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02-13-2007, 12:47 PM
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#21
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Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Indianapolis
Posts: 417
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Re: Why do you LBYM?
Luckily just eventually grew into it. Was wild and lustful with my money for over half my life. Married at 22 and still wild with finances. At 27 had a daughter and a set of twin girls 9 months later, and reality kicked in. Luckily wife had a fair-paying job at mega-pharma-corp with pension and great health care. She came home in the early 80's and said this new-fangled 401k thing was being offered-what should we do? I said heck, I don't know. She had this super-nice, down-home, well-grounded, smart, frugal boss--So I said find out what % he's contributing and to which funds and do the same. Had read the newspaper everyday since i was 10 years old, and eventually read enough finance articles that it started to sink in. My contribution, in addition to staying gainfully employed, was being somewhat of a hermit and tightwad--never wanted to pay anybody for what I could figure out how to do myself--from mowing , car and all type engine maintenence, painting, fixing anything electrical, etc. Had told the wife when kids were first born that when kids got past 23 they would be out of college, on their own, and our life would dramatically change after we turned 50---and it did----we retired.
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02-13-2007, 12:51 PM
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#22
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Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 282
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Re: Why do you LBYM?
E. Also liked the F.U.ability that LBYM brought in regards to w*rk.
__________________
time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana
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02-13-2007, 01:01 PM
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#23
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 2,450
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Re: Why do you LBYM?
B+E like most plus a little of C----not a major job loss or such, but realization that things could change on a dime and spending a little less now was more important to me...
__________________
- Hurry! to the cliffs of insanity!
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02-13-2007, 01:41 PM
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#24
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: North-Central Illinois
Posts: 3,228
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Re: Why do you LBYM?
Quote:
Originally Posted by JustCurious
B) You either grew up poor, and you know the meaning of a dollar, or, you did not grow up poor, but your parents lived below their means.
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We weren't "well-to-do" by anyone's standards, the folks (and Grand-folks) had barely scraped by through the Depression, so we all lived VERY frugally, and ALL excess money got saved for "the future"! With THAT instilled in me, I lived that way...until one day I decided I was smarter than that, and started spending BEYOND my means.......THEN:
Quote:
D) At some point during your adult life (usually middle age) you realized that if you kept spending every dollar that you made, you would not get ahead and you would never be able to retire comfortably, so you got religion and started LBYM.
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I finally caught sight of reality (in my 40's), and started climbing out of the depths of my debt, started living WAY below my means (again), and started investing for MY future!
I'll be FIRE'd in just a little over 7 weeks!!!
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02-13-2007, 01:48 PM
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#25
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Dryer sheet wannabe
Join Date: Oct 2006
Posts: 16
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Re: Why do you LBYM?
Mostly D. I w*rked for a guy who lb(h)m and retired at 42, thus leaving selling my partner and I his business a couple of years ago. I had a very good example in him of lbym, since he was what society always calls a millionaire, yet lives a modest life. With the increased income, I didn't initially see the power of compounding which makes it all worthwhile. Then, I discovered Gillette Edmunds' book in Staples, and devoured it and took it to heart. I realized then that it would be possible to follow in my old boss' footsteps, or even beat him into ER by a year. It has been getting easier to resist the peer pressure and societal temptations around me since there seems to be the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel.
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02-13-2007, 02:12 PM
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#26
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Gone but not forgotten
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Sarasota,fl.
Posts: 11,447
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Re: Why do you LBYM?
D - I was 33 and divorced with two young kids who I wanted to be able to put through college so I started saving and never stopped.Plus I'm on the frugal side .The trappings of wealth don't interest me.
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02-13-2007, 02:32 PM
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#27
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Administrator
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 23,036
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Re: Why do you LBYM?
..
__________________
Living an analog life in the Digital Age.
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02-13-2007, 03:06 PM
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#28
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Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: Dec 2006
Posts: 149
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Re: Why do you LBYM?
Gumby, I know where you're coming from. Your last paragraph is a powerful truth.
__________________
"Watch your topknot"
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02-13-2007, 03:12 PM
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#29
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 2,450
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Re: Why do you LBYM?
Sounds like something from the Millionaire Next Door and having some powerful event shape your idea....also falls into some here that talk about money giving you more choice and power....
__________________
- Hurry! to the cliffs of insanity!
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02-13-2007, 03:18 PM
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#30
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: New Orleans
Posts: 47,500
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Re: Why do you LBYM?
For me there's some truth in all of the answers.
But to make a very long story short, I didn't have much money for a long time and had to be frugal.
When my salary went up sharply, I realized that I had some choices to make. I continued to LBYM and put that extra money towards my highest priorities (paying off debt and saving for ER).
I am living on only 19% of my pre-tax salary right now, but this amount is the most I have ever lived on. So, it wasn't hard. I cannot imagine what it would be like to actually be able to spend the kind of money I make.
I always LBYM because I have my eye on the goal and I refuse to be distracted from it.
__________________
Already we are boldly launched upon the deep; but soon we shall be lost in its unshored, harbourless immensities. - - H. Melville, 1851.
Happily retired since 2009, at age 61. Best years of my life by far!
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02-13-2007, 03:20 PM
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#31
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: San Diego
Posts: 5,267
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Re: Why do you LBYM?
Kind of "None of the above" for me. My parents didn't go hog wild, but liked things. I think the general society would mark them as frugal ( they drive volvos and hondas when they could afford a BMW and an Acura ) but they would probably be considered "spendy" on this board. But they are financially savvy, made money on real estate, and I picked up a little of the idea that you needed to accumulate assets to ensure your quality of life.
What got me to LBYM thoughts was marrying DW. Her parents are disasters financially. Rented for years, bought whatever they wanted, etc. When they bought a house they used it as an ATM machine continuously, now they are in debt to their ears and MIL constantly talks about losing the house. Meanwhile, just this Saturday she said, "I'm tired of my SUV, the CD player is broken, I'm going to trade it in." When I pointed out she just said she was going to lose the house, she replied, "Oh, I'm in so much debt it doesn't matter.".
So DW saw this growing up, and swore this wouldn't happen to her. At first I laughed at her frugalness, but went along with it because I don't have a burning desire for "things". Now I'm on board and see how much it's benefited us.
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02-13-2007, 03:48 PM
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#32
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 1,490
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Re: Why do you LBYM?
over time i came to realize that i worked too hard for the money to spend it without careful evaluation of the value being received with each purchase; with the result that many purchases were not worth it. ... to a considerably lesser extent, C&D
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02-13-2007, 03:55 PM
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#33
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 4,391
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Re: Why do you LBYM?
I agree with poster "d".
Most of the stuff that is for sale is not worth trading your life energy for.
That's kind of a "Your Money or Your Life" philosophy. Evaluate every purchase and only buy the stuff that is really important to you. If you fritter your money away on worthless crap then you get to work till you drop.
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02-13-2007, 03:56 PM
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#34
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Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Los Angeles area
Posts: 329
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Re: Why do you LBYM?
Sort of B and D for me. My parents were pretty frugal and definitely LBTM, but otherwise weren't really into managing their finances much. From them and from summer jobs, I learned not to spend money I didn't have, and got good at living the student lifestyle. Right after landing my first job out of college, a good friend sat me down with a spreadsheet and showed me how soon could be FI if I saved a good chunk - got hooked immediately and have been living more and more BMM ever since.
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02-13-2007, 04:11 PM
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#35
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Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 77
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Re: Why do you LBYM?
For me it was being raised in another country in a comfortable environment but with very frugal parents and not being influenced so much by a consumer culture I was also taught the virtue of not demonstrating too much outward display of wealth and most important of all, the need to be contented and so accumulating more did not create the need to have more and more things. Instead I was pretty contented with what I had.
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02-13-2007, 04:12 PM
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#36
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: minnesota
Posts: 13,228
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Re: Why do you LBYM?
This question is hard for me to answer because I am not sure I am LBYMs, it is just we ended up having bigger means than I ever dreamt of.
Greg is LBYMs and I think he was born that way, with some influence from his frugal father. Without him I am pretty sure I would not be FIRE'd now.
I grew up poor and there was no setting aside money for a rainy day. Money or the lack of it just wasn't a big part of life when I was young. You raised and grew you food, you barter for firewood, you build your own homes, you try to earn enough at a particular time to be able to buy x, y or z. But it got worse as I got older. My father got sicker and couldn't work and the house we lived in was falling apart around us. Nevertheless, the lack of money wasn't as big an issue or influence as all the health and other problems my family suffered. It made life feel very transcient, as something bad could happen at any time. As a kid I did want to go to college and I liked school and learning. That was the extent of my planning and even so I didn't think about it much--life seemed too fragil to risk planning for something that could end up in disappointment.
Somehow I ended up in college. It took a couple of tries before I finished. I met Greg. Somehow I ended up in lawschool, thinking that maybe just maybe I could use my degree to help poor and disabled people. I worked at legal aid while in school. I got offered a nice, low paying legal aid job when I graduated. But I found I was taking the client's problems way too personally and began to work for the bankrutpcy court. I saw a lawyer there and I liked his work and asked for a job. I got it. It turned out to be at the biggest outstate Minnesota lawfirm and I stayed there 21 years, becoming a business lawyer of all the unexpected and unplanned for things.
During my career I made plenty of bad money moves. Stupid 401k investments. Pushed Greg to buy a house that was too expensive. Bought a lake cabin. Bought too many vehicles. I never really thought about retirement. But despite these stupid moves we (mostly Greg) did a number of things right. We invested in rental property. We didn't spend the money generated by those assets. We sold the expensive house and paid off all the student loans. We sold the lake cabin. Greg watched the dollars and somehow I didn't spend all of them.
So, I guess this is a public thank you to my husband for being the planner.
__________________
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No more lawyer stuff, no more political stuff, so no more CYA
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02-13-2007, 04:17 PM
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#37
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Colorado, USA
Posts: 1,127
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Re: Why do you LBYM?
My parents were an interesting pair of models. Dad's a spender, Mom was a frugal money watcher. Mom inherited and financed their retirement -- if it has been up to Dad, they would have been living on Social Security.
And my salary went up faster than my expenses. I started out pretty hand-to-mouth, but pretty quickly raises mostly went to retirement savings.
Then the retirement account hit $100K and greed kicked in!
Coach
__________________
"Comprehensive health insurance is an idea whose time has come in America." President Richard M. Nixon, February 6, 1974
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02-13-2007, 04:19 PM
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#38
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Sep 2006
Posts: 1,396
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Re: Why do you LBYM?
In reading some of the responses, I should have added "F"... you saw how uncontrolled spending ruined your parents, and you vowed it wouldn't happen to you.
Maybe I'll start a poll....
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02-13-2007, 04:27 PM
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#39
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Collin County, TX
Posts: 9,296
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Re: Why do you LBYM?
Have been po. I want to be po no mo.
__________________
There's no need to complicate, our time is short..
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02-13-2007, 04:29 PM
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#40
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Texas: No Country for Old Men
Posts: 50,021
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Re: Why do you LBYM?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Martha
Greg is LBYMs and I think he was born that way, with some influence from his frugal father. Without him I am pretty sure I would not be FIRE'd now...
Somehow I ended up in college. It took a couple of tries before I finished. I met Greg....
But despite these stupid moves we (mostly Greg) did a number of things right...
Greg watched the dollars and somehow I didn't spend all of them....
So, I guess this is a public thank you to my husband for being the planner.
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Hey Greg! Looks like Martha just send you an early Valentine.
__________________
Numbers is hard
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