Financial Samurai - Forums

Financial Freedom => Financial Independence Retire Early (FIRE) => Topic started by: rluks on November 24, 2018, 04:26:37 AM

Title: How these penny-pinchers retired in their 30s (yt)
Post by: rluks on November 24, 2018, 04:26:37 AM
10min Youtube video about Mr. Money Mustache, FIRE movement and finance
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyF40JydVNU
Title: Re: How these penny-pinchers retired in their 30s (yt)
Post by: Cheezus on November 26, 2018, 05:37:38 AM
Thanks.  Great video.
Title: Re: How these penny-pinchers retired in their 30s (yt)
Post by: Sam on November 26, 2018, 10:41:43 AM
MMM has done such a great job making millions off of promoting frugality. It's brilliant. I still remember consulting for a fintech company back in 2013-2014 and them telling me he was earning $30K/month from them. It is smart he didn't mention how much he made back then, otherwise, I think the penny pinchers would have been totally turned off.

What I've learned from a business perspective is that it's much more profitable appealing to the mass market e.g. everybody can save, not everybody can earn more by investing and starting a business.

Hence, as I move into the second decade of Financial Samurai, I will be building up more mass market content and focusing on the basics of personal finance.
Title: Re: How these penny-pinchers retired in their 30s (yt)
Post by: CallieSF on November 26, 2018, 09:58:21 PM
Just watched the video....OK, I understand frugality, but.....Y-U-C-K! As long as you live within your means, to each his/her own!
Title: Re: How these penny-pinchers retired in their 30s (yt)
Post by: RandyP on November 27, 2018, 03:19:23 PM
Quote from: Sam on November 26, 2018, 10:41:43 AM
MMM has done such a great job making millions off of promoting frugality. It's brilliant. I still remember consulting for a fintech company back in 2013-2014 and them telling me he was earning $30K/month from them. It is smart he didn't mention how much he mad back then, otherwise, I think the penny pinchers would have been totally turned off.

What I've learned from a business perspective is that it's much more profitable appealing to the mass market e.g. everybody can save, not everybody can earn more by investing and starting a business.

Hence, as I move into the second decade of Financial Samurai, I will be building up more mass market content and focusing on the basics of personal finance.
I actually find the MMM message very off-putting. To quote my favorite online finance guru, it's better to have an abundance mindset than a scarcity one.
Title: Re: How these penny-pinchers retired in their 30s (yt)
Post by: Sam on November 27, 2018, 03:38:32 PM
Quote from: CallieSF on November 26, 2018, 09:58:21 PM
Just watched the video....OK, I understand frugality, but.....Y-U-C-K! As long as you live within your means, to each his/her own!

But it appeals to the masses, and given he's very focused on making money, that's where he'll earn the most $$$.

I don't follow the super frugal mantra as I do like living it up after achieving Certain income and net worth targets. But I need to do a better job in 2019 to simplify my content to broaden the audience. Baby needs some new shoes!
Title: Re: How these penny-pinchers retired in their 30s (yt)
Post by: Eric on December 02, 2018, 06:08:19 PM
Sam -- don't try to simplify and broaden the base too much.

I think you have a good group of affluent followers who love your views and find your advice relevant.

We don't want a MMM type blogger who tells us to buy food based on cents per calorie or how to build a cargo trailer for your car.

Perhaps focus on the FatFIREs. Instead of the MMMs that have 800k in net worth, for those looking at 3-5mm to FatFIRE, investment return, asset allocation and tax optimization makes much more sense than building a diet out of seeds and olive oil.
Title: Re: How these penny-pinchers retired in their 30s (yt)
Post by: Cheezus on December 03, 2018, 09:39:02 AM
MMM doesn't have to be about extreme frugality.  That's not even what he necessarily promotes or writes about.  In fact, I find the writings more about being frugal without being "frugal" - ie. "frugality like not spending 100% of your income on a car".

There is a lot of great information there and here and you can apply it to your life however you want.  I think it's a good idea Sam is moving in to some more mass market stuff.  No reason he can't still cater to the more affluent as well.  And some frugality and reviewing spending isn't a bad thing regardless of income so the writings will apply to everyone.
Title: Re: How these penny-pinchers retired in their 30s (yt)
Post by: Young And The Invested on December 03, 2018, 11:10:37 AM
I'm certainly not drawn to living life with every penny tallied and every indulgence passed.  Sometimes I want something that hasn't been owned by someone else previously.  But when it doesn't make sense to buy something brand new, I'd obviously opt for choosing that route.

I think there's room for a healthy balance and living life the best way you know how.  That means not eating out all the time but also enjoying some finer fare upon occasion, especially for celebrations or special events.  Don't deprive yourself of life's joys. Just avoid being wasteful or spending on things which don't bring sustained happiness.  All of this is easier said than done and requires intentional decision-making, of course.
Title: Re: How these penny-pinchers retired in their 30s (yt)
Post by: Sam on December 03, 2018, 04:10:01 PM
Quote from: Cheezus on December 03, 2018, 09:39:02 AM
MMM doesn't have to be about extreme frugality.  That's not even what he necessarily promotes or writes about.  In fact, I find the writings more about being frugal without being "frugal" - ie. "frugality like not spending 100% of your income on a car".

There is a lot of great information there and here and you can apply it to your life however you want.  I think it's a good idea Sam is moving in to some more mass market stuff.  No reason he can't still cater to the more affluent as well.  And some frugality and reviewing spending isn't a bad thing regardless of income so the writings will apply to everyone.

One of the things I realized long ago is why not do both? There is endless real estate on Financial Samurai to produce content. Look at sites like Business Insider who publish 30+ posts a day or something

Me publishing about my usual topics doesn't preclude someone else publishing that addresses a different demographic.
Title: Re: How these penny-pinchers retired in their 30s (yt)
Post by: Cheezus on December 03, 2018, 05:00:09 PM
Quote from: Young And The Invested on December 03, 2018, 11:10:37 AM
I'm certainly not drawn to living life with every penny tallied and every indulgence passed.  Sometimes I want something that hasn't been owned by someone else previously.  But when it doesn't make sense to buy something brand new, I'd obviously opt for choosing that route.

I think there's room for a healthy balance and living life the best way you know how.  That means not eating out all the time but also enjoying some finer fare upon occasion, especially for celebrations or special events.  Don't deprive yourself of life's joys. Just avoid being wasteful or spending on things which don't bring sustained happiness.  All of this is easier said than done and requires intentional decision-making, of course.

You do realize MMM and FS are very similar, right?  And MMM has an entire post about when you should/shouldn't buy new and what questions to ask yourself before you do.  And if you come out with "I really just want to buy new" at the end, that's perfectly fine.  It's not a competition between these sites, both are useful and provide a lot of great FIRE information and strategies.
Title: Re: How these penny-pinchers retired in their 30s (yt)
Post by: RageCage on December 03, 2018, 06:26:42 PM
I agree the "fatFIRE" is a good target for the core audience here.  While the basic message is always not to compare yourself to others blah blah, we all are curious and want benchmarks and comparisons -especially for the untapped fatFIRE space.  I'm sure that's why the net worth/401k target charts are the most popular posts. 
Title: Re: How these penny-pinchers retired in their 30s (yt)
Post by: Young And The Invested on December 04, 2018, 10:53:14 AM
Quote from: Cheezus on December 03, 2018, 05:00:09 PM
You do realize MMM and FS are very similar, right?  And MMM has an entire post about when you should/shouldn't buy new and what questions to ask yourself before you do.  And if you come out with "I really just want to buy new" at the end, that's perfectly fine.  It's not a competition between these sites, both are useful and provide a lot of great FIRE information and strategies.

I wasn't aware I was making a comparison between the two, nor condemning either site's philosophy.  I merely offered my POV regarding finding a balance.