Were you always an LBYMer?

[unclemick]

I've always been one, but to varying degrees.

Yep - plus I lived thirty years in New Orleans - and never let a chance to party pass by.

BTW - you can party well on what you got - after you've socked away some for investing.

heh heh heh - full auto deduct to 401k really helped - you don't spend what you don't get in your hands.

 

[FIREd]

There were Disney comics in French. Did you read these or in English?

I wonder if they were as popular with French kids as the Franco-Belgian comic like Tintin, Spirou, Lucky Luke, Schtroumpfs (Smurfs), Johan et Pirlouit, and Asterix, etc...

The ones I had were in French (Scrooge McDuck was called "Picsou" which means "penny pincher"). My dad collected Disney Comics in the 50's and passed them on to me when I was a kid. They were by far my favorite comics. I also was a fan of Tintin, Asterix et Obelix, Lucky Luke and Pif et Hercule. I watched the Schtroumfs on TV but never read the comics.

 

[FIREd]

Kinda like this?..........

Exactly! Of course nowadays it would take several million $$$ just to fill up a small bathtub with gold coins, but perhaps I could afford a foot bath with my current net worth!

 

[FurBall]

When I was a kid we got a nickel allowance and then later a dime. We each had a little check book and every Saturday we filled out a deposit slip and added the allowance to our account balance (bank of Dad). If you wanted cash you wrote a check and he gave you cash.
My mother told me that after the very first week I told her I was going to save up until I had $1. She asked me what I would do when I got to $1. I thought about it and told her I would then save until I got to $2.

It's been that way ever since.

 

[jimnjana]

LBYM is a way of life for me, DW goes along for the ride. One example: we used time share sale incentive rewards for our wedding/honeymoon total lodging costs were just the room tax(less than 30 bucks for both). I only buy retail what I can't find at yard sales, thrift shops or free along the road. We have fully furnished two homes with estate and yard sale finds, our atlanta home is about 3/4 furnished with like items. I guess LBYM has allowed us in the last few years to loosen up a bit. We do have three residences, albeit one is a vacation rental that is earning some money, definitely went off the LBYM bandwagon there. But as far as our recurring expenses etc we continue to spend lean, while doing what we want Now.

Jim

 

[harley]

Don't know how the italics got turned on for a while there. It was a mis-typed keystroke, I guess.

Ctrl-I turns italics on and off. Probably hit the Ctrl key when trying to type the capital I.

I've always lived at or below my means. My family was very poor, therefore very frugal. I started working for money at 11 (farmhand, paper route, raking/mowing/shovelling, etc), so I understood the cost of a dollar. The only time I ever got into debt was my last semester of college. I was tapped out, so I put that last semester on my CC. But I refused to be in debt when I got married, so I worked 3 jobs for a year first in order to be above water.

However, I discovered early in my mid twenties from watching my Mom that skrimping to save didn't get you buy you much if you don't put the money to work. She saved a ton, but always (to this day) kept it in checking and savings acounts. Around then I actually started making good money and had plenty of available cash. This coincided with CD rates in the high teens, and I was off to the races. Good timing/good luck.

I started investing in the stock market in the late 80s, mostly tech stuff (buy what you know). Good timing/good luck again. Then I read James O'Shaughnessy's How To Retiree Rich book in '97. It opened my eyes to the fact that I didn't have to work until I died. It also got me reading about diversity and AA, so I diversified out of tech stocks just before the big crash. Didn't save me, but limited the pain a tad. Good timing/good luck once again. I retired 9 years later and have been smiling ever since.

 

[Kronk]

When I was 4 years old, I wanted a firetruck for Christmas. My parents (especially my mom) had drummed into me that money was a finite resource, and that applied to Christmas presents as well.

Well, Christmas rolled around, and I got my firetruck! But ... it was quite a large one. I equated size with expense, and figured that that particular firetruck was a good portion of my Christmas allotment. But I only wanted a small, cheaper one, so there'd be more money for other gifts.

I cried, ungrateful snot-nosed kid that I was. I didn't make my line of reasoning clear to my parents, which I'm sure was hurtful to them. Years later I found out that the larger firetruck was actually the cheaper of several in the store.

Being money-conscious since before I went to kindergarten hasn't always been a bed of roses. (Wait, roses have thorns. Why would a bed of roses be a good thing?)

 

[Budman]

I had a paper route as a kid and learned to buy my own clothes, bikes, etc. My parents didn't have a large income. So, some LBYM was instilled when I was a kid. But it really didn't happen until I got married and my wife and her father beat me up into being really frugal. They encouraged me to get an education and I ended up working at an Oil Company that paid quite well, taking advantage of the 7% company match in the Thrift Plan. I continued to be guided by my father-in-law who was so tight he squeaked. He made Rush Limbaugh look like a liberal!! Anyway, thank God he was there to guide us. Now after 40 years of LBYM, we were able to retire somewhat early. The LBYM concept is firmly embedded and we watch our finances like hawks.