LBYM's selectively

[Moemg]

After reading all the posts on the Wii I could not help but think how we all LBYM's selectively . Someone will spend their money on eating out and get bashed for it . Others will spend excessively on their hair and be told they are influenced byMadisonAve. Some will spend a lot on travel and still others will spend a large amount on gaming systems . So I've come to the conclusion that we all LBYM's selectively except Uncle Mick who is an all around cheapo . (Just kidding Uncle Mick )

 

[d]

well, there is a difference 'tween lbym and total deprivation. gotta have some fun.

 

[Goonie]

I'm selectively LBMM. Like shoes.....You only get one pair of feet, and they have to last a lifetime, so I treat them VERY well.....and I'm not afraid to pay for quality footwear. Also tools & fasteners (nuts, bolt, screws. etc.)......I've had enough busted knuckles from cheapo tools & fasteners breaking at the most inopportune time to last me a lifetime.....now only Craftsman, S&K, Snap-On, and that sort of breed for tools....and only Lawson or equivalent for fasteners.

And I'll usually buy generic or store-brand cereals & canned goods, and that sort of thing, and many times meat from the 'rotten' meat case.....but even then, I only buy quality 'rotten' meat. Some of the local grocery stores sell meat that isn't fit for starving, ravenous wolves, because it's of such poor quality. But my local butcher shop a few blocks away always has the absolute best quality meats.....you pay premium price for some it, but I've never gotten a steak, roast, or anything else with even the tiniest piece of gristle in it....never. Another thing is that they cut and trim to order....they'll trim off as much or as little excess fat as you prefer.....BEFORE they weigh & price it. Plus, they usually have some pretty good deals on some of their homemade things like the different sausages, brats, Italian beef, BBQ's, and salads.

So for shoes, tools & fasteners, and meat, I'll ditch my LBMM ways, and spend a bit more for quality. Most everything else is negotiable.

 

[HFWR]

One can buy an Escalade, a Wii, or go on a Euro vacation, and still be LBYM. Depends on the quantity of "means".

 

[Marquette]

I take it at face value... "you mean we need to spend less than we make?"

Beyond that, who cares.

Delving into it, though, it's an imperfect analogy but here's sort of how I approach things. My wife and I both work, have no kids, and can spend pretty freely. We could extend that to things like eating out every night. After all, it's exhausting after working a full day, let's just stop for some food at our favorite place. If we did that every day, we wouldn't actually value the meals any more. It'd become a mindless routine. Unconscious consumption.

As another example, my wife spend almost $1000 on a tripod and head for my camera for my birthday. That's a lot of money to spend. But, it was a need for my hobby and it's cheaper to buy the right thing up front rather than buying two or three times. She researched the heck out of things and bought exactly what I needed. Plus, this will last me a lifetime so, amoritized over 50 years, it's pretty cheap.

 

[FIREd]

We spend more than $25,000 a year on discretionary items (vacations, electronics, furnishings, entertainment, etc...), that's about $2,000 a month! It may sound obscene for some but it still does not prevent us from saving upward of $4,000 a month and living way below our means. Could we cut back on the discretionary spending? Sure we could. But it wouldn't be much fun to be a cheap bastard all the time.
As for selectively spending our money, you are right, we are very selective: With $2,000 extra per month you'd think we'd eat out all the time, but not really. In fact last year we spent less than $70 a month on dining. It's just not our thing. But we spend a good deal of money on electronics for example (about $450 per month last year). So we all have our own priorities and our own way to spend money.

 

[Notmuchlonger]

One can buy an Escalade, a Wii, or go on a Euro vacation, and still be LBYM. Depends on the quantity of "means".

Exactly.

 

[ziggy29]

If you earn more than you spend, you are LBYM. By definition. Doesn't matter whether you have $50 or $5000 left over at the end of a typical month.

Someone who "splurges" on non-essentials may not be practicing deprivation-level maximum LBYM, but it still is LBYM.

 

[Cattusbabe]

There is such a thing as being penny wise and pound foolish. Buy quality and you make out in the long run. LBYM should not be a trial nor is it a race to see how little one can spend. It is being able to meet your obligations and goals using the resources you have and not taking on unnecessary debt.

Splurging is not a bad thing, in fact I feel it is a necessary thing, so long as you can afford to do it.

 

[haha]

After reading all the posts on the Wii I could not help but think how we all LBYM's selectively

Maybe we remember that

Money can't buy back
Your youth when you're old
Or a friend when you're lonely
Or a love that's grown cold...


So I think that with young people especially, while they are saving their money they are also spending their youth. Both should be done as consciously as possible.

Ha

 

[Nords]

If you earn more than you spend, you are LBYM. By definition. Doesn't matter whether you have $50 or $5000 left over at the end of a typical month.
Someone who "splurges" on non-essentials may not be practicing deprivation-level maximum LBYM, but it still is LBYM.

Here's the way I think these LBYM threads usually end up:

"I'm frugal, but you're leading a life of quiet [-]desperation[/-] deprivation."

 

[Moemg]

.
As for selectively spending our money, you are right, we are very selective: With $2,000 extra per month you'd think we'd eat out all the time, but not really. In fact last year we spent less than $70 a month on dining. It's just not our thing. But we spend a good deal of money on electronics for example (about $450 per month last year). So we all have our own priorities and our own way to spend money.

So true , I spend a decent not obsene amount of money on my clothes , hair and travel but you have to drag me into an electronics store . That's not my thing .

 

[W2R]

To me LBYM is not the same as living the life of an ascetic or intentionally depriving oneself of every scrap of happiness. I suppose it just refers to keeping one's expenditures down to less than one could afford to spend so that one manages to save a good, hefty chunk of income each month.

For some, that might mean monthly expenditures of $1000, for some $1500, for some, much more.

We probably each define LBYM differently. In my case, I think that if a person is saving more than 1/3 of his or her net income each year and adding that to the long term nestegg, I would say that person was LBYM'ing.

 

[Moemg]

Almost everyone on this board lives below our means that's how we got to early retirement . I just find it amusing the different splurges people go for and Ha you are 100% correct that you have to enjoy the journey as you save .

 

[Khan]

Here's the way I think these LBYM threads usually end up:

"I'm frugal, but you're leading a life of quiet [-]desperation[/-] deprivation."

There is a great degree of variance as to what is considered essential.

 

[Moemg]

There is a great degree of variance as to what is considered essential.

Absolutely !

 

[Bestwifeever]

It is relatively easy for us to live below our means but it would be sad to have to live below what we perceive as our personal needs (outside food, shelter, clothing). These needs change all the time however from the ridiculous to the sublime--HBO when the Sopranos were on, a pair of early Air Jordans for our son when he was 10, a trip to DisneyWorld when the kids were little, cigarettes in 1972, college tuitions and a wedding for our daughter. Those needs we have said a bittersweet goodbye to (except for the cigarettes ). Moemg, hair color is still a need but the cost is starting to drive me crazy so it might be off the need list by the end of the year along with the second cell phone and the $7 dedicated fax line that gets used once a year at most.

 

[Moemg]

--HBO when the Sopranos were on, a pair of early Air Jordans for our son when he was 10, a trip to DisneyWorld when the kids were little, cigarettes in 1972, college tuitions and a wedding for our daughter.quote]


I have to admit to also having HBO for the Sopranos ( Having spent most of my life in New Jersey how could I not ). I never regret one cent I spent on family trips , tuition and a wedding . The thing that stops me in the tracks about hair care is I've seen pictures of my Mom at my age with gray hair and she looks old . I'm just not ready to age myself even though I've seen a lot of women with great shiny grey hair .They are usually tiny and going to yoga class .

 

[haha]

The thing that stops me in the tracks about hair care is I've seen pictures of my Mom at my age with gray hair and she looks old . I'm just not ready to age myself even though I've seen a lot of women with great shiny grey hair .They are usually tiny and going to yoga class .

I hear you Moe. Neither am I crazy about having totally silver hair. But it has been a long time now, so I think I will continue this way. Adding yet another grooming chore might just overtax my coping abilities.

But for a woman, unless she is very sure of her man, best to spend the money because her hair really does set the gestalt. I think pretty gray hair works well if she is very trim and has few facial lines. Half gray never works, except blonds and some black-haired women and even they usually spend money on streaking and such.

Ha

 

[Moemg]

I hear you Moe. Neither am I crazy about having totally silver hair. But it has been a long time now, so I think I will continue this way. Adding yet another grooming chore might just overtax my coping abilities.



Ha

For some reason guys look better with gray hair . How fair is this ??

 

[NW-Bound]

I see nothing wrong with being a LBYM'er, and still be seen by others as splurging in a particular discretionary area. The key as some have pointed out is "selective splurging" in what gives you the most "bang-per-buck" pleasure, and cutting out the stuff that you don't care about.

There are many paths to FIRE. We all take our own different detours, spend time to smell flowers along the way, knowing it slows us down some. That's the trade-off one LBYM'er deliberately makes for him/herself.

But from an earlier post, this unique unclemick was able to make a straightline dash to the goal. That's TOUGH. I've got to go research his old posts.

 

[Khan]

I have to admit to also having HBO for the Sopranos ( Having spent most of my life in New Jersey how could I not ). I never regret one cent I spent on family trips , tuition and a wedding . The thing that stops me in the tracks about hair care is I've seen pictures of my Mom at my age with gray hair and she looks old . I'm just not ready to age myself even though I've seen a lot of women with great shiny grey hair .They are usually tiny and going to yoga class .

What terrible things will occur if you have grey hair?

 

[Notmuchlonger]

What terrible things will occur if you have grey hair?

I dont know. I got a lot of them too!

 

[Moemg]

What terrible things will occur if you have grey hair?

I'll probably look like my Mother and ten years older .

 

[Moemg]

.

But from an earlier post, this unique unclemick was able to make a straightline dash to the goal. That's TOUGH. I've got to go research his old posts.

He did stop to party till you puke for a few years !