|
To All The Dollars I've Loved Before
03-04-2017, 07:36 AM
|
#1
|
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Jalisco, Mexico
Posts: 1,747
|
To All The Dollars I've Loved Before
...who traveled in and out the door (of my bank account)
Scene 1: The early aughts. Wifey and I were grossing $120K or so, take home $90-ish per year? Somehow managed to spend pretty much all of that each month. We lived in a medium COL area, lived in a new $160K home (2000 sq. ft.) w/ a 3-car garage (to hold our motorcycles). Livin' the life. At the moment we decided to ER we probably had no more than $3k in cash.
Scene 2: Having re-entered the workforce (after a 4-year 'sabbatical') we are now grossing $45K, taking home $30K. We live in a HIGH COL area (Austin). Fastest real estate appreciation in the nation. And yet somehow we've managed to increase our cash from just under $10k to almost $30k in 1.5 years! I mean, we're frugal and all but I'm not sure how that happened...
It boggles the mind, both how much we've been able to save here AND how much money just ran through our fingers back in the day. Crazy-making if you dwell on it too long...
|
|
|
|
Join the #1 Early Retirement and Financial Independence Forum Today - It's Totally Free!
Are you planning to be financially independent as early as possible so you can live life on your own terms? Discuss successful investing strategies, asset allocation models, tax strategies and other related topics in our online forum community. Our members range from young folks just starting their journey to financial independence, military retirees and even multimillionaires. No matter where you fit in you'll find that Early-Retirement.org is a great community to join. Best of all it's totally FREE!
You are currently viewing our boards as a guest so you have limited access to our community. Please take the time to register and you will gain a lot of great new features including; the ability to participate in discussions, network with our members, see fewer ads, upload photographs, create a retirement blog, send private messages and so much, much more!
|
03-04-2017, 08:35 AM
|
#2
|
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Oct 2009
Posts: 2,010
|
It's amazing how all the little things add up.
__________________
You do not have a soul. You are a soul. You have a body.
|
|
|
03-04-2017, 08:44 AM
|
#3
|
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Mar 2013
Posts: 1,788
|
I think most people really underestimate how powerful frugality can be, in terms of attaining financial independence and facilitating ER. Good job.
|
|
|
03-04-2017, 09:14 AM
|
#4
|
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Minneapolis
Posts: 4,455
|
which scene do you prefer? It's always a trade-off between living styles.
__________________
May we live in peace and harmony and be free from all human sufferings.
|
|
|
03-04-2017, 09:44 AM
|
#5
|
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Cholula
Posts: 1,595
|
Needs vs. Wants
|
|
|
03-04-2017, 09:48 AM
|
#6
|
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: May 2014
Posts: 1,390
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by dixonge
...who traveled in and out the door (of my bank account)
Scene 1: The early aughts. Wifey and I were grossing $120K or so, take home $90-ish per year? Somehow managed to spend pretty much all of that each month. We lived in a medium COL area, lived in a new $160K home (2000 sq. ft.) w/ a 3-car garage (to hold our motorcycles). Livin' the life. At the moment we decided to ER we probably had no more than $3k in cash.
Scene 2: Having re-entered the workforce (after a 4-year 'sabbatical') we are now grossing $45K, taking home $30K. We live in a HIGH COL area (Austin). Fastest real estate appreciation in the nation. And yet somehow we've managed to increase our cash from just under $10k to almost $30k in 1.5 years! I mean, we're frugal and all but I'm not sure how that happened...
It boggles the mind, both how much we've been able to save here AND how much money just ran through our fingers back in the day. Crazy-making if you dwell on it too long...
|
I dedicate this song, to all the things that can go wrong, I've never done before
__________________
Understanding both the power of compound interest and the difficulty of getting it is the heart and soul of understanding a lot of things. Charlie Munger
The first rule of compounding: Never interupt it unnecessarily. Charlie Munger
|
|
|
03-05-2017, 07:53 AM
|
#7
|
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Pacific latitude 20/49
Posts: 7,677
|
We lived high for 20 years then got serious about LBYM during our final 10 high earnings years. Been retired 14 years. Life is good.
__________________
For the fun of it...Keith
|
|
|
03-05-2017, 11:23 AM
|
#8
|
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: the prairies
Posts: 5,048
|
Small expenses add up...especially for those who have modest earnings.
I once told a younger co-worker that if he brought a thermos to work instead of buying 2 takeout coffees every day that he would be able to retire a full year early on that small saving alone. He didn't believe me until I showed him the math.
|
|
|
03-05-2017, 11:33 AM
|
#9
|
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Tampa Bay Area
Posts: 1,866
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by dixonge
It boggles the mind, both how much we've been able to save here AND how much money just ran through our fingers back in the day. Crazy-making if you dwell on it too long...
|
I love your story ! I started out frugal, then did the "living high" thing for about 7 years. And then the Great Recession brought me back to reality. I can't tell you how many times I cried over all the money I wasted during those 7 years. The spending made me temporarily happy - and then it made me temporarily insane with "grief" (best word I can find for it). Thankfully I turned myself back around, which allowed me to ER. I'm enjoying (what I hope is not temporary) bliss !
__________________
"For the time being no discipline brings joy, but seems grievous and painful; but afterwards it yields a peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it." ~
Hebrews 12:11
ER'd in June 2015 at age 52. Initial WR 3%. 50/40/10 (Equity/Bond/Short Term) AA.
|
|
|
03-05-2017, 11:36 AM
|
#10
|
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Mar 2016
Posts: 8,968
|
Was frugal while working, stacked a lot of dough.
Now living larger than ever and still stacking dough.
Gotta blow more dough!
|
|
|
03-05-2017, 12:29 PM
|
#11
|
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Southern Cal
Posts: 4,032
|
I wasted a lot of money when I was young and single. Then a little bit less when I got married. Now I think I waste the least. I was never the frugal type. But I sure wish I didn't waste so much when I was younger. I still cringe when I think about it.
|
|
|
03-05-2017, 02:03 PM
|
#12
|
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jun 2007
Posts: 13,227
|
Only because you are saying you don't know how this happened and that it's mind boggling....
Cash on hand really isn't a measure of much of anything other than liquidity, IMO. There are missing pieces to your story. Maybe you really are spending considerably less. Or maybe you are taking dividends in cash now, or have liquidated some investments. Soaring real estate prices really have no bearing unless you are actually buying now, or you are paying increasing rent.
I have more cash now than while I was working too. That's mainly because I used my steady paychecks to pay my expenses, and had regular monthly investments going to Vanguard. Now I have no steady inflow, so I tend to keep more in cash so I don't have to worry about remembering to transfer money into my banking accounts. I probably spend a bit more now that I did back then.
I don't mean to be a wet blanket, as you probably are being better with your money now, but are you really saying you've taken home $45K in the last 1.5 years, and saved $20K of that? This is what you are implying, but having a larger bank balance doesn't mean that much.
|
|
|
03-06-2017, 07:12 PM
|
#13
|
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Jan 2017
Posts: 2,659
|
Most of my money was spent on boats, booze and broads.
The rest I just wasted.
[Sorry, I stole that quote from another forum, but I felt someone had to say it here.]
|
|
|
03-06-2017, 08:11 PM
|
#14
|
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Jalisco, Mexico
Posts: 1,747
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by RunningBum
Only because you are saying you don't know how this happened and that it's mind boggling....
Cash on hand really isn't a measure of much of anything other than liquidity, IMO. There are missing pieces to your story. Maybe you really are spending considerably less. Or maybe you are taking dividends in cash now, or have liquidated some investments. Soaring real estate prices really have no bearing unless you are actually buying now, or you are paying increasing rent.
I have more cash now than while I was working too. That's mainly because I used my steady paychecks to pay my expenses, and had regular monthly investments going to Vanguard. Now I have no steady inflow, so I tend to keep more in cash so I don't have to worry about remembering to transfer money into my banking accounts. I probably spend a bit more now that I did back then.
I don't mean to be a wet blanket, as you probably are being better with your money now, but are you really saying you've taken home $45K in the last 1.5 years, and saved $20K of that? This is what you are implying, but having a larger bank balance doesn't mean that much.
|
Take-home was mostly $2800/mo. until a recent raise. In 3-4 of those 18 months there were 3 checks. Those checks, plus a tax refund and one bonus check, are probably responsible for the bulk of the savings. But when we originally budgeted this time period and had to deal with the rent shock it didn't feel like we were going to save *anything.* Plus, most months are tight cash-flow-wise. So yeah, still a bit surprised. Results have exceeded expectations. Our savings and our investments are one in the same. There really aren't any dividends to receive yet, nothing to speak of any way. Pensions won't kick in for another six months, which is when we will actually retire.
|
|
|
03-06-2017, 10:51 PM
|
#15
|
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 35,712
|
Shouldn't the thread topic title be "To All the Dollars I've Lost Before"?
Quote:
Originally Posted by CaptTom
Most of my money was spent on boats, booze and broads.
The rest I just wasted.
[Sorry, I stole that quote from another forum, but I felt someone had to say it here.]
|
The original quote is widely attributed to W.C. Fields (photo from Wikipedia below)
“ I spent half my money on gambling, alcohol and wild women. The other half I wasted.” - W.C. Fields
__________________
"Old age is the most unexpected of all things that happen to a man" -- Leon Trotsky (1879-1940)
"Those Who Can Make You Believe Absurdities Can Make You Commit Atrocities" - Voltaire (1694-1778)
|
|
|
03-07-2017, 03:09 AM
|
#16
|
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Midwest
Posts: 1,795
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by CaptTom
Most of my money was spent on boats, booze and broads.
The rest I just wasted.
[Sorry, I stole that quote from another forum, but I felt someone had to say it here.]
|
Might be an adapted quote from George Best, bankrupt, retired soccer player.
"I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I just squandered." (BBC, 2005)
|
|
|
|
Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
|
|
Posting Rules
|
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
HTML code is Off
|
|
|
|
» Recent Threads
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
» Quick Links
|
|
|