A buddy of mine who so happens to be a very successful frugal blogger gave me some incredible advice recently. He said,
“Sam, you’re doing it all wrong focusing on the mass affluent / aspirational niche. Instead of writing about investing, entrepreneurship, and real estate, you should focus on frugal living. I teach people how to save money on groceries, encourage people to walk or ride a bike to work, tell people to never turn on the heat, and of course never buy anything new. As a result, people love me for it! Teaching people how to be more frugal is possible for 100% of the population, which is why my site is so popular.
Whereas you, you talk about how earning $300,000 is middle class, establish tough net worth targets by age, and write super long posts on investment strategies in retirement while most of your readers are still working with less. Of course people are going to end up hating your guts because you’re excluding the vast majority of the population!
Showing tough love should only be reserved for the people you care about the most, not your readers who pay you nothing. If they end up getting crushed by inflation 20 years from now because they didn’t invest or thought they could cruise through life, it’s not your problem.
Another thing. I hate to say it but you are at a structural disadvantage as a minority. Most people like to connect with people who look and talk like them. Even if you get a 100% following of the Asian American population, you’ve only got a 6% marketshare. Conversely, if you get only a 10% marketshare of the Caucasian American population, you get a 7.7% market share! Think wisely about the demographic you want to reach.
Carefully analyze the backgrounds of your greatest detractors. Look at owners of the sites that have been sold for multiple millions of dollars or have developed a cult-like following. Finally, look at the profiles of the people in the mass media and the people the mass media repeatedly highlight. You will find a clear trend if you’re honest.
You can’t change your race or the name of your site, but at least you must make your readers feel better about themselves by telling them how little you spend and how little you need to make. I tell my readers I spend less than $30,000 a year for a family of four despite earning well over $1,000,000 on my website each year. This way, most of my readers can relate to me or even feel sorry for me because the median household income is double that. Of course I spend way more than $30,000 a year, but my readers will never know. I’ve carefully crafted a frugal image that is now unshakeable!
At the end of the day, people just want to read what they want to read to validate the decisions they’ve already made in their lives. Stop putting so much opinion in your posts. Every successful site in the PF space focuses on frugal living with uncontroversial topics. Focus on easy and watch your site rocket straight to the top!”
Digesting The Truth
Initially, I thought my friend’s advice was full of shitake mushroom. Why wouldn’t people want to focus on making more money, since making more money has unlimited upside compared to saving money. Further, I love to challenge myself to discover new ways to earn more. Being frugal is boring!
But then I realized much of what he said was true. There’s a reason why I no longer have four-pack abs. Eating healthy and working out every day is hard. Every personal finance site that sold for millions or that has grown to cult-like status focuses on personal finance basics. Finally, the disdain for my work is consistent, which is a bummer because my wife and I can’t stop being silly everyday.
Below is one example of an unpleasant reaction when I used satire to promote my pro-public school post. Even though the post is clearly pro-public school with detailed charts, and even though there’s a friendly dialogue in a podcast at the end of the post with my wife sharing our thoughts on education, there’s still so much outrage.
If I want our business to survive for the next 22 years to give my son the option to work for his old man after college and to have something fun to do as an unemployed person, I’ve got to find a way to at least sustain traffic. The only way I can do so is to broaden the topics in order to broaden the audience. Using controversial words that may hurt people’s feelings is probably not a good long term strategy.
With so much hate in this world, I worry about my son’s future. I know he’ll face bullies and lose opportunities because of who he is and how he looks. Surely, he will make the same mistakes as his father and write or say something that gets misconstrued. But these are all teachable moments that can help prepare him for the real world.
Twitter is not a very friendly place. Welcome to high school.
Other teachable moments from Twitter include:
* Realizing not everybody has the same sense of humor, so tread carefully.
* Realizing social media can be a big waste of time, so get off social media if you want to increase happiness.
* Realizing some people only read headlines and not the content, so spend less time writing and podcasting and more time crafting generic SEO friendly headlines.
* Realizing some people will hate you no matter what you say or do because of your background, so learn to accept and let go.
* Thinking differently will jolt people, so figure out when is the most appropriate time to be different and when is the most appropriate time to assimilate.
* Learning how to keep going no matter how difficult the path.
* Showing empathy towards the people who hate you the most, because the way you treat someone is a reflection of your own being.
For our son, I will keep working hard for as long as possible just in case he needs help. Failure is not an option. It doesn’t matter whether folks think it’s ridiculous for me to keep our business going to provide for my family or contemplate important decisions like education to plan for the future. I will always do what’s best for my loved ones and so should you. Contemplation is free and worth doing.
A New Beginning On Financial Samurai
Starting on June 15, 2018, Financial Samurai will seek to become the best frugal blog on the planet with a new URL: FrugalWonderful.com! It cost me $20 to register. Oh, how I love having an internet based business.
I’ve been focused on boosting income and growing my investments since 2009 and now it’s time to boost my Budgeting & Savings category on my new site. By dropping the Asian theme, I hope I can appeal to a broader audience who otherwise might be put off by Asian culture. With a name like Frugal Wonderful, how can the site not be filled with awesomeness!
Here are sample titles of upcoming posts I’d like to work on:
* The 10 Finest Cat Foods That Taste Like Chicken To Use In Your Stew
* Aggressive Snuggling: The Best Way To Save On Heat And Build A Loving Relationship
* If You Spend No Money You Can Retire Yesterday: How One Man Retired By 18
* 10 Date Ideas That Cost No Money If You Don’t Want To Get Laid
* You Haven’t Lived Until You’ve Pooped In The Woods
* Biking Is Life: Don’t You Dare Talk To Me If You Drive To Work
* How To Make Your Parents Pay For Everything As An Adult Child (oops, I already wrote about that)
* How To Get Girls If You Live In Mom’s Basement (darn, wrote about that too)
I really hope everybody can support me in my new endeavor. It’s going to be tough at first given my inexperience as a frugal blogger, but with your support, I believe we can make frugal sexy again!
May we continue to love and accept people from all different types of backgrounds – even those of us who choose to pinch pennies. I hope everybody had a wonderful Easter and April 1!
Related:
Please tell me this is an April Fools Joke….
Crap you totally got me. I forgot it was April Fool’s. Who the heck put April Fool’s on Easter Sunday, pfffttt.
“If You’ve Never Pooped In The Woods You Don’t Know What You’re Missing”
Lol I laughed so loud I almost woke up my husband.
I’m glad you’re not hanging up being Asian :) and the one thing that’s definitely true… frugality IS boring.
It’s boring unless you gamify it, which is widely done in the frugal community.
I know this is a joke but…
Please, for the love of god, open up Frugal Wonderful anyway – it would be the best damn satire blog ever and would actually probably get so much traction it’s unreal. We all know how well outrage marketing works.
Those. Are. Amazing. Headlines. I want the posts to exist.
^ This!
Great post. I agree that you should open up the site for the same reasons as above. It would be hilarious!
Hah! It took all my creative energy to come up with this titles. I’m too spent to actually write the content now.
This somewhat already exists on Reddit as /r/frugaljerk
As I’m reading this, there’s a sidebar ad on your site for a colonoscopy. There’s a joke or perhaps a metaphor in there somewhere…….
That’s my number #1 money maker!
Don’t you mean your #2 money maker?
Ta dum dum. Good one!
Happy April Fools day, Sam. That was a good one, had me going until coles to the end.
Keep up the great work!
That’s hilarious!
You’re the GOAT. Pulls me in every time!
—Long-time reader
April fools, I hope. Part of the reason I like your site is because you focus on Income Generation. I share the same sentament and write about it as well. Frugality can only go so far. The
Sky is the limit with earning more.
Good luck with the frugal site
April fools. Don’t think i’d Be a reader of this new frugal site. You’d keep some of your existing audience, lose some and reach out to a new audience.
Amen (I know it’s a joke).
You will, and you must! I need the pageviews.
On the flip side, almost anyone can start their own frugal lifestyle blog, but few can write about advanced personal finance topics like you do. :)
Please keep pushing the envelope!
– Miranda
Phew, you scared the hell out of me. I just started following you and while it’s too late for me, I’m in my late 50s, I’m already implementing some of your advice for my 20 something year old kids.
If I wanted to learn to be frugal, I wouldn’t listen to you but to my nagging Asian in laws.
It’s never to late Seema! 50s is the new 30s. May you live a long and happy life.
I got fooled. I was about to tell you how frugal sites are dime a dozen. I got fooled.
That was good, you almost had me. Seriously, you have a unique site that I can identify with and has great content. Just keep doing your thing!
Congrats, you got me on this one. Was reading with disbelief until about halfway through I realized that its April 1st.
Thank you for not writing about frugal living much. There are thousands of sites all written by people that don’t (can’t?) earn much telling me how to not spend money. Growing up without money teaches that skill plenty well. Having an example of living at a very high income level is invaluable.
On a side note: I still don’t get Twitter, it seems like a way to yell at people, misunderstand them and fill time.
Happy April Fools, and Happy Easter!
Twitter volume is highest during normal working hours, which may be telling! Yes, Twitter can be a firestorm of negativity.
Hilarious.
Not funny at first.
I was ready to call my doctor for an Rx to lift me up but then realized we are Sunday so I would have to go to the guy down the street to buy some mood enhancing herbs.
Good news, I won’t need medicinal help after all since you are taking your readers for a special timely ride.
Nothing funny is funny at first! But I love your handle, FranceUSA. It reminds me of one of the oldest posts I wrote: https://www.financialsamurai.com/were-idiots-please-tell-us-a-flat-tax-is-not-fair/
and
https://www.financialsamurai.com/ive-seen-americas-future-and-it-looks-bright/
I love Europe for their kick back lifestyle.
Great – a new frugal site to finally show me how to live on literally nothing! Can’t wait for the interview with the retired 18 year old
Haha. My mother’ birthday was on April 1 – she used to be served green oatmeal, etc.
Happy April fools! This reminds me of the previous year’s April fools post about buying a $300k car (or something along that Ballpark).
Now, now…. the car was $550,000: https://www.financialsamurai.com/just-buy-it-youre-worth-it-everyone-deserves-to-drive-a-nice-car/
Hahahaha! Love the satire…please keep up the good Asian work! An article for your consideration to the “Frugal” website;
“Fencing Other Peoples’ Stuff for Amazing Profits”
Ha ha ha – awesome post. Please keep doing what you’re doing. It’s so funny how me and my husband have been trying to make the exact same decisions you talk about. Sleep training (btw sleep train the child, you need the sleep!) buying cars etc. After the $300k I told my husband please tell me when you’re about to make more money again we might need to call financial samurai
April’s fool ;0)
Anyway…I don’t make 300000 in passive income like you do…and for that reason you are an inspiration to me and I am sure many others. Please never change. How many frugal blogs exist? But there is only one Financial Samurai…keep it that way
Neither do I! https://www.financialsamurai.com/financial-samurai-passive-income-update-2018/
One day though, one day we will make $300K and be…. middle class!
Then you are only lower class with $200k… poor you ;0)
Indeed! Lower class and proud! Whoo hoo
Omggggg, you totally got me AGAIN. I remember falling for your April Fool’s post last year. But it’s crazy because there is good reason to convert your site to what I call a ‘basic bitch’ site. I really respect your integrity. Working in this space for years now, I know far too many sites that sell out to what the mainstream wants because, well, money. I find it so lame and am always disappointed in the owners of the sites for not treating their audience with respect. By that I mean, bloggers have an opportunity to elevate their audience. Instead, so many choose to talk down to them without even realizing it. How do they do that? By publishing the same advice over and over and over again (spend less than you earn, max our 401k, etc.). Finance is so freaking interesting and there is so much to say on the matter, especially when we are talking about one’s personal finances. Yet just like how every sitcom uses the same jokes and ratings remain high so they keep pumping out the same jokes – bloggers find it easier to be boring. So anyway, thank you for not treating us like morons. I’m not a parent so some of the stuff lately hasn’t interested me, but I will always keep coming back to FS simply because I respect the guy behind it.
YES! It is always a joy to hear about an April Fool’s win from you, and from the other commenters. Ah, so satisfying, like perfectly toasted bread with a little bit of butter and honey.
There’s always a decision to make between survival, business, and discussion. It’s hard world out there to just even survive online b/c it takes a thick skin and a lot of discipline.
But once my son was born, I felt a little bit like a sleep deprived Popeye who found some spinach underneath a wooden floor board.
Let’s go!
Well done Sam. I always love your April Fools Posts. Have a great day with your family!!
Thanks Bret. It was fun to “hide” some easter eggs w/ my son in the backyard we built. But he didn’t understand the concept of finding the at 11.5 months old :)
I really don’t mind pooping in the woods, if I am camping. Need to look at that in myself: reading frugal blogs to feel better about my choices. Geese. I love this blog too and have gotten excellent insight over the years! (All humour has truth embedded in it)
I distinctly remember pooping in the woods three times. Once on a camping trip as a kid, once in the middle of nowhere in China, and once in southern SF in the middle of a tennis match. So liberating!
There’s always truth in love and pain.
Having to take a dump in the woods is my worst nightmare and the reason I’m not a hiker. Indoor plumbing is the mark of civilization!
If the website doesn’t offer valuable advice, no one will follow it anymore. I think maybe parts of this post are true. If you friend really offered you that advice, please don’t take it! I’m not Asian and I don’t mind that you are…doesn’t bother me one bit. We are all trying to optimize our investments and money is the color green for all of us so why would I care what color you are?
Lol. It took me till the retire yesterday bullet point to realize it was April 1st.
I love your April 1 posts they get me every year! As soon as I got to the end I immediately remembered reading last year’s post.
Gaaahahahaha love it love it! Those post titles are hilarious. Try not to let the bozos on social media get under your skin. Keep on doing what you’re doing. You’re rockin it! :D
Hahahaha – oh, I have another idea for your ‘new’ site – “Start a Cult and Make Millions!” Why not? Most people probably can start a cult. Starting it is free – you just need some charisma and a beard (oh ok, so you will have to leave out the women demographic, oh well).
FW sounds legit, I’m down. ;)
Wait, I thought the women demographic was an integral part of so many creepy cults in the past?!
I assume the opposite of the entire post is true. Thank god. I am 69 years old, female, Canadian, Caucasian, retired for 13 years, still increasing net worth every year, and I admire and try to learn from Asian values. But best is that your posts are always really interesting. I can read dozens of blogs giving standard financial tips with no actual experience or reality behind them. And frugal tips are even easier to find. Most of these blogs are copied from other sources. So boring. Nobody is as original as Sam. Keep going the same as you always do.
On the titles of posts, I sometimes skip a few that I think may not apply to me, but then read them later and realize the title was the problem, not the content. So stay with the provocative titles.
I like your title thoughts at the end. It’s always a battle to choose a descriptive title or a more provacative title. That is where testing can be done on social media. You can have one main title on your site, which I try to make it more descriptive, and then more whacky titles over social media – hence all the recent backlash.
Always the rabble rouser! (still laughing about the “action” during the middle of your SF tennis match)
April’s 1st!
Since last year you will not get me again! The car that you said you were going to buy…yeah right! ahahaha
Great one.
Quite a shame that even personal finance is now rife with indentity politics and virtue signaling. Thanks for effectively highlighting this, Sam, whether on purpose or not. I agree with other comments, that would be a great satire blog.
Did a spit-take with my morning coffee, thanks for the laughs!!!! Hope you and yours enjoy the day!
You are welcome Terri! Hope the coffee wasn’t too hot.
Happy April Fools!
This post is generating so much free traffic to the haters’ site!
Always gotta show love to those who hate the most. It is the Buddhist’s… err.. I mean Christian’s way!
LMAO… you had me there for a second.
Ha, ha….What a great April Fools joke. You know, between Easter and it also coinciding with my Mother’s birthday; I forgot it was also April Fools Day and I was fooled…
As for your detractors, piss on them! WE your readers should ALL identify with you. You are very well-off for a young man. You’ve had one heck of an adventure, from Goldman Sachs, to your venture capital investments, real estate crowdfunding, your new baby boy, etc. Keep being yourself Sam. Don’t sugar coat anything and be transparent with us readers. If you purchase a new sports car as a toy, share it with us in a blog posting. If you decide to go ahead and send your son to a private school (since I know how much you adore him and want the very best for him, including the best in schools), then DO IT and don’t feel guilty about it and Don’t be overly frugal when it comes to educating that young man.
We identify with you because you retired early and that’s what we desire to do. I admire you and I believe the majority of your readers do as well.
Happy Easter….
MrFireby2023
Nobody will ever know if I buy a new toy, ever again!
Hope your mom had a great birthday. I’m excited to see my parents again this month. It’s been too long.
I second that — spend, enjoy, and tell us what you got and why — love those posts. I love to hear what other people spoil themselves with. Always looking for ideas. I might not agree or might wonder why but still love to hear the rationale and rewards.
I can afford more than I spend, but never sure what to get. My latest small luxury was a Briggs & Riley rolling cabin bag to save my back in the airport. I used to have a shoulder bag but with computer gear, books and overnight emergency items, too heavy. This one matches my carry-on and fits on top of it with a special clamp. I check my carry-on which is my main bag and take the cabin bag on with me. On my last trip it was so much better walking around the airports. I could walk around, shop, etc. without killing myself. The only problem is that I always take stairs in airports up and down and with the cabin bag it takes a moment to push the handle down and pick it up.
On my recent New York trip, I upgraded to Premium Economy which was better than many business class seats. Especially prioirty check-in, two free checked bags, priority boarding, priority bag delivery, lots of room in overhead bins, bigger seat, more leg room, and greater recliner, very good selection of free movies, free meals, unlimited free drinks/alcohol. Combined that comfort/convenience level and the Dreamliner plane (higher humidity), I arrived fresh and feeling great. Next trip back to economy. haha
I also took a cab into Manhattan both ways.
I could get very used to this.
We’ve had to “upgrade” to premium economy because the airplane seats were becoming too small for our broadening behinds (or was it the other way around?). My favorite PE seat is the “SpaceSeat” on Air New Zealand. Next is PE on British Airways. I hope to never again fly PE on Luthansa – plenty of space but the seat itself was none too comfortable (felt like a hard resin patio chair). Our next travel experiment is flying business class on Iberia; if we can’t sleep in a lay flat seat no sense in paying that cost!
Interesting. PE was worth it, although food and service was still bad/minimal but then it was Air Canada.
I have run into those hard resin seats. I am short and the curves are in the wrong places. But all airplane seats are horrible and the headrest pushes my head forward, feet don’t touch the floor and no footrests anymore. As long as I get an aisle seat (which I book and pay for when I book the flight) I am okay in any airline seat as I am small. I can sleep or not sleep and arrive in good shape. So far.
If I had a business where the flight was deductible like Sam I would upgrade to business or first.
I must say the Dreamliner plane makes the biggest difference to health and well being. Dry air is a killer.
I usually go cheap on airline tickets (but get the shortest, non-stop flight, or stop in a country/airport of my choice, good departure and arrival times, etc.). Collect the airline points but rarely get to use with my complicated itineraries.
The one time I flew first class (only seat left), it was nice to lie down, but I had a 6 hour layover between two legs spent in an airport lounge with loungers worse than any airplane seat, so a complete waste to have the first class seats on plane. Economy with short layover would have been better. Will hold off on that luxury for now.
As for airport lounges, not what they used to be, not worth it to me. $65 for 2 hours and the food is dumplings and lounge is more crowded than the airport. You have to be airside to get in, and there are often time limits. You cannot check-in until a few hours before a flight, so just when you need them most, you can’t access them. Again, holding off for now.
I also go cheap on rental cars, just book the smallest cheapest car (easiest to drive and park in European streets) through Auto Europe. I like a MT which saves lots of money.
Then I spend a bit more on hotels and restaurants. I look for 3-4 star small hotels in city centre with 8 or above rating and book through booking.com. I do not like large hotels or chains and rarely book apartments. I don’t want to cook on my holidays or do housework and laundry or figure out how to work appliances. For meals I prefer sitting in a nice cafe, bar, restaurant, piazza and observing and sometimes chatting with waiters or whoever. Service is also so much better in the small owner-run hotels. I do have a couple of 5 star gems that I return to. With discounts, the price can be very reasonable. Looking for a gems in Paris Munich and Berlin for May June right now.
I splurge on specialized tours with the expert guide lecturers. They usually include 4-5* historic hotels, and excellent food and wine. A great tour is definitely worth the price to access sites and learn what would be nearly impossible on my own.
I travel 4-6 months of the year, so want to be comfortable at a reasonable price, some tours, some with friend(s), and quite a lot on my own.
Easter on April Fools?!?! Thanks for the good laugh.
I was looking forward to the April Fools post and this is well written.
On a more serious note, what happened to your idea to write parallel posts in Mandarin to pull in that large and lucrative market?
10% of 1.3 Billion is 130 Million people!
-Mike
Mike, such a no brainer. I’m gonna put it on my to-do list and do some Mandarin translating of at least one post this quarter.
Fatherhood and english writing got in the way. Excuses!
Sam,
This one is a hit. I love this tip:
“If You Spend No Money You Can Retire Yesterday: How One Man Retired By 18.”
I would also add this one:
“Becoming a trillionaire in 5 years using an Einstein-Rosen bridge as a time machine so you can always time the market perfectly.”
Seriously though, Sam, you really should start that frugal site. There’s your next gold mine! Might I suggest something like the classic “Cat food is your best friend!” to start off the whole venture with a bang! Research shows 58.67% of Americans can relate to these sort of stuff!
I’m gonna tell my son to be the Chief Creative Officer of the site once he learns how to type. But I won’t tell anyone b/c that might enrage some folks!
I’m a white dude who does ok but will likely never have as much as you and I personally find you far more inspiring than MMM (etc) and could give a shit that you are Asian. I’d have a drink with you anytime…Happy Easter…
I believed you were opening a second site, and then you said you were getting rid of this one, and that was too much to believe. Pretty creative joke.
Good luck with the new blog bud! It’s satire, but there’s a lot of truth in it.
Hahaha awesome! Happy April Fool’s Day.
FYI, I met Kelly Whalen from The Centsible Life at a conference once. She’s a stuck up b*tch, and extremely catty. Her site has no traffic and her latest post is a sponsored post on “7 Readons Why We Game.” Pathetic.
ZJ, wow! One angry woman who isn’t intelligent enough to read or recognize satire. Probably a SJW who is easily triggered by everything.
Keep on keeping it real Sam
Interesting feedback! The thing is, I haven’t had correspondence with Kelly for maybe 8 years since she dropped out of The Yakezie challenge. I remember she being happy when I was helping her make some extra money from her site, but that’s all that I recall. It’s too bad she let her site fade. It’s tough to keep going, but I think it’s worth it if you want to spend more time raising a family.
Not sure what set ZJ off. She’s always left some good comments. I even included an example of a lesbian couple in my $300,000 post to help spread awareness and acceptance around America since I had a good feeling it would be picked up by other media outlets like Yahoo Finance, which republished it. But perhaps money is a more sensitive topic than sexual equality. I don’t know, but I don’t dare find out!
Yikes – I was hoping the comments you posted were satire as well…
It is sad that people are so cruel, and if a person lets their site lapse then why would they spend time trying to bury other people or just dumping on them? That’s exactly the opposite of what I want to do in my free time.
Thanks for the humor, this hate is the reason why I’m blogging anonymously.
I enjoy your writing and get a lot out of it. Thanks for the effort you put into it! Cheers!
FS, you are a funny Emm-Effer! “… shitake mushroom….“? Can’t wait until baby FS is old enough to watch ‘Spy Kids’! Can already tell, he is going to be a great son because he has a great mother-and-father!
Great April Fools joke! I thought it was serious for the first few minutes and I was feeling terrible that you were getting all this trouble from readers. I loved the upcoming post ideas. I hope you write about a few of them just for laughs.
I very well might. I realized after writing this post that it is not the readers of FS who comment here that give me trouble as you put it, it’s 98% social media.
No wonder why so many folks say social media makes people unhappy. Good case study here if you don’t have a thick skin.
Great April Fools post Sam! I read through knowing this was going to be a ‘Fools’ post, but I enjoyed every word!
Clearly I’m missing out on a HUGE audience with my Asian theme and more advanced investing topics. Maybe I need to just white-wash my whole blog… ;)
You’re screwed Mr. Tako! Not too many octopuses in the world compared to say… insects. Too exclusionary!
Good one Sam! Nearly had me!
I like your blog the way it is. Although your target audience is American I’ve found sometimes you have great insight and at the very least this blog is very informative for financial dunces like me.
BTW I recently introduced this blog to a friend of mine. He is looking for a boot big enough to kick his backside (and mine for only showing him the way now but hey would he have listened at the time?). We’ve both agree good advice is sometimes a bitter pill.
Wonderful! Tell him to drink lots of water when reading.
Loved the headlines at the end. Good stuff!
Wow! Twitter is totally like high school!
Never understood why people like Finance By 50 think planning ahead is a sin. Are people that lazy or unintelligent?
ZJ Thorne and Kelly Whalen are like the girl in the Movie Mean girls. Yet, they aren’t popular or attractive :)
Thanks for sharing the rawness and the laughs!
Krishana, Twitter is totally like high school! It’s also a channel where a lot of people run their mouths without thinking about the consequences and get in trouble. See the news about new US Visa applicants needing to hand over their social media accounts before passing?
If I was still working, I’d be off social media/Twitter or just stay completely neutral. But even after reaching financial independence and leaving work, it’s hard to be mean or outrage if you are not a mean or easily outraged person.
Related: https://www.financialsamurai.com/once-you-have-f-you-money-its-hard-to-tell-others-to-f-off/
The inspiration for all jokes came out of real thoughts. Sorry you had to constantly take a beating in the comments and social media. Whether or not you are actually serious about Frugal Wonderful, as a reader I hope Financial Samurai will continue to focus on mass affluent / aspirational niche.
Bring frugal is like waking up early. There are no tricks. You set an alarm and tell yourself to wake up, as much as you want to continue to snuggle in your warm bed. Easier said then done? Yes, because the only tip to wake up early (or being frugal) is by practicing day after day.
Agree, Sam is very funny, a master satirist.
Agree, frugality is routines and self discipline based on a strong plan and knowing what you want. And practice for sure. Getting up early is a big advantage in life. You are always on top of everything, never behind, never rushing. Trained myself on that many years ago and see the dawn every day.
For me also, figuring out what to be frugal about, obviously things I do not care about. I eliminated a long long list of useless spending (to me). And then spend only on what really matters to me and ignore convention.
Getting up early is a no brainer. I’ve gotten up by 6am probably 95% of the days since 1999. It is so much easier to get things done or get smart on things before the day. I just need to take a nap after lunch though! Food coma.
As a SAHD, I try to get work down before my wife and son wake up by 7:30am-8am. It feels good to get stuff out of the way to then spend more time focusing on family.
No brainer, but so many cannot do it or think they cannot do it. Getting things done early is great, because as the day winds down, my tasks completed, looking forward to making dinner, maybe a glass of wine and conversation if I have somebody with me, doing something just for me, making the evening a new experience.
I can’t nap, it just makes me groggy. I never give in to the urge to sleep or I can’t get going again. But if short naps work, do it. My dad (the king of self-discipline, he never tried to do something, he just did it) napped every noon hour. I just never had a schedule where I could do it. Even now retired, I am running all day, can’t think of when and where I would nap.
I commend you for getting office work done before child is up (or after he goes to bed). I’ve always thought it’s kind of horrible and selfish to close the door to your own kid who knows you are behind the door and thinks you are ignoring them. But no choice I guess if you work at home. I have no kids, so I find it kind of shocking that some parents (not you) complain about having to answer questions or be interrupted. Nothing like talking to your kid right from birth — they love it and listen even when they don’t understand all of it. Attention and talking make a well behaved happy kid and create self worth.
“Aggressive Snuggling” hahahahahaha. Awesome stuff sir! :)
This is actually quite funny and while I realized you were joking at the end, I have to admit that I found myself quite interested in reading some of the ‘articlrs.’ It could be quite funny and make your well-made points at the same time. And even perhaps give yourself a little outlet to explore otherwise bizarre paths and make (at least a few of us) laugh our asses off, while pooping in the woods.
You’re making humor and satire Sexy again !
I think its a good idea.
Here are some article ideas:
-Save money by going to private school over public school
-Save money by moving out of the city after you’ve made money
Happy April 1 to you as well. :-)
Darn! You fooled me again! I’m realizing that there is a downside to being such a faithful reader. In the past you’ve mentioned how you would like to expand your audience and June 15th made sense for giving birth to a new website so things seemed plausible. It wasn’t until I got to the potential topics at the bottom of the post that you had me LOL! What a great April Fools joke!!!
FWIW – I read this blog and really only this blog and one other FI-related blog because I value Sam’s opinion. The other blog is montanamoneyadventures for similar reasons.
You got me hook, line & sinker last year, so I am proud to say I was armed and ready for this post!
And I am TOTALLY stealing the “full of shiitake mushrooms” line.
Wait.. so did I not get you this year? NOOO! Need to up my game then. Hmmm.
Fine, Sam, change your target audience, blog content, and improve your SEO. I for one am never, ever returning to FS, especially that I know you are Asian and have morphed into the frugal king. Next thing you’ll start writing at the third grade reading level and extolling the virtues of cheap beer. Thanks for nothing after all these years, Sam. Thanks for absolutely nothing, including the shit-take mushrooms.
Lots of truth in the advice from your friend. Definitely more money to be made in telling people how to cut costs and get rich slowly.
Also think it’s funny that people think your net worth targets are tough to reach. When I first came to your site I thought they would cause people to aim too low!
Lol. Almost got fooled. I was like “what the heck, another frugal site?” There is no shortages of these frugal sites. Enough of these bloggers/people telling us how not to “LIVE”.
Yikes! There are some belligerent, salty, and and nasty nasty people out there. And it’s interesting to see that all the people you highlight on Twitter have their own blogs, yet none of their sites come even close to your side in terms of quality and size.
You would think making friends, laughing, and supporting larger sites in your space to help build recognition and traffic would be a good thing. Maybe all of them went to public school and didn’t learn the value of getting along with different types of people :)
Thanks for the April fools post!
Haha so it’s a April Fool’s jokes. I thought it was when you said the blog made 1,000,000 dollars a year which was twice the median income of 59,000. I think one too many zeros.
On the other hand, I believe there is no site which tells a 40+ year old, how to be financially savvy.
Haha! Sam, I laughed so hard at the post titles! I forgot it was April fools…. let’s hope you continue to focus on FS. Love every post on this blog
LMAO! A great post. Awesome how the twitterverse can get in a uproar and not even bother to read the entire post. Screw them. I loved you examples of frugalness. I have one that my brother shared with me. He had a friend who was notorious for being cheap and frugal. They went golfing and were going to a party later on. My brother decided to take a shower in his friend’s house. As is fairly customary, my brother had the bathroom light on. His friend came in and turned off the light while he was taking a shower and said they all take showers in the dark.
I love a deal. Don’t get me wrong. I try not to spend unnecessarily. However, I also like to have a good time in life. A happy medium.
I’m a pediatrician, and what you see from the negative feedback about satire from people like ZJ, Emily, Mr Pie, and Finance 50 are cavemen like behavior where their brains literally shut down because of their inability to control their emotions and temper tantrums.
You wrote in a previous post about delaying gratification has the key to getting wealthy. I can promise you that these people Have more emotional issues, are less secure with themselves, and will have more difficulty achieving financial freedom. They lack patience and do not have the ability to listen.
Isn’t biology fun? We can partially blame their parents for not raising them properly.
White reader with substantially lower income than you. I appreciate your sense of humor and consider your input on investing and real estate. I wish realtyshares was available to those of us with lower incomes and net worth. Oh well, atleast this was an april fools post and you’ll keep doing what you’re doing!
Dude don’t change. The world doesn’t need another unsophisticated goofball talking about 101 topics like 3 months of savings and avoiding consumer debt.
Great post!