Hi Edgema
Thanks for your input.
No gold Rolex for me. I have never had a taste for fancy stuff thankfully.
The reason why I am maybe 50x what I’d accept as a barebones life and not yet 25x my desired post Fire Budget really comes down to a few big elements
1. Housing - I could find something acceptable at a bare bones level, but if we have the money (and we will) then we will live in a more expensive location in a nicer place (not bigger, we don’t like big houses). I am budgeting double for housing compared to barebones, so we have plenty of choice over the next 50 years. We have never lived anywhere for more than 5 years so expect we will continue to move around a bit,
2. Travel - We have travelled a lot. We have travelled cheap and we have travelled expensively. I don’t disagree with anyone who says you can backpack for a year on $20K, but sometimes travel is even better if you spend more. I could give many examples from my experiences. Not always mind you. Some times spending more is just a waste of money. But for retirement, because we have the option, we want to be able to afford to continue to do some expensive travel for any adventures that take our interest. I will budget 10x barebones travel for desired post fire travel.
3, Eating out - The extra we put in our budget here is just so we can eat out whenever the mood takes us and not have to worry about it. These days we normally have breakfast out once on the weekend, and will eat out prob 2 nights a week. Far from moustachian, but we like to get out with friends, or even just by ourselves.
4. Barebones allows for 1 car. We’ll probably have one car, but I am budgeting for 2. So again doubling the cost.
5. Home remodelling, I assume we will replace kitchen and bathroom every 15 years, and also continue to refit the house periodically. Barebones would allow for older kitchens and bathrooms, being replaced maybe after 30 years.
Our budget will also allow for other luxuries such as gym memberships, theatre/ sports/ concert tickets, sporting equipment, electronic gadgets, pets etc.
Suddenly my FIRE number is big.