Why do you LBYM?

[JustCurious]

Those of us who LBYM are in the minority. We do so despite strong influences from society to spend everything we have, and then spend some more using credit. So why do we do it? Here are some reasons that I have come up with:

A) You were raised or lived in another country, and are somewhat innoculated from the consumerism influence in America.

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.

C) When you were an adult, you suffered some financially catastrophic event (ie loss of job, health issue, loss of family member, etc) that caused you to re-evaluate your lifestyle and adopt an LBYM lifestyle.

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.

E) You were born frugal, and it's just the way you are.

Which one of the above is it for you? Is it some combination? Is it something else?

For me, it's a combination of A and E.

 

[scrinch]

I wanted a car when I was a teenager. Being pretty good at math, I figured out that getting a job and putting my salary in the bank was going to get me the car much sooner than playing baseball or going fishing (but I did plenty of those, too). I got the car, but more importantly had learned about LBYM and had developed the habit of saving. When I got married, my wife asked why I was saving all this money. She wanted to go out and have some fun with it. Being part Scottish, she soon got it. I hope at least some of it has rubbed off on our kids, too.

 

[TromboneAl]

E, plus, perhaps, having very little money when at college and grad school.

 

[peggy]

Combination of B and E (the choices, not the felony), for me.

And then I read YMOYL and realized that if I kept it up, one day I'd never have to work for anyone else unless I chose to. That was a powerful, freeing revelation to have.

 

[Nords]

E) You were born frugal, and it's just the way you are.

Augmented by a submarine-lifestyle & standard of living, without much free time to get into spending trouble...

 

[Gillette]

B, C and A. grew up poor, car accident in college nearly killed me, living in a 500 sq ft apt in Moscow right now.

 

[Outtahere]

I'd have to say it's a combination of B, C and E. I know I was born frugal but watching my grandmother struggle to make ends meet after my grandfather died and then my mother when her and dad divorced cemented the LBYMs in me. We weren't poor but we certianly didn't have as much money as my friends parents, I remember being acutely aware of that when I was 10 and 11. There was always food on the table and I assume the bills were paid but there were no new cars or fancy clothes, not even movies or dinner out.

 

[shiny]

Combination of B and E (the choices, not the felony), for me.

And then I read YMOYL and realized that if I kept it up, one day I'd never have to work for anyone else unless I chose to. That was a powerful, freeing revelation to have.

Me too!

I also remember suffering some "buyers remorse" for purchases I made when I was younger after I bought some cheap crappy item at the TG&Y. That made me realize that if I was going to spend money I should save enough to be able to buy better quality stuff.

 

[Sandy]

B, C and E, kind of. It was obvious that my parents use money responsibly, but I souldn't tell you their savings approach. They avoided debt except for house, car and purchasing a business. After grad school, school loans were high in relation to my low paying community service job (an early catastrophic financial event?). I didn't like the limitations the debt created, and realized that I wouldn't be able to afford a house or family until I got rid of the ball and chain. When buying things I automatically calculated how long I had to work to afford the item, and would not buy many items becuase of the "hourly" cost (this was long before I read YMOYL). Once the school debts were gone, I stayed away from debt except for mortgage and 4 year car loans that were paid in 2 years. The savings factor was there for a "normal" retirement, but has been racheted up for FIRE.

 

[My Dream]

B) know the meaning of a dollar, your parents lived below their means.

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.

It was a way of life, and when my parents got sick in there late 40's and couldn't work anymore, it surely opened up my eyes. They were lucky since there mortage and cars were paid off. I'm sure they had savings also.

I never wanted to worry about paying the bills like they did when they couldn't work anymore.

 

[teejayevans]

D&E

Am I the only one who has to think for a minute to figure out the acronyms?
Tom

 

[MooreBonds]

B) (grandparents/parents were by no means poor...but they sure lived below their means)
and
E) Frugalite through and through, from conception to natural death.

 

[CyclingInvestor]

E) born frugal, driven by a built-in "looking forward" approach towards
money, always seeing that money invested now would be worth far
more in the future, even as a child. I saved over 90% of my paper route
money from ages 9-18 (still have the old records), allowing my to leave
high school with over $11k in CDs.

 

[youbet]

B + C + E

Born frugal, grew up poor and when I finally thought I had things under control, disaster struck. Lost my job in a shrinking industry five weeks after our son was born.

Spent the next 20 years, until son finished college, really pushing for income and LBYM to ensure the destitude cr@p was history.

The last decade we've lightened up a bit and began enjoying some travel, entertainment, nicer stuff, etc. But, still with an eye on FI which we hit four or five years ago. Just RE'd seven months ago after conservatively padding the nestegg, again to ensure the destitude cr@p was never going to happen again.

FIRE is great! We enjoy everyday to the max and are grateful we have no financial worries and reasonable health. Wish we could have done it earlier, but it just wasn't in the cards.

 

[kat]

B and E, for sure. Got it from my parents. A car accident six years ago reminded me what was important, like hikes in the mountains and time with people I love. Stopped caring completely about bells and whistles and the latest whatever.

 

[unclemick]

B) Parents permanently influenced by the Great Depression.

E) Part came natural. The other influence - it seemed 'investments' were what engineers were 'supposed' to do - along with golf, sking and tennis.

heh heh heh

 

[Empty Pockets]

I might be a little different. My parents did not live below their means and I watched them near retirement with no savings. My dad was a farmer and he would always complain when he heard about someone with a "town job" getting a pension or retirement plan when they retired and "the farmer gets nothing". I made a vow that wouldn't happen to me and I started saving for retirement in my teens.

 

[Texas Proud]

I seem to be like most... B&E...

PLUS, my dad taught us about saving early on in life... we saved half of what we earned and he matched those few pennies or dollars (taught me about 401(k)!!).

I remember taking in my passbook and depositing the new money... and the machine would update the book with the interest that I had earned since the last deposit... man, look at THAT... I am earning money without doing anything... so, learned about compound interest...

And all this before I was 7...

 

[bssc]

A - Grew up overseas with the Embassy and Military. There weren't too many consumer choices, the PX usually didn't stock more that a couple brands of jeans and certainly didn't have designer clothing.
B - My family were investors. We didn't live poorly, we had maids, cooks and gardiners but then so did everyone else. But I knew all about stocks.
E - I am cheap, I mean frugal. There is always money left over at the end of the month. Of course, I don't have many expensive habits.

 

[SC]

B for sure. My (divorced) mother struggled with a lack of money on a near daily basis.

When I was 15 and my sister was 12, mom married a great guy with a good job. The funny thing is that my sister has very little of the frugality and LBYM that I do. It makes me wonder if attitudes towards money are formed between the ages of 12 and 15. Of course, it could also be E, just born that way.

 

[Payin-the-Toll]

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.

 

[larry]

E. Also liked the F.U.ability that LBYM brought in regards to w*rk.

 

[maddythebeagle]

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...

 

[Goonie]

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.

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:

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.

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!!!

 

[webbach]

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.