Disneyland that whole week! We planned the trip months ago, I wish we could make it!

As I type this in the height of the summer season, I really feel this effect at its fullest: almost all of my friends are off on trips, and my guest suite here at home is almost constantly full. People are traveling a lot, and many of them sound like they wish they could spend a few more of their precious summer weeks and weekends at home.

I’ll let you in on a little secret: you can! The trick is saying, “no thanks” more often to plans that involve you being away, and “yes please” to things that let you stay at home. The benefits are numerous:

  • You nurture your local friendships more and meet new people who live nearby
  • You spend way less money on plane tickets, hotels, restaurants gasoline, and car repairs
  • Your levels of health and fitness can go way up because you aren’t missing workouts and spending hours sitting in plane and car and bus seats. And you can better control your meals – more salads with grilled salmon, less McDonald’s and Pizza Hut 
  • You sleep better 
  • And you have more time to take care of projects around your house where you learn more skills which compound for life

Estimated Savings: Even if you replace just two weeks of travel for a family of four, with equivalent time at home you might save $5,000 per year in direct costs and a further $5,000 per year in incidental benefits like the health and local friendships. This would work out to a shocking $143,000 per decade of wealth increase! 

Of course, travel is generally a good thing for broadening the life experience of you and your kids. It’s worth spending on, lavishly at times. But the key is to balance it out and be discerning, keeping the most enriching trips and pruning a few off the bottom of the list. And remembering that home time is valuable and healthy too.

And Whoa! We’ve already built up a huge list and I feel like I was just getting started. 

Cutting a friend’s hair at a group event: entertainment, education and free haircut in one!

Taken all together, we’ve already detailed things that compound to $656,000 every decade, which already more than double the median wealth that most American seniors have as they cruise nervously into their retirement years – after over 40 years of work!

And now that I’ve been writing this blog for over ten years myself, I can safely say that over $656,000 of even my most recent worth increases are directly attributable to these simple habits. The same ones many of us have been enjoying and preaching about all along, both before and after our retirement dates.

If money is in genuinely short supply, you could go a lot further than the examples in this article. And indeed, there’s a lot more laid out in this blog or the MMM Boot Camp email series.

But one of the points of Mustachianism is that you usually don’t have to try all that hard. Just tweaking your lifestyle to be slightly less ridiculous and more efficient than average is usually all it takes. 

In the comments: what are your quirks and frugal indulgences? The things you do now to save money, or things you still do even after it’s no longer about the money? I often wonder how widespread this frugality-just-for-fun is. But since we Humans are a naturally curious and problem solving species in our natural state, I suspect there are many more of us out there.

  • Keenan July 23, 2024, 9:24 pm

    Great post MMM! I just spent $5k on a custom home gym but it has everything that I’ll ever need. I started 8 years ago with a $200 set from Craigslist and have been taking notes for years about what my dream setup would be when I have my own space. I’m beyond happy with it and I can begin a workout at any time (even better when you work from home and want a quick workout during a lunch break). The time savings and health benefits for the next few decades will be staggering.

    Reply
  • Eric July 23, 2024, 9:41 pm

    It makes my day when I see a new post. Keep it up – it’s inspiring!

    Reply
  • Stephen July 23, 2024, 9:41 pm

    I resonate with this. Some things that come to mind for me are propagating or digging up donor plants from neighbors, friends and family instead of buying them from a nursery. Family of five with all home-done haircuts (personally, I have never been to a barber, thanks mom!). AC to a minimum, use the windows overnight! Here in Flagstaff we have a robust monthly bulk trash which is a gold mine of stuff you don’t have to buy at the store, especially for the garden, but even bikes, bike trailers, rowing machine! Crazy what people just leave on the curb!

    Reply
  • Veronica July 23, 2024, 9:49 pm

    Loved your article. it is a good feeling to live a life using less of the worlds resources, and contribute less to the earnings of the big corporates. My biggest frugal success is an automated home coffee machine I bought back in 2018 which I acquired for $700, (a princely sum at the time, but as an end of line unit, it was found on the retailers clearance site at a big discount). Now I am laughing, financially speaking. Standard coffee price take away is now $5 a cup here in Melb Australia, or $2 for a small coffee at the fuel station. With my coffee consumption at least 3 cups a day minimum, I have my home brew at home and on the road. When my work colleagues walk across the road to the cafe for their lunchtime coffee, I just wave my stainless steel coffee cup on my desk as explanation, content to know that my bank account thanks me big time.

    Reply
  • Tom Kinsky July 23, 2024, 10:05 pm

    Nice to see MMM getting back to the basics.

    Reply
  • Dan July 23, 2024, 11:17 pm

    This piece really resonated with me – great to see MMM still posting after all these years.

    I think his first point “Fixing my own House” is invaluable advice for any homeowner in HCOL areas. I live in a very HCOL city (a conscious decision that currently is worth the tradeoff for me) and bought a modest “fixer upper” for well below my neighborhoods average home price during COVID.

    Boy did I quickly hit the “find out” part of that decision. I’d never touched renovations or building or fixing a home / apartment beyond mounting bike racks on my rented apartments walls. I received insane quotes for electrical, plumbing, HVAC, and all the drywall repairs required for that kind of work. I did the math out for many of these projects based on the number of people and days the companies told me it would take and in many cases these companies were pulling in $300 per man-hour.

    So I didn’t hire any of them. I spent an entire year learning the plumbing and electrical code for my city / state / country. I bothered the hell out of my city inspectors with questions. Made dozens of trips (sadly mostly via car) to the big box stores – eventually even started accounts with supply houses and lumber yards for better variety and deals.

    In the two years I spent renovating the house, I’ve saved myself more than $300,000 (estimating the value of my time at $50/hour).

    If anybody on here is considering buying a home, but isn’t willing to learn to do this stuff themselves, I think renting might be the more Mustachian decision if the alternative is paying for somebody else to do this work. I also don’t think there’s anything wrong with that.

    Reply
    • Mr. Money Mustache July 24, 2024, 6:25 am

      Yeah, I agree with your $300+ per hour finding. I’ve been helping to guide some friends through the process of getting renovations done, and so many of them keep leaning back towards “let’s just do the damned thing ourselves”.

      You get HVAC companies bidding $15,000 to swap in a $2500 furnace, which takes a single day of work for one guy. Plumbers offering to hook up one sink and one toilet for $2000, and so on. It really REALLY pays to learn these skills yourself – at the peak my pay rate for DIY has exceeded $500/hour for some of these trades!

      Reply
      • Tab July 24, 2024, 7:10 am

        One of the best things I ever did was follow the HVAC guy out to try and restart our gas pack furnace. Paid $125 to have a $15 part replaced!! Figured out I could buy three of the same part on Amazon for $30 bucks and do it myself, super simple and saved a bunch of money. Shut off power take small air switch off/replace part, and power back on! This has happened three times so going the DIY route on things your comfortable with on this, or anything at home, saves a hoop of money!! Thanks MMM that “let’s just do the damned thing ourselves” statement pops up in my head a lot since reading your stories!!!

        Reply
        • Gordo July 29, 2024, 6:26 am

          Another good one is learning to replace capacitors yourself, with a multimeter you can check them, this is the most common HVAC failure point and an easy DIY job with lots of YouTube vids showing how to do it. Replacuparts on Amazon are cheap and have reviews to help ensure quality.

          Reply
      • LibrarIan July 24, 2024, 7:11 am

        I lucked into having a close friend start a career in the world of HVAC. And he’s the type who really wants other people to understand how things work. So he’s been willing to teach me a thing or two and work on my system with me. Instead of paying these crazy high rates, we just drink and tinker. I highly recommend finding a friend like this. Or even better – become this friend!

        Reply
  • Dave Anderson July 23, 2024, 11:59 pm

    Great to hear from you MMM!

    1. This article link in your email was broken. Whoops!

    2. My wife and I have plenty of money to travel first class, but we still shop around for the cheapest economy fares. Feels emotionally wrong to pay so much extra for 3-5 hours of “more” comfort.

    3. We buy flour, split peas, garbanzo beans, rice, etc in 50lb sacks. They’re staples we’re always using, and it costs a fraction of the smaller bags I see others buying. Plus, it’s simply healthier to spend a tiny bit more time preparing those types of foods.

    4. We’ve almost never bought new clothes. There are *always* “buy nothing” style clothing groups where you trade in clothes of a certain age / size / gender (e.g., girls age 10 clothes) and get others in return. It’s a great way to cycle your wardrobe without anything new needing to be made. “New to me” long sleeve dress shirt? Why not.

    5. I’m not MMM level of skilled, but I’ve replaced a kitchen sink, repaired other pipes, built a chicken coop, and otherwise enjoy learning new skills while saving money.

    If you’re willing to step outside what everyone else is doing (and not be embarrassed about being frugal), there are many options to avoid spending.

    Reply
    • Mr. Money Mustache July 24, 2024, 6:22 am

      Excellent – glad to hear the Anderson clan is still keeping it real and always nice to hear from you Dave!

      Reply
  • Addoley July 24, 2024, 1:06 am

    One of my frugality-just-for-fun things is taking public transit when I do travel instead of zipping around in Ubers. I get to see how different transit systems work, mingle with local, regular folk, save money, and not contribute to traffic jams.

    Reply
    • Jon July 24, 2024, 9:16 am

      Agreed wholeheartedly. When I have the time, I even prefer to walk an hour or two from one side of the city to another rather than use public transit. It gives me a view into parts of the city that I wouldn’t have seen otherwise, as well as people that wouldn’t have been more than a blur from a bus or train window.

      Reply
      • PH July 24, 2024, 1:12 pm

        And even just walk a few blocks away from a hotel in a new city and make a circle of that radius. I’ve often found that the hotel is just an island of glossiness and that the real area (for better or worse) is hidden away – even the hotel’s street is often not representative of the neighborhoods. And those neighborhoods are where the cheaper things are (snacks, toiletries, etc.). And you get a nice look at how the hotel fits into its environment (again, for better or worse).

        Reply
      • Ohio Girl July 25, 2024, 5:11 pm

        Seconding this! I don’t own a car and often walk around my city in lieu of riding the bus; I see all kinds of interesting things when my feet are on the ground – it’s a totally different picture when you’re walking. (Not knocking public transit, though–I hear all kinds of cool conversations from my fellow bus riders – I know my city so much better for walking and bus-riding!)

        I will never go back to owning a car. Ugh. Thanks to MMM for giving me the courage to go car-free!

        Reply
  • Waterfall July 24, 2024, 1:07 am

    I salute you, dude. o7

    My indulgence is cooking and coffee. Smell my home kitchen. Hehe.

    Reply
  • dickrog July 24, 2024, 1:08 am

    Mustache! I’m the world’s worst handyman. I find all this stuff so difficult and overwhelming, as a 40 year old man, I can barely change a toilet seat. This stuff just seems so unattainable to me.

    I’ve mastered bikes over cars, not using dryer’s and all the other stuff that you mention – I’ve already implemented into my own life. But fixing my own house just seems so unattainable to me, even though this is the most significant in terms of cost saving, and independence.

    Thank you for the post!

    Reply
    • Mr. Money Mustache July 24, 2024, 6:20 am

      I wish you were part of our community here DR, we would get you leveled up pretty quick! One of the easiest ways to learn this home fixing stuff (aside from looking EVERYTHING up on Youtube, that is solid gold), is asking around in your friend group to find the naturally handy people.

      At this point in my advancing age, I have helped and taught SO many people how to work on their houses that I can’t even count them. I am very proud of my nickname in the group, “The Construction Captain” and I feel like I’m just getting started since it’s one of my favorite things to do.

      Reply
  • Christian July 24, 2024, 1:09 am

    Great post again to remind myself about the principles of effective living without wasting time and money on someone else’s expectations. We live in southern Munich also close to the alps and the river flows a 250 meter from the house. We actually realized that summer is best spent closely, as the weather and the scenery here is perfect in July / August and September but splurge in Winter, when a bit of warmth is a welcome relief for all. Another one is running/ swimming and cycling with friends from the neighborhood instead of going to a gym, costs are next nothing and you gain new friends fast by doing sport together – we are aiming to complete a Triathlon . olypmic distance, which is doable even for middle-aged dads.

    Love your blog which has been a great influence sind 2013 for me and even though we are not even close to your level of frugality we managed to save a great deal by just avoiding to fall in the trap of convenience and embrace the suck instead. The kids love shoveling snow in winter, raking the leaves in autumn and planting tomatoes in spring, all free and wonderfull activities to spend time together.

    Reply
  • Thomas July 24, 2024, 1:28 am

    A French guy who is the first replier ? ahah

    I have something like a hobby, I just buy old road bikes (like 30 years old) and makes them working again. It’s funny, cheap, but not that good to do long trips, something like 40km minimum. So maybe would buy a recent bike for that.
    Self hair cutting, because… it’s fast and a bit funny to do it good.
    A lot of home building too, to learn stuff. Like the first kitchen for me this year ! Pretty long to do, but happy with the result !
    Cooking… even at work, I just make easy salad there.

    And of course try to do things where you are. For example my two roomates went for a trip 2000km away by plane to do 1 week of surf. It didn’t match with my way of thinking. I would rather be there for a few months, but a week sound crazy for me.

    I just try to make it instead of buying it. If it’s better to buy it, I buy, if not, I make it. And try to have a simple life in terms of how many stuff you own.

    Reply
  • cosmostache July 24, 2024, 1:40 am

    Nice to see an old-fashioned-style article! These sorts of life hacks and cost estimates are part of what brought me to the blog in the first place. As always, the key theme is finding joy in challenging oneself, and efficiency + self-sufficiency + helping others are certainly worthwhile challenges. As for my frugal indulgences, it’s tough to beat a backcountry ski day (including earning my turns on the way up), and this happens to be free or nearly free in the region where I live. If I skied the resort, it would be 10 times the cost and 10 times the crowds for an increase in injury risk and a decrease in exploration.

    As the years go by, it’s also worth pointing out that the definition of a mustachian lifestyle is (or ought to be) age- and context-dependent. What is possible for a young’un may not be possible for an elderly citizen. Or, say, a pregnant woman. One’s responsibilities also have an effect: taking care of elderly family takes a certain amount of sacrifice to ensure their comfort.

    So I for one don’t blame ya if your lifestyle does evolve over time! In fact, I would find it interesting to hear if you find some of your priorities have indeed changed over time. I know mine have!

    Reply
  • Newman July 24, 2024, 1:49 am

    Thank you for a great post!

    You and Jacob at ERE were my biggest inspirations on my journey to setting up a life working half time at a job I like plus having a lot of time – FREEDOM – to do what I want!

    Money is sufficient, which is good enough for me. Simplicity/frugality is da shit :-)

    Greetings from Sweden

    Reply
  • EMS July 24, 2024, 2:08 am

    Great article – a timely reminder. I knew I kept that sub for a reason. 1 or 2 MMM articles per year is better than 100 articles in most other blogs.

    Reply
    • Mr. Money Mustache July 24, 2024, 6:15 am

      Yeah, thanks for being on the email list! I really hate lists that send me stuff more than a few times a year so I try to respect that pace around here :-)

      * with the exception of the boot camp email series which automatically goes out once per week – that’s an actual training program so people need to get after it.

      Reply
  • Denis July 24, 2024, 2:56 am

    Hi,
    thank you to keep posting after so many years and keep people that are still in the beginning or in the middle of their journey updated.
    it’s really inspirational to read and also helpful to see how things evolves in the future.

    Greetings from Italy

    Reply
  • RobRdam July 24, 2024, 3:18 am

    You forgot a very ridiculous expense many people spend their money on: smoking (and other drugs)!
    In the Netherlands smoking a pack of cigarettes a day can cost € 4000 a year!
    Paying that amount to destroy your health….

    Reply
    • Mr. Money Mustache July 24, 2024, 6:13 am

      Yeah, I’ve never been into smoking but that would be a great one to quit and would be one of the biggest numbers in this post because of the health implications.

      One thing I’ve been happy to do (as other people have mentioned in these comments) is just cut my own alcohol consumption back to the bare minimum that still allows some social fun. I’ll still enjoy it on a date night or special reunion with old friends or whatever, but the default is just zero in other situations. Especially beer since it’s a natural summer temptation. Instead I just get creative with good cold water in various forms and my body appreciates it.

      Reply
      • Justin August 5, 2024, 9:19 am

        Psychedelics like psilocybin or MDMA are actually a lot cheaper than alcohol and tobacco (blech!) basically non addictive AND, imo, much more rewarding, especially with friends. Just sayin, they’re mind enhancing, love spreading, and downright Mustachian, especially if you grow your own mushrooms and give to friends. Just don’t forget to test your powders, which is also an easy diy 🤙

        Reply
    • Adeo July 26, 2024, 9:02 pm

      In Australia, cigarettes are taxed really highly.
      $52 for a pack of 20 Benson & Hedges anyone?
      Pack a day close to 19k a year.

      Reply
  • PennyP July 24, 2024, 3:38 am

    Flowers! Not essential to the maintenance of life but make me feel happy. We live in the UK and are keen gardeners. My husband kindly plants me a cutting garden every year, a few packets of seed and some saved from previous years yields masses of flowers to fill the house. We give a bunch of flowers to neighbours every week and take them to friends as hostess gifts, thank yous or’ just because’. Seed saved is packaged up as small gifts too. A bunch of cheap supermarket flowers every week would cost approx £4, so over a decade that’s £2080 we don’t spend. We’re also not contributing to global warming by buying flowers flown in from around the world. Even in winter with some judicious use of garden and foraged hedgerow foliage I can make up arrangements/ posies with snowdrops etc.
    Plant seeds, help pollinators and enjoy!

    Reply
    • Mr. Money Mustache July 24, 2024, 6:09 am

      What a beautiful idea! I have been gradually adopting more plants around the house, but why not just grow a bunch of actual flowers too? Joyful!

      Reply
      • Katie Kindle October 4, 2024, 9:22 am

        Definitely plants for me too! Fort Collins pays you $1/sq ft to replace your lawn and put in low water native CO/regional plants. I was able to learn how to do permaculture online and have a good community and Craigslist etc. to find or grow native plants cheap or free (!) so I did it all myself. It was like getting paid $1000 to exercise, enjoy nature, learn, not mow grass, save water, and improve the ecosystem with more birds and pollinators coming around. Win, win, win.

        I laugh and shake my head as I watch the streams of lawn care companies go up and down my street as other neighbors actually pay to have their lawns mowed and poisoned. Now a few are wanting to do the same. Thank you for the insight for all these years!

        Reply
  • Republic DC-9 July 24, 2024, 4:35 am

    Glad to see another post, MMM!

    I’ve been reading your blog for years and enjoy re-reading the classics on this site (and posting on this forum)and (IMPORTANT!) actually implementing many of the ideas and principles.

    For new readers, I will say that if followed, the ideas on this site work exactly as predicted. In the span of a few years we paid off our $222K mortgage and achieved a net worth approaching the millions and (as MMM predicted) now have novel problems to deal with like setting up a second bank to ensure FDIC coverage (lots of CDs!) and thinking a lot about when to pull the retirement trigger(I’m nearly 50). And of course have the calm that can only come from knowing we’ll be OK if my job goes away.

    I now cut what’s left of my hair AND cut my wife’s (she says I’ve become good!), no longer buy “collectibles” and am selling those off, spend a lot of time making our yard into a natural paradis, exercising and reading. And I finally got off my butt and in 15 minutes slashed the internet/TV bill by $200 a month(no more TV). Still working on cutting back on takeout. It’s strange, or maybe it isn’t, but we’ve sort of lost interest in spending money now that we’ve become millionaires. Did buy a brand new Honda Civic to go next to the 2013 Civic though, it replaced a well used Civic.

    Thanks or the update, please keep ‘em’ coming MMM!

    Reply
  • Elliot July 24, 2024, 5:15 am

    Another great post MMM – thank you.

    You asked at the end what are your frugal quirks or indulgences. Despite only spending c. £20k a year and my friends being mind blown at this, I can’t identify what those quirks are because they just seem so normal to me.

    I guess the biggest one is living in a space that is big enough for mine and my girlfriends needs and not bigger. We are now in a self-converted van but before that it was a one bed flat in London. I don’t think of this as a quirk but then I spoke to a friend who lives alone in a 2-bed flat that is double the rent we paid between two of us. So perhaps that is a quirk!

    I cycle everywhere. Again, to me this feels like the optimal solution not a quirk.

    But I think that is the point of the article. I am not starving myself of brilliant things in life. I am doing what I want and coincidentally it all adds up to a life that only costs £20k per year.

    p.s. just thought of the latest ‘quirk’ I have introduced. An alcohol free year. Again, I didn’t do this for money saving reasons. I did because as I steadily make my way through my early 30’s, the booze infused evenings aren’t providing the entertainment they used to for me. So I ‘want’ to go alcohol free. I am not sacrificing anything. But again coincidentally it saves me an absolute fortune!

    Reply
  • dap July 24, 2024, 5:19 am

    Similar to DIY your home, we also DIY our finances that saves about 1%. On a $1mil portfolio, that should add up to $143,333 per decade.

    Reply
    • Lance Coleman September 12, 2024, 11:20 am

      Wow.. I never looked at it that way.. I need to DIY my portfolio asap! Thanks for the pointer.

      Reply
  • Nic Keith July 24, 2024, 5:46 am

    I used to read MMM… and I still do! Thanks for the post, as an engineer myself I’ve always resonated with the message of doing things efficiently and effectively. This has left me SO much more time to do the things that I want to do and given me the opportunity to do way more with others

    Reply
  • Tony W July 24, 2024, 6:00 am

    Great post! My wife and I have been following this approach for the entire 35 years we have been married.

    When the kids were little we bought a cheap piece of rural land and camped there nearly every weekend with the dogs. We sold that land (for a profit!) after the kids moved out and we didn’t want to camp so much anymore.

    These days we’re young and long-ago retired (we retired at ages 49 and 53), but we still keep up the frugality. We own an electric dryer, but I’m not sure why because we rarely use it. We cook, and we rarely go out for meals – to the point that a thing like In-N-Out or the local taco shop (we’re in San Diego) is a special treat. No need for fancy steak and lobster dinners at crazy restaurants for us!

    I haven’t had a paid haircut in decades, and most of my clothes are 5+ years old because, honestly, who cares?

    Both of us are around 60 years old and we have ZERO prescription meds, and the doctors are always amazed by that.

    We own a car, but it’s four years old and has 8,000 miles on it.

    Frugality is its own reward!

    Reply
  • Bill July 24, 2024, 6:05 am

    Another inspiring article! I think perhaps the largest happiness-generator and money-maker in MMM’s life is this blog itself! It has helped many of us earn more money over time and contributed to millions of people’s happiness in an immeasurable way. I”ve personally met tons of cool people and had hours of stimulating conversation bc of MMM. Thank you for “selfishly” pursuing a better life (that I’ve benefited from)!”
    :)

    Reply
    • Mr. Money Mustache July 24, 2024, 9:09 am

      Aww thanks Bill! Likewise it has been a joy to have you as part of the gang, an HQ co-owner, the Car Fixing CAPTAIN, educator on the subtleties of Motorcycles and Japanese culture, and many more things.

      Reply
  • Gerard July 24, 2024, 6:07 am

    I’m lucky (or cursed?) to see financial optimization as a game, and to get kicks from it even when the actual savings are tiny, or money I don’t even need. I buy pork trimmings in Chinatown and make my own lard and chicharon. Financial savings over a decade? Maybe a few hundred bucks. But I like making tasty value out of almost nothing. So many things can be like this — foraging, MacGyvering transit systems, curb shopping. None of it is a hardship, and all of it is rewarding!

    Reply
  • Kevin July 24, 2024, 6:22 am

    Great article. It reminds me of the things we do on a daily basis that we enjoy and are also improving health and wealth. Sometimes I forget.

    My friend just gave me a free 43 inch TV and I’m going to sell his makerbot for him in return. My neighbor and I trade each other skills helping one another saving thousands and it’s fun too and makes you feel good.

    Reply
  • Jack July 24, 2024, 6:41 am

    It certainly help being a carpenter (or even liking it) – not my case. I love coding and will always love it

    Reply
  • Steve July 24, 2024, 6:42 am

    Yeah MMM!

    My two favorites from this post.

    “…building heat tolerance during the days.”

    People need to embrace the idea that sweating is our evolutionary advantage. Very few other animals (primates, horses) have lots of sweat glands can cool themselves as efficiently as humans.

    Why not lean into this and develop it more like the superpower it is?

    “Just tweaking your lifestyle to be slightly less ridiculous and more efficient than average is usually all it takes. ”

    My wish is that people will realize Mustachianism is Morpheus telling Neo, “Welcome to the Real World.”

    Form me, it’s all things bicycle. Living in Boston is auto apocalypse. Everyone complaining about traffic and crappy drivers. Meanwhile the city and surrounding towns are quietly adding bike infrastructure almost daily. I cruise around in full contentment while the drivers suffer.

    Vacations are 3 bags attached to bike while riding and camping throughout our local Nature Bounty here in New England.

    Keep swinging the hammer MMM. We need you to continually show us how to walk the path.

    Steve

    Reply
  • w00t3n4t0r July 24, 2024, 6:54 am

    Hey MMM,

    Great article as always.

    One of the struggles that I have currently while I know all of these to be true is #1. I’m a father of 3 kids under 6. So while I have faith that I could figure out how to do many of the larger house projects, I have in recent past paid the premium to a contractor because of the time associated with taking on the job. Thoughts?

    Reply
    • Mr. Money Mustache July 24, 2024, 9:12 am

      There’s definitely going to be a slow time in all of our careers (both corporate and Handyman) as the Dad role ramps up. But, sometimes the kids take naps, or go to school, or get some Mom time – and those are the times to get to WORK!

      It’s a special bonus if the kids take an interest in the projects you are doing. Their presence will definitely slow down your progress, but that’s okay because you’re doing different things with that time – bonding, taking care of them and if you’re lucky, maybe even passing on some of the skills and values of taking care of your own home.

      Reply
    • MacF July 24, 2024, 9:15 am

      I would say to everything there is a season. Nearly 20 years ago I was a medical resident working 80 hours a week and a single mom to two kids under age 5. I had to outsource a lot of things as I truly didn’t have time or energy. But now… I am still a single mom but the kids are both in their late teens and I am working part time. Now I can do so many more things – including fixing three toilet with varying issues in the past couple months (thank you YouTube!), doing my own painting, fixing minor to moderate other plumbing issues, etc.. My response to you would be to do what you can when you can!

      To answer MMM’s question about quirks – in addition to many other things I now use “family cloth” for certain parts of my daily hygiene (I don’t ask the kids to do it! How many $ I save on toilet paper has not been calculated), rarely use sponges (which need to be replaced more frequently than cloth rags), and recently patched a hole in my fitted sheet. These are just some examples of little things that I suspect add up (and also help the environment).

      Reply
  • m.c. July 24, 2024, 6:56 am

    Yay, great article and so glad to see you are still true to your core value of frugality even though you could have easily slid into the lifestyle inflation trap! I already hit my F.I. number last year, but I keep rereading MMM articles (thank you for keeping them free!) and practicing my frugal fundamentals while I plot my work exit.

    Reply
  • LibrarIan July 24, 2024, 7:50 am

    I’m glad I discovered this site – especially prior to purchasing my home. I used to be the type of guy who didn’t want to do anything and just sit around play video games after work. But now I look for these learning opportunities. This year alone, I…

    * Learned how to use a paint sprayer and stained my (ridiculously large) fence rather than paying the bid I got of $1500.
    * Replaced the anode rod in my water heater – something I’ve never done and was kinda nervous about.
    * Cut down six trees myself instead of hiring a tree trimming company. Timber!
    * Picked up a couple IT certifications. They’re not really necessary, but my employer pays for me to do them and I get a bonus for completing the exams. No brainer!
    * Ran in a 5K street race and a 10K Spartan Super. Haroo!

    Thanks for the blog. It’s really helped shift my entire mentality.

    Reply
  • Erich July 24, 2024, 7:52 am

    I am sure that MMM took a lot of heat for buying a Tesla (and maybe deservedly so?), but I love this face-punching style throwback article to shake us up and remind us why we became MMM fans in the first place!

    Reply
  • Reade July 24, 2024, 7:55 am

    Always good to see a new MMM article. I am fortunate because I learned to do a lot of repairs from my father who build almost anything with his hands and I had to help him. Just knowing how to use all the tools is a big help. Sadly because I’m still working sometimes I don’t have the time to tackle the bigger jobs myself, but when I officially FIRE that will change. My wife and I are basically FI today, I’m just struggling when to pull the cord. My wife wants to work 10 more years, but by the end of the year, I’ll be ready. It’s just very hard to turn off the firehose of cash.

    Reply
    • Mr. Money Mustache July 24, 2024, 8:06 am

      Ten *MORE* Years?!?!?! That’s the length of an entire career! :-)

      I hope your wife really enjoys her job – if so, there’s no reason to quit. But for the rest of us, your problem is extremely common: most people keep working far far beyond any reasonable level of “safety”, falling prey to One More Year Syndrome.

      It may seem like the prudent choice at the time, but really that’s the furthest from the truth. Because you’re trading something you already have plenty of (money, aka digits on the hard drive of a bank somewhere) for something absolutely more precious: MOMENTS OF YOUR LIFE.

      Reply
      • Reade October 8, 2024, 7:09 pm

        Thank you for the reply, and of course you are right. I needed that punch in the face:). I will call it quits at the end of the year.

        Reply
  • Eric Lindberg July 24, 2024, 8:11 am

    MMM, reading this article and going back and reading some of your best work, I really appreciate your contributions to the FIRE community. While most are a bit more narrowly focused on savings and investing, you make it your goal to push people to become so much more: lean, lithe, efficient, strong, skilled, optimistic, joyful, and also rich. I really appreciate that about your philosophy.

    Reply
  • ks July 24, 2024, 9:07 am

    Hmm, thinking in terms of decades….maybe not so much once you’re >60, where the reality of having fewer future years than past ones causes you to pause and ponder fleeting & permanence. MMM’s been lucky not to have encountered any major health issues, but he will – we all do – and those costs can easily rival his illustrated 6 figure savings.

    Reply
  • Christine July 24, 2024, 9:07 am

    Love this article. I am a 60 yr old woman who is still working for at least another 5 years and doing everything I can to build up my 401K as well as I will have a monthly pension from my job when I retire. I did get tired of yard work and sold my home used the proceeds to buy a condo with a small mortgage that I plan to have paid off by the time I retire, I prefer to eat/cook at home and sincerely do not like to travel other than to visit my sister that lives 2 hrs from me and my son who lives 6 hrs. away. I like home projects and prefer to do what I can myself, but I do have a handyman that helps me on occasion. I guess you could say my biggest splurge/hobby is my 3 cats as I am not into fancy clothes, shoes hair salons etc. A friend cuts my hair for 10.00 and I color my hair myself. My biggest concern in retirement is that although I am healthy that some major health issue happens that drains all my money but you certainly cannot live on what if either. Thanks Again for the great article.

    Reply
  • Andrew July 24, 2024, 9:50 am

    Great article MMM. It’s honestly “crazy” to think of mid six figures of savings per decade, which results in multiple millions within 2-3 decades. After being part of the tribe for a decade, I have now seen the results first hand and with friends. Recently bought a used travel trailer to RV the West which feels pretty lavish but hasn’t even been a blip on “the financial radar”. Thanks for your many life lessons and perspectives. Keep it up! Would love to do a YouTube interview with you if you ever have 30-60 minutes to spare.

    Reply
    • Mr. Money Mustache July 24, 2024, 10:28 am

      Totally.. I chose not to go beyond the 10-year calculation for this article because the number is already so big that it starts to strain credibility for someone who is new to these ideas.

      But this shit really does work – and it does indeed become 1.3 million and then $3+ million over the subsequent decades and you have to remind yourself to keep true to the things you care about but ALSO to give up things that are Cheap instead of Frugal, which you might have just been doing out of habit “to save money”. For example, you CAN take the toll road to skip the traffic jam, or pay for a window seat in the plane, or even spend a bit more to get rid of your toxic gas-burner car and get a modern electric one – and whatever else you like.

      Reply
  • John July 24, 2024, 9:55 am

    Hey Pete- Love, love this blog. I am a long-time reader. I have been waiting for you to post about your Arizona experiment. Please post more frequently. Thanks for the wisdom.

    Reply
  • Husain July 24, 2024, 9:57 am

    Hi MMM! Great old-school post. I’m looking to buy a home in the next year or so and really want to try some home improvement projects. Will be referring to some of the older articles about that.

    Reply
  • Tim S July 24, 2024, 10:15 am

    I so relate to this a bit TOO MUCH: “My personality type is probably a weird combination of an engineer, a carpenter, an artsy hippie, and a mad scientist. Oh, and a devoted homebody too.” I also like to do experiments on all sorts of stuff and find out what works for me and what I will never do again. I found I love brewing beer from grains and making wine from the fruit in my backyard. I also found I don’t like to make homemade pie (but my wife does) but I like making homemade spring rolls. I think the trick is to be open to trying things and figure out what works for you. Forget what others think and find your own path. Life should be enjoyed and the point of FI is to support that.

    Reply
  • Steve July 24, 2024, 10:26 am

    Years ago I read the articles by MMM and then later by Mr Frugal Toque about making your own alcohol. This was something my dad had done when us kids were younger, but he was never really that great at it so I was a bit skeptical. I’m also not really a huge drinker, but my wife sure likes her wine. I had implemented basically every other MMM badassity lifestyle at that point so I figured I’d give it a try.
    I started by doing a few batches of beer at a local “U brew” shop under their supervision, but I quickly realized that there was really nothing to it….especially if you are using kits. Since then I have branched into wine, cider, and soda and have met so many great people along the way. The best part is that I never see it as a hassle or an inconvenience. I love the process. It is a fun and relaxing hobby and a great conversation starter. I have even had many people over to help and/or learn so that they can start doing the same.
    So thank you to the two of you for igniting a new frugal passion in me. I will be doing this for as long as I continue to drink. It’s no longer about the money, it’s about the fun and freedom to create.
    MMM, does Mr. Frugal Toque still live in Ottawa? If so, please pass off my contact info to him. I would love to have him over to sample and exchange our wares…and you of course if you ever still visit here. I tried to reach out to him in the forums a few years back but never got a response.

    Reply
  • Carlit00 July 24, 2024, 10:26 am

    Sold my car last September and bought an e-bike.
    I also lucked out and have a new co-worker that lives 4 blocks away from me; helpful for the rain and snow days.
    Going off of the 50 cents per mile rule, if I drove every work day (180 days in a year) it would cost almost 3K and I’d be more unhealthy from the traffic.

    I belong to three different library systems.
    I get books, films that aren’t streaming (I don’t pay for any of them), and video games from the system out in the suburbs.
    I also nag the librarian via e-mail to get new titles in and she is super helpful.

    I tutor Math and Computer Science over Zoom throughout the year.
    I recently upped my rate to $110.
    So far accrued $3,290 this year with no commute costs.

    Big on flipping product at thrift stores. Mostly just shoes and random apparel from brands I know in action sports.

    For a moment, I kept finding DVD giveaways on craiglist or at sidewalks; I’ve been putting them on e-bay.
    It’s a slow process but will randomly move them.
    Note worthy sell was when Whitney Houston passed away, I sold a live dvd for $40ish.

    Avoid delivery apps for food.

    I recently invoiced my insurance for a $150 rebate. They asked for 120 gym visits so I sent them all my Strava rides documented along with my bike receipt.

    ALWAYS cutting my own hair. I’ve probably paid for 2 haircuts since 2011 and regret them almost every time.

    If I get the itch to eat out on my own, I’ll try doing it as a secret shop so I get reimbursed and paid on top of it.
    My sites are iSecretShop ~https://isecretshop.com/register/761663
    Marketforce ~ https://www.marketforce.com/become-a-shopper

    I also shower outside in the Summer!
    The previous occupants were heavy set, installed an outdoor shower on their own cause the tub was too small, and I got to reap the rewards with cool and refreshing water all Summer long!

    Great post MMM!

    I do fall short on the following but don’t mind indulging: eating out once a week with fiancee, coffee once a week (usually from convenience or socializing), and

    Reply
  • figuy July 24, 2024, 11:15 am

    Another great post! I love how you try to make frugality cool and fun instead of depravity. Out of curiosity, where was that pic taken of the clothesline with the desert in the background? Was that on your winter trip to AZ?

    Reply
  • Lo July 24, 2024, 11:17 am

    Thanks for the post MMM! Like those above, I resonated with your article. A lot of these were things I have “always just done” (like hang dry clothes) so a few more that “I just have always done”

    (1) My grad school room mate and I loved new clothes but really couldn’t afford them. So we would challenge ourselves to keep our apartment as cold as we could tolerate in Ann Arbor, Michigan and “reward” ourselves in cost savings from our heating bill by buying a new sweater to keep us warm. That $50/month difference meant we were stoked by our new sweater and usually pocketed the savings the other months.

    (2) Buy wool clothing. It’s more durable, needs to be washed less, and you can have a smaller wardrobe (which takes up less space, saving you money in storage/heating costs). Even better buy used wool clothing.

    (3) Books. I love reading and go through upwards of 50+ books a year. Buying those new at a bookstore would be $30-$50 a month! Instead, I use Libby through my library and constantly have a multitude of books on hold. So yes, I need to wait, but honestly, it’s not that bad if you just had a great book come up that you’ve been waiting for. Slow gratification :)

    (4) Shampoo / Conditioner. I’ve experimented a lot with this over the years. Especially for women, there is an expectation to have clean, styled, long hair. There just is. I have finally settled on washing hair 2-3x a week, using tiny amounts of shampoo and conditioner only when necessary means I can save 5 bottles of each a year.

    (5) Buying the clearance veggies and cooking them that day. I’m also vegetarian. Both of these things save a TON of money, especially eating out (it’s about 10-15% less to be a vegetarian consistently when ordering out).

    My last thought to add to your post is to be adaptable. My partner and I are throwing a large wedding in a month. Weddings are crazy expensive if you let them be. But instead, we’ve found “opportunity” in many unexpected objects left on the side of the road (like an old ladder that became a wine shelf rack) or sold at a huge discount (like silverware from another wedding for $20 for 50 people when it cost $1.25 to rent a single fork!!!) .

    It may not be planned and perfectly coordinated, but we’ve created a wedding we’re proud of – both financially and visually. Most of it comes in, as you said, finding joy in the opportunities, not being frustrated with “what we don’t have”. We know we “could” have it, but honestly, that doesn’t bring me joy. Fixing up the old ladder and hearing people gasp when they see the before and after pictures does :)

    Reply
  • Charlie July 24, 2024, 1:10 pm

    How is that Tesla ownership going, MMM? There are good deals to be had on the Model Y so I’ve been doing my research which has me surprisingly almost pushed over the “EV edge”. Have you had any mechanical issues or service related issues to date?

    Long time reader and appreciative of ALL of your content.

    Charlie

    Reply
    • Mr. Money Mustache July 24, 2024, 4:46 pm

      100% perfect dream car so far! 14 months in and a surprisingly high (for me) 13k miles including over 30 nights of sleeping in the car. If you look up “mmm the model Y experiment” you should be able to find my ongoing report over time.

      You’re right that they have become crazily affordable now too – under 30k used and about 35k brand new if you are lucky enough to live in CO because there’s both a federal (7500) and state (5000) tax credit.

      Reply
  • FIREme1 July 24, 2024, 9:01 pm

    My frugal indulgence is to buy my favorite coffee in 5lb bags when it’s on sale then use a hand grinder while looking outside in the morning and doing squats until the beans are ground. I then use an aero press for the best cup of coffee I can find anywhere. It’s slower, manual, and gets my blood and brain going in the morning.

    I mow my huge lawn with an electric push mower. No riding gas guzzler for me. Exercise and the environment are more important than ease.

    Recently, my neighbor asked to put a fence between our yards. He wants to split the cost at $1900. I’ve never done a fence but after doing some research, I realized I can do it myself for half the price. My mentality is, why would I skip the chance to learn something new, get some cross fit exercise and do the job how I want and pay MORE for that? Oh, I know I’ll be admonishing myself midway through the job like when I blew in my own insulation, sanded and stained my deck, built a new pathway and installed hundreds of plants in my yard but the sense of accomplishment is always worth it.

    By the way, I’m married with 2 girls 9& 11. I reached FI last year at age 46 and took off 9 of the last 15 months including both summers. I can’t think of anything better to give my kids than my time. It’s been amazing!

    Reply
  • Liesbet July 25, 2024, 3:47 am

    These are great reminders and tips about how to cut expenses. And, you are so right about the critics. When you put “everything” out there to inspire people and show them what’s possible on a budget (in my case), you will get pushbacks either from people who are envious, the ones who can’t relate, or the plain old trolls.

    Putting numbers on how much one saves by acting a certain way is hard, I find. My lifestyle has been very different than most. I’d like to think it’s inspiring, but, yet, most people can’t relate or don’t see themselves doing it, despite the many savings and rewards.

    I’ve been a nomad in sailboats and RVs for two decades, being fully self-contained, fixing most everything ourselves, and working as a freelancer. In those 20+ years, I saved heaps of money – on rent, utilities, restaurant meals, … and I never owned more than our current home on wheels or hulls and what’s inside.

    We wild camp/boondock for free, have solar panels and a Lithium battery my husband built, use a “composting toilet”, and we have Starlink internet for work. So, the only things we depend on others for is fuel and drinking water. We hate depending on other people, so these two things are still the “sticky points.” But, we have converted our camper to be independent and off grid in nature for up to two weeks.

    Our financial approach is different from yours, because we don’t put those savings in the bank. Our approach is “”The less you spent, the less you have to earn.” So, we feel free, travel the world (our truck camper is currently in South America), and work just as much as we need to maintain our lifestyle. Without having to touch our savings. We will never be rich and I don’t even know if we will ever retire. But, we’ve been living our lives internationally and to the fullest, on a budget, and on our own terms “forever.” :)

    Reply
  • DLL July 25, 2024, 6:53 am

    The only things I can think of (that are not listed here) 1. Making my own flatbread and biscuits. I really reccomend the biscuits idea. Fun, inexpensive and great taste, and they freeze really well. 2. Buying trees and shrubs when they are very small and inexpensive and being patient. I am retired and spend most of my time volunteering at a non profit day program and I have really noticed a very large difference in my approach to spending and waste versus the rest of the staff. I have also introduced some of them to stoicism. But, boy (or girl), there is a lot of work to do. They will open up their phones and order stuff from Amazon before I have a chance to tell them we already have that stored away.

    Reply
  • Lee July 25, 2024, 8:33 am

    Ok two semi related questions for ya: 

    1. How do I make my town better? I live in a smaller city in the Midwest. About 10k people. It’s easily bike able most of the year, but everyone drives. How do I get people to bike more? How do I get bike lanes built? How do I get more small businesses to open? 

    2. I have a great 1940s house that I’ve been renovating myself. I’ve found out that the walls only use newspaper for insulation. How do I make it more energy efficient without ripping it all apart to add new insulation? 
    I’d love more posts talking about this sort of post retirement stuff!

    Reply
  • Ben July 25, 2024, 6:42 pm

    MMM, do you blow your own insulation? This is the project I need done right now and the possibility of DIY hadn’t even crossed my mind.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

To keep things non-promotional, please use a real name or nickname
(not Blogger @ My Blog Name)

The most useful comments are those written with the goal of learning from or helping out other readers – after reading the whole article and all the earlier comments. Complaints and insults generally won’t make the cut here, but by all means write them on your own blog!

connect

welcome new readers

Take a look around. If you think you are hardcore enough to handle Maximum Mustache, feel free to start at the first article and read your way up to the present using the links at the bottom of each article.

For more casual sampling, have a look at this complete list of all posts since the beginning of time. Go ahead and click on any titles that intrigue you, and I hope to see you around here more often.

Love, Mr. Money Mustache

latest tweets