Are you Mustachian, or just LBYM?

[TVRodriguez]

I chose Kinda Mustachian, because we have a relatively low savings rate and are still not quite there on the expenses downward curve.

I know not all polls can reflect all people, but the major option I feel is missing is something like "Early Downshifter. Your savings rate is low and you're not aiming for FIRE, but that's because you use Mustachianism to be able to work fewer hours at a lower-paying job you like right now, rather than frontloading your working life and then retiring completely."

We do follow most of MMM's advice about the expenses side of the equation. No car, buy second hand, cook at home, keep utilities low... But that means my husband can work at his lower-paying job and I can be a part-time feckless artist and take time off to look after children RIGHT NOW. We're certainly on track to retire at 65, and maybe earlier depending on how things go, but we have minimal grind. I look at the friends we graduated with who are working crazy hours in stressful jobs and think about how glad I am that we don't do that.

I also often think about how rich we are. Sure, I'm conscious of our expenses and there are a few things we could do but don't (cleaner...), but whenever we have a real problem we always have the option of just throwing money at it. I was worrying the other day about whether we should take our whole hospital bag while staying a few nights with a friend as I'm 37 weeks pregnant. My husband pointed out that if it comes to it, we'll just give our friend our debit card and a shopping list and spend a few hundred quid on stuff we don't really need. Oh, what a hard and deprived life we lead!

I know that time is your greatest friend and that lots of people don't discover MMM until they're already in debt and drowning in financial commitments, but I really wish early downshifting were talked about more. Once you have an emergency fund and some retirement savings (to compound until conventional retirement age), it's perfectly Mustachian to go part-time or change careers immediately. And it might seem safer and more "reasonable" to some of the 4% rule naysayers who dismiss the whole of Mustachianism because they don't want to work-then-FIRE. Downshifting is a lot more accessible as an idea.

I'm with her.

[FIRELife]

LBYM. Goal is Financial Integrity and I am building a big FU and Shit Happens stash but I don't have RE as a goal.

I prioritize my wellbeing and enjoying life in the now over my savings rate so I am definitely not MMM when it comes to stoicism. That said I have had 80% savings rate in the past and I am currently at 50% savings rate after taking more than a year off from work to enjoy some fun personal projects. So for me its just challenging how I live my life and spending on what matters to me.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

I chose Kinda Mustachian, because we have a relatively low savings rate and are still not quite there on the expenses downward curve.

I know not all polls can reflect all people, but the major option I feel is missing is something like "Early Downshifter. Your savings rate is low and you're not aiming for FIRE, but that's because you use Mustachianism to be able to work fewer hours at a lower-paying job you like right now, rather than frontloading your working life and then retiring completely."

We do follow most of MMM's advice about the expenses side of the equation. No car, buy second hand, cook at home, keep utilities low... But that means my husband can work at his lower-paying job and I can be a part-time feckless artist and take time off to look after children RIGHT NOW. We're certainly on track to retire at 65, and maybe earlier depending on how things go, but we have minimal grind. I look at the friends we graduated with who are working crazy hours in stressful jobs and think about how glad I am that we don't do that.

I also often think about how rich we are. Sure, I'm conscious of our expenses and there are a few things we could do but don't (cleaner...), but whenever we have a real problem we always have the option of just throwing money at it. I was worrying the other day about whether we should take our whole hospital bag while staying a few nights with a friend as I'm 37 weeks pregnant. My husband pointed out that if it comes to it, we'll just give our friend our debit card and a shopping list and spend a few hundred quid on stuff we don't really need. Oh, what a hard and deprived life we lead!

I know that time is your greatest friend and that lots of people don't discover MMM until they're already in debt and drowning in financial commitments, but I really wish early downshifting were talked about more. Once you have an emergency fund and some retirement savings (to compound until conventional retirement age), it's perfectly Mustachian to go part-time or change careers immediately. And it might seem safer and more "reasonable" to some of the 4% rule naysayers who dismiss the whole of Mustachianism because they don't want to work-then-FIRE. Downshifting is a lot more accessible as an idea.

This was a very useful lens. I keep going back & forth on whether I want to suck it up for a few more years & go full steam FIRE, or slow down now & keep working part time. I like your framing, @shelivesthedream

[DreamFIRE]

You could read the entire study they did if you feel like it, and income streams that are "virtually guaranteed" should (imo) absolutely be included. So a retiree would include them and any reasonable plan would include them if anywhere near the age to utilize them. There's no good reason I can see for not including them beyond the "SS won't be around!" hype that's been going on for 50 years now, without SS going anywhere. You can decide what is "within" your means by any measure you'd like. I'm going to define it as "spending no more money than comes in", and that would include all sources of income, whether from a job, investments, interest, rental properties, pensions, annuities, SS, medicare benefits, etc. Most people don't tend to discount sources of income arbitrarily, but you're welcome to.

Agreed.  My SS dollars will be just as useful as my cash and investments when the time comes.  I've paid into SS all through my entire career including to this day, so it's not welfare as the previous poster mistakenly stated anymore than a government pension is welfare.

I decided to vote myself as mustachian because my barebones budget is about $1250/mo., despite a six figure income, which results in a savings rate over 80% and $15,000/yr for spending.  I don't think I've spent over $20,000 in a year since 2009.  I don't bike everywhere in this climate, but I do bike quite a bit in the warmer months, and I have a short commute to work and very low mileage on my 11 1/2 year old car.  And while my house isn't the cheapest I could find, it's lower cost than most mentioned here due to the low cost of living area I live in, and it's been paid-for going on 14 years.  And I had been living the same frugal lifestyle for decades, well before I ever heard of MMM or ever went to other early retirement websites.