Honest Answer: On a scale of 1-10, how mustachian are you?

[PerpetualWanderlust]

I was curious about where everyone actually stood compared to MMM himself. 1 = In debt but starting to implement these things into my life. 10 = You are a master of the mustachian ways. Just to make things interesting...let's say that MMM is a 9. Does anyone think they are more frugal than him? :)

I consider myself to be at about a 6. Here's why:

The Good:

+ Saved about 50% of my income ever since I entered the workforce a few years ago.
+ Relocated so that I walk to work. I drive about twice a week now.
+ Have not bought any clothes all year, other than a belt and a pair of shoes out of necessity.
+ I only go out to drink when I'm out-of-town for special occasions and such. I'm <25, and i've already given up going out every weekend, unlike most of my peers.
+ Avoided the generally stupid expenses, like a new car, fancy clothes, crazy gadgets & electronics, etc.

The Bad:
- Can't cook, so I find myself going out to eat about 3-4 times a week. Fortunately, I stick to cheaper places (less than 12 dollar meals) and never go to sit-down options where I'd pay over $20.
- I go on one international trip a year. That's by far my biggest silly expense. I'll stay with friends and eat groceries half the time when I'm abroad, so that helps expenses stay within reason.
- I've been to Vegas the past two years. Fortunately, I'm more into shows and hanging out with friends than I am into gambling. Therefore, I manage reasonable expenses for vegas trips as well.
- I have tons of cable channels and internet. I pay about $80 a month for that. TV/video games are a big hobby of mine.


What say you?

[NumberJohnny5]

So even a 1 means you're frugal? For reference, where would the "average" American lie, perhaps a -4?

Using your scale, I guess we're around a 5. We're certainly not as extreme as MMM. And we've been doing this for a few years, we've been positive net worth for a while. We're in a bit of a lull at the moment, saving rate is low but neither of us are working. If/when my wife returns to work, our spending will be roughly the same.

[Johnez]

I would say 6.

*I'm pouring money into retirement accts. Currently 20% gross goes into either Roth, 401k, or HSA. Could be better.

*Republic Wireless. $11 a month. Nuff said.

* $15 a month internet.

*Consumption pretty well controlled. Go out once or twice a month. No buying clothes or shoes or crap.

I do however have a 60 mile a day commute while driving a 22 mpg truck. I'm actually surprised its that good. I would trade it but I got it cheap and wouldn't net more than a grand, making the $1500 fuel savings from trading to a $5,000 car a dumb face punchy move.

Planning to kick it up a few notches by transferring locations and biking it to work tho.

[OutBy40]

I'd say about a 5.  Granted, the majority of the "stuff" that we have was all obtained before we decided to go all mustachios and retire early, but we still have the majority of the stuff.  We've curtailed our spending significantly.  Both my wife and I work, but we save her entire salary and live only off of mine.  We have a pool in the backyard and a nice glass-sharked glass fire pit in the backyard, too.

Basically, we have a bunch of stuff that we just don't need.  Since we decided to retire early, I'd say we're at about a 7.  But if you look at our lives in their entirely at the moment, it really is probably closer to 5.

[fartface]

I was curious about where everyone actually stood compared to MMM himself. 1 = In debt but starting to implement these things into my life. 10 = You are a master of the mustachian ways. Just to make things interesting...let's say that MMM is a 9. Does anyone think they are more frugal than him? :)

I consider myself to be at about a 6. Here's why:

The Good:

+ Saved about 50% of my income ever since I entered the workforce a few years ago.
+ Relocated so that I walk to work. I drive about twice a week now.
+ Have not bought any clothes all year, other than a belt and a pair of shoes out of necessity.
+ I only go out to drink when I'm out-of-town for special occasions and such. I'm <25, and i've already given up going out every weekend, unlike most of my peers.
+ Avoided the generally stupid expenses, like a new car, fancy clothes, crazy gadgets & electronics, etc.

The Bad:
- Can't cook, so I find myself going out to eat about 3-4 times a week. Fortunately, I stick to cheaper places (less than 12 dollar meals) and never go to sit-down options where I'd pay over $20.
- I go on one international trip a year. That's by far my biggest silly expense. I'll stay with friends and eat groceries half the time when I'm abroad, so that helps expenses stay within reason.
- I've been to Vegas the past two years. Fortunately, I'm more into shows and hanging out with friends than I am into gambling. Therefore, I manage reasonable expenses for vegas trips as well.
- I have tons of cable channels and internet. I pay about $80 a month for that. TV/video games are a big hobby of mine.


What say you?

I'd give myself a 7 but others might rate me lower. I'll admit "inflated sense of self" is one of my less desirable character traits.

According to Social Security, my husband and I have made (combined) about 1.5 million over the past 20 years.

Pros
+Our current net worth is $750,000 so I'm going to call that a two decade savings rate of 50%.
+We own both our 10+ year old cars outright, and haven't had a car payment since 2007
+I live 8 miles to work; DH is "FIRE'd" & started a little micro-business which requires minimal travel
+We bike around town to run errands (in summer)
+Mint tracked my "restaurant/dining" spending over the past three months and it was $108 FOR THREE MONTHS
+DH is a gourmet chef. I'm not kidding. His southwest chili won a contest last weekend (and $50 gift card). He is SUCH a good cook that he could enter (and win) competitions if that's what he really wanted to do. Instead his wife, three kids, and close family and friends mostly benefit from his expertise. It saves us A HUGE amount of money. For example, yesterday he made a pot of absolutely delicious french onion soup, complete with the toasted bread and melted mozzarella atop it. Tasted better than ANYTHING I've ever had at a restaurant. The huge pot of soup plus cheese plus bread cost less than $5. You pay $5-$7/bowl at a restaurant and it still doesn't taste as good as my resident chef's! So, although I got long winded on this one, it's a super important one. Be a savvy grocery shopper and learn to bake/cook well...it not only curbs the desire and appeal of "dining out" it drastically increases your savings rate!
+In addition to the highlight above DH gets our family of five's grocery budget under $550/month
+Just ordered our 2nd Republic Wireless phone (Moto G) @ the $10/month plan
+No cable (I do have Netflix and two Roku3 Boxes)
+Installed low flow shower heads, LED lightbulbs, H20 heater insulated, keep the thermostat at 62 during the day and 58 at night
+Made reusable toilet paper cloths from old, soft T-shirts - they work great and I wish I'd done this years ago
+If it's yellow, we let it mellow. If it's brown we use REAL toilet paper then (finally) flush in down.
+Only debt is our mortgage which has a balance of $58,000 at 2.875% with three years left on the loan

Cons
+My house is too big and fancy pants. It is responsible for more than HALF my annual expenses - could have been mortgage free 10 years ago if we'd stayed in our 'starter' home.
+One of my vehicles is a 2003 Ford Expedition and it gets about 17mpg
+Still have two iPhones under contract which costs me $100/month
+My kids have more than they should: Northface jackets, Uggs, American Girl Dolls, iPads, iPods, iPhone, Kindle, Gymnastics lessons...
+I bought myself an Omega juicer last year ($200.00) for Christmas and a Reverse Osmosis system ($200) this year. IDGAF. I wanted them, use them both daily (well the juicer maybe 3x/week) and think they were money well spent.
+Take at least one vacation/year that requires air travel for all five of us.

[Le Barbu]

Me? 8/10
Wire: 3/10
Kids: 5/10

Household : 5/10

We keep improving this 1th/year to be at MMM level in 4 years

[BlueHouse]

I have to say I'm probably a 1 or 2.   My current income is the only thing that let's me have a good savings rate, but I haven't curbed many of the bad spending habits yet (I still waste a lot and I have too many things.  The things I refer to are those that don't add anything positive to my life in the long run, but delay my end goal.  And I'm still buying crap even when I don't want to.  I wrestle with the decisions, but I've just been too busy this year (lazy) to make more informed decisions, so I choose the easy option even when I know it's turning me into a sucka. 
I still think I"m way more frugal than they typical American female though.  And if all Americans were on the scale, I'd be a 7 or 8.  But not when only comparing myself to this audience.   

[mc6]

3.  I still drive to work and eat at restaurants. 

[surfhb]

Compared to MMM I'm a 2

Compared to most people here I'm a 6

I've set my savings percentage at %30.   That is a far as I'm comfortable with so it make me a 10 in my eyes :)

[kendallf]

I'll give myself a 3-4.  We eat out a TON, no other real waste expenditures except maybe pets (and I do feel that you're committed there if you start). 

I also have a couple of albatross real estate things hanging on for now; I took cash out of my house in 2006 to buy a ten acre lot in the countryside.  I'm renovating that house now, hoping to sell it next year and perhaps get out for what I owe.

The property is sitting, I owe much more than it is currently worth   'Worth' is a tricky thing here; there have been zero sales out there since 2008ish and the developer went bankrupt.  To add injury, the mortgage is an adjustable rate (currently very low, but..)  To add insult to the injury, there's a HOA and it looks like they're going to double the fee this coming year in an attempt to do some repairs, road grading (gravel roads).

I actually remember saying, shortly before closing on the land, "Hey, it's acreage and they're not making any more of it!"  Sigh.  :-)

Despite these things I'm generally very positive about where we're headed; I am saving much more than ever before, taking steps to reduce our cash outflow, and thinking about my next life (hat tip to SMBC).

[OutBy40]

This post is another example of people associating "in debt" with "having a poor financial status", or something like that. In general, I think people on these forums are a bit too obsessed with prepaying debts.

I agree.  Being "in debt" does not mean that you aren't leading a mustachian life.  Sure, if you continue to add to your debt with useless bullshit items of luxury, then you aren't being very mustachian.  But the mere presence of debt doesn't disqualify you in my humble opinion.

...especially if you are actively fixing your debt (aka: getting out of it).

[deborah]

There's not a lot of room between a 6 and a 9! And I must be more than a 6, because I am FIRE. I must be more than a 7 because I had a long term savings rate of 75%. I'm definitely not a 9.

So, although I would have put myself as a 6 on a

1 - 10 scale, 1 = In debt but starting to implement these things into my life. 10 = You are a master of the mustachian ways. Just to make things interesting...let's say that MMM is a 9.

I must be about an 8. We've got a comparable budget to MMM, too much clutter, reasonably DIY (although in different areas to MMM - with overlap), large house (reasonably energy efficient - but we've worked on it, and still are).

About debt... If your net worth is not positive, it shows you were borrowing today's and tomorrow's money to fund yesterday. If yesterday is still being funded by today, you are still living with those unmustashian choices. If your net worth is positive, debt is a position you have chosen, and is somewhat irrelevant to whether you are Mustashian. However, is that position a Mustashian one?

On further reflection, I still think I am a 6.

[Kingomri]

Pro-Mustachian:

• When you count principal payment as savings, I save roughly 50% of my income
• Almost never eat out
• Drive reasonable cars - main car is a 2007 Toyota Yaris
• No debt other than mortgage (well, I also arbitrage a 0% balance transfer card by putting the money from it into a 3% high yield checking account during the promo period, but I don't feel like that counts)
• I try to eat healthily but cheaply
• Live in a house that is reasonable for my family size
• "Iinsourcing" things like brake jobs, attic insulation, any home maintenance I am able to do
• Credit Card Rewards for travel
• Home is pretty energy efficient - DIY insulation, all CFLs, low flow showerheads and faucets
• We don't have or want cable. I get home internet and my fancy-pants cell phone paid for by work, my wife is fine with her dumbphone.

Anti-Mustachian:

• I still drive to work (15 mi. each way), and we drive more than we should in general (our store trips could be a lot more efficient)
• I never actually learned how to ride a bike
• I don't exercise as much as I should - it would be a cheap and easy way to improve happiness and my own usefulness
• My attempts to convince my wife to use a drying rack rather than the dryer have failed, despite the fact that we used a drying rack for a year when we lived in an apartment without a dryer
• We spend a lot giving to charity/church, and we want to have a large family. I think both of these things are worthy and good, and I don't in any way regret them, but I feel they're probably not strictly keeping with the MMM philosophy
• I enjoy playing a little blackjack from time to time with pocket money.

I'd probably rate us at around a 7. We live very frugal lives. Excluding charity, the principal portion of our mortgage, and healthcare (since it's so variable), our budget is only about $25k-$26k/year for two adults and a baby. The only strongly anti-mustachian habit of ours is driving, which is of course a biggie, but we have mustachian cars and probably drive a total of  less than 13K miles per year

[Zikoris]

We're more like ERE than anything. MMM buys things like alcohol and fancy cheese - not too difficult to out-frugal that :)

[frpeebles]

A 4, maybe? Given the temperatures outside I park my dirt bike in the living room immediately after a ride to share the glorious engine heat with the interior of the house... FWIW...

[PerpetualWanderlust]

This post is another example of people associating "in debt" with "having a poor financial status", or something like that. In general, I think people on these forums are a bit too obsessed with prepaying debts.

I agree.  Being "in debt" does not mean that you aren't leading a mustachian life.  Sure, if you continue to add to your debt with useless bullshit items of luxury, then you aren't being very mustachian.  But the mere presence of debt doesn't disqualify you in my humble opinion.

...especially if you are actively fixing your debt (aka: getting out of it).

I only meant that "1" represents you just became a reader of the blog or a studier of financially frugal ways. I probably shouldn't have included the "debt" part...but the part about "starting to implement these things into my life" should've clarified that a person at 1 is a beginner mustachian. My bad.

[stuckinmn]

On your scale, about a 5. I save over 60% of income, drive a sensible car etc. but don't enjoy biking and my house is too big and too far from work.

 Of course, that 5 would put me in the top 95% or so of Americans.  As someone above said, the average American is about at -6.

[mxt0133]

In my mind I would like to say i'm an 8 because this year I have noticed that I no longer feel deprived with my frugal choices.  I prefer to eat in instead of eating out even if it was the same cost, I feel it is healthier and actually save me time.  I prefer to ride my bike to work because it makes me feel good instead of taking the bus.  I would prefer to walk in the park or go camping because I truly enjoy it much more than a trip to Disney land or Vegas. 

According to my yearly numbers my family is about 5, we spend a ton on food, my wife likes to go out to eat once in a while to take a break from cooking.  I try to cook but she does not like what I cook most of the time, seems she's allergic to vegetables.  I also enjoy spending time with friends and family and as much as I try to do it on the cheap there are still instance when we end up going out to eat or for drinks.  She enjoys paid entertainment with the kids and I acquiesce because I enjoy having a good time with them.  We spend a ton on travel because our family is in the east coast.

But we are getting better and our over all happiness has significantly improved over the past two years.  Our savings rate has also increase even tough our family has grown.

[Knapptyme]

This is a tough one. The basic household stats: 2 adults, 1 kid, 2 dogs (a complete luxury, but they were rescues), own our modest 1600 sq. ft home with no mortgage, rental property with a mortgage which pays itself, 2 cars--both free and clear (one not so great on gas, but it's used only 2000 miles/year, maybe), savings rate around 30-35% (unless you count the mortgage), and a nanny for the kid because we both work.

The nanny soaks up somewhere about 20% of our income and is worth it for now (trust me, I have done the math and keep doing the math to make sure). We're both teachers who ride our bikes a whole 0.8 miles to work, and ride our bikes to run local errands. Our careers also offer us a lot of free time for side hustles, although we choose to enjoy life together during most of that time instead. Low flow shower heads, CFL or LED light bulbs, lots of DIY maintenance for me, wife bakes bread from scratch among other food-based savings, and land that produces food for us. Switched to Republic Wireless and pay a total of $19.41 for a wifi home phone and one cell (We really don't each need one. In fact, I've never owned a cell phone prior to having the RW one as our defacto home phone.) No cable, ever. Oh, and because we're also teetotalers, there is no wasteful spending on alcohol. Other than the nanny, the biggest expense is food--my wife is a foodie--and it's not dining out. We prepare most of our own meals.

Thinking MMM is a 9 really puts a limit on where one could rate oneself based on one's own past. He basically lived this way for 10 years to be FIRE. I'd say we're pushing towards an 8, but my past suggests I'm no better than a 6 because I'm not FIRE yet and have about 8-9 years to go.

[Ready2Go]

So much is perspective here. DH thinks we are at 10 and that I am nuts to want to cut spending because we save so much compared to out friends/neighbors. I think we are about 3:
The good:
- no debt or mortgage and we could be FIRE
- savings rate 42%
- DH rides his bike to work 3-4 days per week
The ugly:
- we eat out all the time (my fault)
- expensive vacations
- big expensive house we don't need
- electronic junkies
- 3 cars!!!  ( but I have a plan here...)

Lots of money spent on kids sports that I don't know how to classify.
Work in progress. 

[Astatine]

Depends what type of debt you mean. IMO, there's a big difference between a large amount of hair on fire debt, vs paying off a mortgage or margin loans.

We're probably around a 2 or 3? Last month would probably rate a 1 due to vet bills and related costs, eating out more often than usual due to fatigue and stress from working too much. But, overall we're probably 2-ish. Savings rate is around 40% if you include super contributions. We've cut out a lot of discretionary spending, except on cats and eating out. We're getting better at reducing our environmental impact (but we drive to work instead of bussing when I get too fatigued and run down), which to me is the most important part of mustachianism, and doing gradual improvements over time.

[Herbert Derp]

I'm more frugal than MMM, but I don't think I would qualify for a 10 on the mustachianism scale. I don't think mustachianism is just about spending as little money as possible, nor do I identify as "mustachian". I'm definitely on the ERE side of things.

[Cressida]

In general, I think people on these forums are a bit too obsessed with prepaying debts.

How do you "prepay" a debt?

[Pooperman]

In general, I think people on these forums are a bit too obsessed with prepaying debts.

How do you "prepay" a debt?

Pay something off early.

For me, probably a 4. Never had TV. I take mass transit. Car is nearly 10 years old now. Spend in the realm of MMM and live in a higher COL place. On the other hand, we go out more, spend on things he wouldn't. We rent a fairly spacious place (600sqft 1br). We use data on our phones though it's prepaid (page plus for me, h2o for her 500mb each).

[RetiredAt63]

This is interesting, and a bit of a challenge to categorize for those of us who are already retired (especially if we did not retire particularly early). So a bit more detail = longish.  Summary - somewhere around 7? ETA - Came back and downgraded myself to a 6

So I am obviously FIRN (FI, Retired Normal age).  Always fairly frugal, present life style partly by choice, partly by necessity (separated almost 6 years, financial settlement and getting equity from matrimonial home still in progress).

House was perfect size when bought (still working, child often home from University, so one bedroom for me, one bedroom for child, one bedroom = home office), too big now that I am retired and child is fully independent.  But it is low maintenance, big yard with lots of gardens, great neighbourhood, so if I move it will be because I can't take winter in the country any more (see thread on move to BC?).

Pros: House almost entirely furnished with old family furniture, yard sales, only new things were Boxing Day 1/2 price sales.  Computer is refurbished. No cable TV.  No land-line.  One cell phone, one "house phone" that is second cell number but on a box for a regular phone (about $55).  Internet about $55 (best available here).  Municipal taxes are reasonable. 
Lifestyle - meals are at home except for social reasons, and social meals are not expensive (I live in a farming area, almost everyone would be at least a 2 on our scale).  Do own gardening. Do home cleaning, and as much maintenance as I can.  Car is a 2010 Mazda 3 hatchback, meticulously maintained so I expect at least another 5 years out of it.  Travel is frugal (i.e. drive/fly depending on distance and presence/absence of dog, stay with friends/family).
Retired life style - volunteer a lot, involved in several groups, dog is a therapy dog (we visit a senior's residence once a week and they love her).  Hobbies are not expensive - gardening, curling, reading, knitting, spinning.
Laundry - cold water washes, line dry except in wet winter weather, then dryer on bottom electricity prices.

Cons:  More house than I need.  Spinning/knitting habit has developed a large stash (no more purchases until stash is 1/2 present size, but good fiber is hard to resist).
Dog (purebred, healthy, so only food, vet bills - I do the grooming).  More spinning wheels than I really need.
Driving to Ottawa almost once a week - but the reading habit is through my out-of-town membership to the Ottawa library, and if I bought second-hand all the books I read, it would be much more expensive than the driving.  Plus that allows for visits to Costco, my Ottawa group meetings, visits to offspring, etc.  Plus it gives the car good highway driving - the rest of my driving is about 10-20 km round trips, which are more wear/km.
Not set up to air dry heavy flannelette winter sheets in the house (dryer).
Still have a house mortgage (will go down a lot when get equity out of matrimonial home), car loan (0% interest, will be fully paid off this spring, so not pushing it). 

Income more than covers expenses, and a large amount of my excess money the last 5 years has gone to lawyers.  Once that is over, I will have more money than I know what to do with.  Except of course it will go to finish paying the mortgage, and topping off my TFSA.

Overall? maybe a 7?  I can see areas where I could do better, areas where I am doing well.

ETA - downgraded to a 6 - car use, a lot of coffee (but Melitta, not fancy maker), some alcohol - a lot of people here are more hard-core.  Hmm, I have a lot of dandelions, maybe dandelion wine next year?

[jprince7827]

I'd say about a 4.

I am Mustachian by dint of being highly paid, and never having inflated my lifestyle since starting work 2.5 years ago when I was normally-paid. I live ridiculously well.

I save 53% of my income after taxes.

We have about 400$/mo we spend on "dates" right now and we probably go on one big 3k vacation per year(except this year because of the wedding expense).

Generally, I'll eat out for lunch at work maybe once/week. Fiance cooks a lot so saves me a lot of money.

Overall I'd say I'm fairly frugal, I drive the car my father got me 11 years ago when I was 16. However, I also appreciate nice things. I regularly pay 60$ for a bottle of 10 year laphroiag and I just bought a 900$ coffee maker off Ebay for 400$ so that I could get off the K-cup maker that a friend gave me as a housewarming gift a year ago. I project the switch to the superauto will save me money after 2 years of use from K-cup.

Occasionally I drop 250$ on a really nice steak dinner in Chicago with the fiance. I'm a man of contradictions ;)

[mak1277]

I really don't know how to respond to this...I'm struggling.  But I think I'm probably about a 2 or 3 on the scale.

I'm on target to retire at 42, so maybe I should give myself more credit...but I don't consider my choices to be mustachian or badass.  I don't know how to ride a bike...I outsource stuff like mowing my lawn...I eat lunch out every day at work...etc.  I make purchases that increase the convenience of my life and reduce the amount of effort I have to expend.  I'm lazy.

But my wife and I are both highly compensated, with no kids, and without much lifestyle inflation.  We both are happy to live the same lifestyle, more or less, that we have for the past decade, despite making approximately 4x what we did when we first got married.  I guess that in and of itself might be a little badass, but I don't feel like it is....it's just normal.  I buy whatever I want, whenever I want to...I just don't want that much.

[golden1]

Only about a 3-4 probably.

The good:
No credit card debt or any other high interest debt.
Saving about 30-40% of income.
Live in a more affordable suburb of MA with one very short commute.
One 10 year old car.

The bad:
High food spending
One newish car with a car payment - be paid off in 2 years with only 0.9% interest and then will drive car into the ground, probably.
A mortgage with 11 years left. 
I own TV and Cable, but cutting the cord when HBO goes on its own subscription.
High cell phone bills.
I have a tendency to recreationally spend when I'm stressed.

[iwasjustwondering]

A year ago, I was a 1.  Now I'd give myself a 2+, maybe 3.  I cook all of our at-home meals from scratch (really from scratch).  We live in a modest home in a great town/neighborhood.  I max out 401K and HSA, and I got rid of all non-mortgage debt ($14,200) last year.  I put 2% into the employee stock purchase program to get the 20% match.  I put around $30K away for college this year, and will get that up over $40K next year.  I live on exactly the same amount that I lived on 10 years ago, when I made 3x less.

So I'm doing the bare minimum to improve our long-term financial outlook, basically.  I spend too much on clothes, but then again clothes are important in my global public relations job.  I have a 5yo Subaru, which I understand is the anti-mustachian car because it purports to be mustachian but actually is not.  We're going on a family vacation to England and France this year, which I do consider in line with my financial values (we'll rent a beach house with extended family for several days, we'll find other ways to economize -- I am extremely talented at traveling on the cheap, and I consider this part of my kids' education).  I have started doing a couple of weekend errands, like to the grocery store, with my younger son, by bike.  It's a lot of fun.  I quit my gym in favor of the free company gym, where I shower and dress most mornings of the week.

Negatives: I drive to work, and don't plan to change that.  I have a 30yr mortgage.  I've never done a Roth IRA.  My kids' college funds are still anemic.  I don't have much of an emergency fund.  Although we don't go out to eat for fun, the kids do get hot lunch at school, and I do eat at our (subsidized) work cafe two or three times per week.

[sabertooth3]

I'd say about a 2-3, but maybe folks here would say more.

Pros:
-No credit card debt
-One car, paid for in cash 2 years ago
-Minimal drive to work with wife in tow, then take subsidized public transit
-Higher than $500k net worth (including mortgage debt)
-Cook most of our food at home
-Bring lunch to work 4x/week
-No pets or kids (yet...)
-I like to try DIY solutions first before turning to professionals
-Eventually, my job will let me work from home 3x/week and my wife's 2x/week

Cons:
-Live in a high COL area (MD suburb of DC)
-Just bought a large house and carry >$375k in mortgage debt
-Don't max out TSPs (sidenote- we do both contribute 5% and get 6% matched, so equivalent of 11% of our income is contributed)
-$50k student loan debt (split between public and private loans. Private loan will be paid off this month, so this # will drop to about $30k. Then that'll be forgiven in 4 years, after my wife hits 10 years of federal service)
-Will get a dog in the next 6 months, kids in the next 3-5 years
-Still go out to restaurants probably 1x/week
-Have cable bill of $150/month (includes cable, internet, and home phone)
-My wife does not like that I'm a DIYer and likes calling professionals for most things
-Have a wireless bill of $90/month (T-Mobile, we bought out our phone plan so we own our phones outright. First debt to be paid off post-MMM!)

[th0rbahn]

+around 50% of take home is saved
+couple with one 2008 hatchback paid off
+live close to amenities in reasonable apartment
+carefully consider any purchases, don't buy too much "stuff"
+both of us keen on finances with the same FIRE goals
+cook all the time, spend only about $325-350 a month in groceries as a couple
+no cable, recently cut from $60-70 cell phone plans to about $33 each

-go out at least a couple of times a month for a brunch or wings and beer, which while unnecessary, usually come in at under $20 per person.
-job requires use of personal vehicle, but not every day, nevertheless I still do drive the 15 minute commute each day but not thrilled about doing so. Would strongly prefer to be closer and bike when possible. 
-still give in to some materialism (iPhones, expensive gift-giving, etc)

Let's say a 7.

[Gin1984]

A year ago, I was a 1.  Now I'd give myself a 2+, maybe 3.  I cook all of our at-home meals from scratch (really from scratch).  We live in a modest home in a great town/neighborhood.  I max out 401K and HSA, and I got rid of all non-mortgage debt ($14,200) last year.  I put 2% into the employee stock purchase program to get the 20% match.  I put around $30K away for college this year, and will get that up over $40K next year.  I live on exactly the same amount that I lived on 10 years ago, when I made 3x less.

So I'm doing the bare minimum to improve our long-term financial outlook, basically.  I spend too much on clothes, but then again clothes are important in my global public relations job.  I have a 5yo Subaru, which I understand is the anti-mustachian car because it purports to be mustachian but actually is not.  We're going on a family vacation to England and France this year, which I do consider in line with my financial values (we'll rent a beach house with extended family for several days, we'll find other ways to economize -- I am extremely talented at traveling on the cheap, and I consider this part of my kids' education).  I have started doing a couple of weekend errands, like to the grocery store, with my younger son, by bike.  It's a lot of fun.  I quit my gym in favor of the free company gym, where I shower and dress most mornings of the week.

Negatives: I drive to work, and don't plan to change that.  I have a 30yr mortgage.  I've never done a Roth IRA.  My kids' college funds are still anemic.  I don't have much of an emergency fund.  Although we don't go out to eat for fun, the kids do get hot lunch at school, and I do eat at our (subsidized) work cafe two or three times per week.

I'd fund a Roth over a 529, personally. 

[dude]

Hmm, maybe a 3.5?

Pros:

Save 46% of net income (that figure goes to 66% if you include the value of my employer's contribution to my pension)
One-car family (fully-paid 2008 model)
Lowered/dropped many bills after finding MMM
Don't spend on frivolous shit
I cook (always have), and bring lunch to work every day (didn't always used to)
Stopped driving to gym/climbing gym, etc, now ride bike
Cut my own hair
No credit card debt

Cons:

Wife has improved but is still an occasional impulse buyer/buys useless shit
That 2008 car above is an AWD Subaru Outback . . .
oh, and with 182,000 miles on it (I commute 70 miles daily for work)
Eat out too often (on weekends)
Still have cable
Have @ $17.5K in student loans (at @2.33%, so no big deal)
Pay for THREE gym memberships (regular, climbing, jiu jitsu)
Have a large dog and 2 cats
DW and I travel a fair amount (3-4 international trips/year)(though I consider this spending in line with our values -- we love to travel to foreign lands and experience different cultures)

Oh well, still on pace to FIRE with a pretty nice chunk of change. And hopefully, with more time on my hands in retirement, I can work on travel hacks, cutting other unnecessary shit (for sure the commute will be history) and other improvements.

[Bob W]

I'm pretty furgal, have good debts but somehow my savings rate sucks.  Please help me lord!   So I'm going with 3-5 for me.  (it is really an income thing for me.  double my income and suddenly I'm in the 75% savings range)

For MMM, I would say that he is more in the 5-6 range.  He consistently loses money on real estate and chooses to live in a fancy pants spendy house.   His annual, after house payment, spending is over 25K which is about where mine would be too.   (he's basically living on 50K per year which if far, far from fugal in my book)

*agree with those who don't equate debt with bad.  For example,  MMM could mortgage his house at 3.5% and invest 300K at 9% thus netting 16K per year, equating to millions over the decades.  He could also chose to live in a 100K house instead of a 400K house.  The fact that he choses to drive to Canada misting himself instead of using the AC over mortgaging his house or living in a less expensive house seems to indicate that he is more spendy/cheap than frugal. IMHO.  (he's wealthy and has free choice, so he can do whatever the heck he wants)

[Chuck]

Great thread idea.

Assuming that a "0" is a paycheck to paycheck consumer sucka with a mountain of debt, and a "10" is FI with an embarassment of wealth surplus who needs almost none of it thanks to sheer badassity. I'm a three. Maybe a four.

I still eat out several times a month (five or six) and I have a note on a performance car. I also have a mortgage despite having no good reason to own my home. I don't know how to do my own plumbing and I am full of envy whenever I see a sleek new car prowling down the streets. I am also a recovering gamer that isn't really recovering- still spend a few hundred per year on video games. I pay 100 bucks a month for internet and cable.

That said, I do max out my tax deferred contributions, and I do not buy nearly as many worthless things as I used to. I am paying down the car loan as quick as possible and my net worth has exploded in the last year and a half (From less than 10k to almost 100k). I'm not perfect, or even GOOD, but I am still moving in the right direction.

[CommonCents]

I agree think the scale is a bit off.  The average person is likely a -5, at least.

On your scale, I'm 3-4

The Good:
1 car, 2002 Honda Civic (that is currently ill :( )
Don't buy a lot of stuff
Always search out deals/freebies/discounts when I do buy
Max out 401ks, IRAs with additional other savings
Cook many meals from scratch including breads
Reasonably handy with sewing/craft projects around the house (e.g. made quilts, can hem/fix things)
Trying to learn other skills (e.g. fixing things around the house)
Keep utilities low (No AC in summer, heat low, switched out bulbs)
Canceled cable post MMM
Resisted strong urge to hire cleaner, gardening services (mowing, raking, shoveling)
Commute via public transportation

The bad:
Eat out too often (DH's influence and insistence*)
He almost always eats lunch out, I'm much better but still working on my habit
We do not bike (*horrors*!)
I have a smart phone ($53/month) and I'm not going to change to a plan requiring me to be on wifi only because I don't have it at work and also want to use it on the go

The ugly:
House - sold our quasi mustachian condo for an expensive house, large by standards here (and absolutely love it)
Travel (sometimes it's mustachian travel, staying with friends etc, but other times it's wildly unmustachian flying to foreign countries and staying in hotels)
I want kids and a dog (DH has a cat)

The silver lining is our income is quite high and we've avoided lifestyle inflation and spend a ton less for our incomes than common.  We live in a high COL area, but that allows us higher salaries (and our jobs aren't available in the same incarnation elsewhere) so it's neither a pro or con.

*Last night's achievement - he said he didn't see the point of going out for Stone Hearth pizza anymore, as the pizza I make at home is just about as good.  Baby steps... 

[Zikoris]

I think the factors for us that count for the most frugality pints gained and lost are:

Good Mustachian Points:
1. Very low rent for our city
2. No cars, kids, expensive hobbies, or other money pits
3. Eating out is extremely rare, and when we do it's not an actual meal, it's more like a fancy donut or some fries.
4. No debts
5. 60%+ savings rate
6. Walk everywhere - very little transit use
7. Cook everything from scratch, which keeps our grocery costs low
8. No television. We actually get free cable in our apartment, but because of where the outlet is, hooking it up would require us to either have a cable cord running across the middle of our apartment, or have our TV in the kitchen.
9. Flip phones with basic talk and text plans

Bad Mustachian Points:
1. We travel a lot. Travel costs are annually nearly as much as our rent.
2. We're not interested in pursuing careers that would increase our income (one of us has a creative writing degree, the other has no credentials of any kind)
3. We don't bike as much as we could, and generally not in the fall and winter. We could probably lower our monthly transit costs slightly, but we only spend about $40/month between the two of us on transit now.

[RelaxedGal]

A solid 3.

Factors increasing rating:
High Income.  Cars are paid off, house could easily be paid off, contribute the max to our 401(k)s and HSA every year.  A good chunk goes to taxable investment accounts as well.  Savings rate is around 40%.  Could retire at 40 if we were willing to take a lifestyle cut.

Factors decreasing rating:
Lifestyle inflation.  We've grown accustomed to flying 4+ times/year, dining out once or twice/week, ballroom dance lessons and events, my husband goes out for lunch most workdays, we plan to buy a new car every 5 years, we outsource house repairs.  This puts us on a retire by 50 track with our current level of spending and we're OK with that.

[minimustache1985]

I'd give myself about a 4, and DH a 2.  Part of the reason I like this community is that while I don't aspire to be a 9 I'm the most mustachian person I know IRL and seeing how tight ships are run here/feeling like I'm not optimized helps challenge growth, rather than seeing the light years we're ahead compared with some of our home-improvement-financing, student-loan drowning friends and loosening the belt.

The good:
Paid off, reasonable cars (08 civic- mine, 07 impala- semi fancy as H has to drive clients in it)
No non-mortgage debt, great rates on mortgages (1 primary, 1 rental)
Max my 401k, my Roth IRA, and H's SEP IRA
I've become a good cook and pack my lunch 100% of the time

The bad:
McMansion
Fancypants vacations
Eat out at least once a week + H eats most lunches out
Cable (going to bring this up again once football season is over)
Not much left for taxable/RE investment unless H has a good commission year.

Eating out used to be way worse, I've gotten H to cut back from two nights a week + one night takeout to normally Sunday night only now and no takeout.  While we only use half our house we love our neighborhood and bought when the market was low so no regrets- we're keeping that unless we move for work in which case we'll get something smaller then.

[on the road]

Badass:
- Savings rate ~60%+
- No debt except mortgage
- DIY to learn new skills
- Love my awesome LCOL city
- SO on-board / shared priorities
- No expensive hobbies
- Don't buy much stuff, ever
- No TV or other mindless time-wasters
- Simple, sound approach to investing
- Optimize spending as a habit

Antimustachian:
- House is too big & expensive
- Eat out way too much
- High energy bills despite improvements/investments
- Don't bike much when it's cold
- Automatic transmission car w/ mediocre gas mileage

[CommonCents]

Cable (going to bring this up again once football season is over)

This was almost a sticking point for us, because DH wanted his sports.  Check out Mohu Leaf or the equivalent.  You might get more than you expect.  I was pretty thrilled we got football at least, because DH solution this year was going to be taking all of the money we saved from no cable, and put it into an "eating out at a place with sports" fund, which would have rapidly exceeded the savings.

[rocksinmyhead]

this is such a fun/interesting thing to think about, and I like reading everyone else's assessments!

I think I'm maybe a 4. my boyfriend is probably a 2. a high income while avoiding lifestyle inflation has allowed me to skate by as a lazy pseudo-mustachian while maintaining a decent savings rate (~55% of post-tax in 2013), but I don't plan on staying in this field for too much longer so I will need to become much more of a badass when I take an inevitable pay cut.

the good:
- pretty cheap rent in a location that minimizes distances to work/errands (we live 1 mile from my job and 1.5 from our main grocery store)
- short commute (see above) that is walkable/bikeable
- I love to cook, and have greatly improved my skills in optimizing our grocery spending, although I am still in awe of how others here can spend so much less
- I spend way less on clothes than I used to. my wardrobe is not super mustachian but I'd say it's probably better (read: less excessive) than average for a woman my age. I don't buy a new dress for every wedding or party we go to... I have a couple I like and hopefully they will not need to be replaced for many years.
- only debt is <$1500 on a 0% car loan for a car that would be pretty mustachian were it not so new (2012 Nissan Versa)
- our main forms of exercise are running, which we do pretty cheaply (each of us probably enters ~2-3 races a year, not the super expensive kind, and we buy shoes on clearance/online), and a household YMCA membership that is ~90% reimbursed by my employer
- no cable (though we do have a Roku, with Hulu+ and Amazon Prime)
- I have a cheap Windows Phone that I got for $60 off-contract from Microsoft's online store. I pay my dad $30/month to cover the cost of me staying on their family plan (TMobile unlimited data)
- I'm not someone who feels a need to update electronics to newer/fancier kinds frequently... laptop is 5 years old, iPod (which I use allll the time) is 4 years old (the one it replaced got dropped in a glass of beer :()
- only travel is 2-3 trips a year to visit our families who are in two different parts of the country (usually drive for 1-2 of these, it's a long-ass drive), plus a few weekend drives
- our house is primarily furnished with hand-me-downs, CL finds, and IKEA... the couch is from Big Lots :)

the bad:
- we spend a truly ludicrous, disgusting amount of money on alcohol. I probably hate this more than any of my other bad spending habits. it's a product of a social circle that likes to drink, and a craft beer "hobby."
- we don't go out to eat super-excessively, but we could go less (probably eat out 3-4x a month)
- I got out of the habit of biking to work (and it's too dark/not safe to walk in the winter), so I've been driving. I know. it's soooo embarrassing.
- we have two dogs which I guess are a luxury.
- I bought a new car in 2012.
- I still buy new clothes occasionally when in reality I don't need any.
- some of my clothes are dry clean only.

[irishbear99]

Fun thread! I'd probably give our household a 2 or 3.

The good:
- Our only debt is the mortgage (3.25% on a 30 year note), and we bought a place that cost just over half the average house cost for the area.
- One car household for two drivers, an 8-year-old Honda Civic coming up on 100k miles that we intend to drive for at least another 3-5 years.
- We mostly eat at home and I bring my lunches to work. This is fairly new (at least, doing this consistently is fairly new), but we've finally realized our home cooking tastes better and is better for us than going out.
- We don't have cable; not only for the money it saves us, but because most of the programs today seem like crap and aren't worth the money.
- We save just over 20% of our income...not much by MMM standards, but we plan to kick it up next year a bit.
- We do a lot of DIY. The hubby especially is very handy and does most of our car and home maintenance.

The bad:
- We run our AC consistently and have high electric bills.
- We have regular cell phone plans with unlimited data.
- We spend too much on wants (but we have plans to address that next year while increasing our savings rates).
- We don't bike. Anywhere.

[Alchemilla]

1.

Although if you count paying off mortgage capital then our savings rate is 25%.

[fubared]

Never owned a car.
No debt.
Minimalist.
I could be better with food.
8 since I still could tighten up some areas.

[Caoineag]

I guess a 3?

45% savings of gross pay, no dryer (hang dry everything), heat at 65 during day, 60 at night, major recyclers and composters, public transit for my morning commute, carpool home with hubby at night, house was cheap due to short sale, no non-mortgage debt, ting for phone service, not shoppers, don't have cable tv, etc. Also, hubby will most likely retire at 40 and I will retire at 42 (same time).

However, we eat out (cook from scratch at home but we like eating out too) and DIY is a hit or miss enterprise depending on our skill set. We will be a lot more frugal post retirement than pre due to time constraints because when we have time off, we spend a lot less on eating out.

Like one of the other posters, I am not here to learn from MMM but to learn from the forum various tips and tricks on how to tighten ship.

[YK-Phil]

My frugal wife and I would probably rate 7, she being the more frugal in the couple.

The good points:
*No cable, no home internet, no land line. We use my wife's $35/mo cell phone plan with unlimited data for all our communication needs. We keep the TV mainly to hide one of my shitty wall repairs, and watch DVD (on a working DVD player that comes from our condo building electronic recycling bin) from the public library.
*We use the public library across the street to get DVD and books, work, print documents, and use wifi.
*Our computer/smartphone needs are quite low: our two laptops come from our condo electronic recycling bin, and I run both on Ubuntu. My smartphone is an iPhone 3 that I got for free when a friend upgraded to a new iPhone. I am still amazed at all its functionalities. My wife uses the cheapest Motorola we could find that works on her provider's network. Whenever I use it, I feel I am using an iPhone 10!
*Our main residence, a condo in Calgary, is mortgage-free.
*We have a second condo which is rented out and has a positive cash flow of about $1000/mo.
*My kids are independent and out of the house.
*We cook most of our meals at home.
*We make laundry detergent and other cleaning products. We never use the dryer.
*I cut my own hair, or what's left of it :)
*We make toothpaste and most other personal hygiene products.
*My wife is naturally beautiful and does not spend a cent on beauty and skin care products, salon, and nails. She gets her regular haircut/styling at the beauty school around the corner for $15.
*She walks to work; I bike to work.
*No credit card or consumer debt. Everything is paid on credit card to accumulate travel rewards, but we never carry a balance.
*We own a small Fiat, paid cash. Car is insured for the minimum required by law, self-insured for our damanges. It stays in the indoor parkade about 28 days every month, and is only used for groceries and road trips to the West Coast where we own an acreage and plan to retire in two years or so.
*I work in Yellowknife, a 2.5-hour plane ride from home, on a 3-week work/2-week home rotation. I take the shuttle bus to and from the airport. In Yellowknife, I do not pay rent but house-sit and most often than not, I get a few hundred dollars bonus from the owner, plus eat all their food and get free use of their car, including gas. Between house-sitting gigs, I office-camp a few days a month, which I really enjoy especially when it is -45 and I don't need to use the bike. Also since I am alone there, I have plenty of time for a second very easy and pleasant job that brings an extra $16,000/year.
*Our combined grocery bill is kept under $300/month. My wife is Japanese and eats what she calls "monk food" when I am not around. I negate her good diet by cooking high calorie high fat French food when I go back home.
*We drink the cheapest wine. I know this is heresy, but they all taste the same to us.
*We are frugal travelers when we go on our annual vacation, staying at friends, family, couchsurfing or hostels.
*We put money every year in our RRSPs and TFSA.
*Both of us are not career-minded, prefering easy and fun jobs over anything well paid but stressful.
 
The cons, some of which we are trying to improve:
*We still own the car. We could easily do without, but we are (I am) not ready to let go yet.
*I want to buy a nice bicycle every time I walk into a bike shop. I will eventually break down, that's a certainty.
*We both like clothing. My fault: my wife used to be a jeans/Converse kind of girl, but that changed after she met me...But we shop at consignment stores, which is still cheaper than the low-quality stuff from Mal-Wart or other department stores. This will be reduced significantly once we are on the West Coast.
*We drink good coffee at home, once a day (but we roast our beans and still use an old italian espresso machine). I don't care about cars and stuff but I want a high-end espresso pump and a good grinder. That's a tough one to eliminate.
*We eat out at least twice when I am home, and go for French pastries and coffee on Sundays. We really enjoy these times together. We always use Groupons or other coupons that give at least 50% off, and this will eventually be reduced to once a month once I am home all the time. Pastries and coffee time will probably disappear once we move to the West Coast.
*I have to pay for my flight home, about $500 ten times a year (still one third cheaper than paying rent at my place of work). I am thinking about staying four to six weeks in Yellowknife instead of three, which would reduce my travel costs and increase my second income. Not sure if the financial gain would compensate for the longer time away from my wife. This added expense will eventually disappear once I stop working.
*We both have no clue whatsoever about investments and financial matters. I am trying hard to follow some of the financial discussions on MMM but I admit that most of the time, I lose interest (no pun intended) after reading the first post. While our expenses are low and our saving rate is high, I still think we need to work on this one.

[PerpetualWanderlust]

I agree think the scale is a bit off.  The average person is likely a -5, at least.

True, but the "average person" wouldn't be on this forum ;)

It's meant to a be 1-10 scale of Mustachianism, not 1-10 scale of consumerism as a whole. In other words, the scale doesn't have a place for the average consumer. 1-5 on the scale still have a savings rate.

[iwasjustwondering]

A year ago, I was a 1.  Now I'd give myself a 2+, maybe 3.  I cook all of our at-home meals from scratch (really from scratch).  We live in a modest home in a great town/neighborhood.  I max out 401K and HSA, and I got rid of all non-mortgage debt ($14,200) last year.  I put 2% into the employee stock purchase program to get the 20% match.  I put around $30K away for college this year, and will get that up over $40K next year.  I live on exactly the same amount that I lived on 10 years ago, when I made 3x less.

So I'm doing the bare minimum to improve our long-term financial outlook, basically.  I spend too much on clothes, but then again clothes are important in my global public relations job.  I have a 5yo Subaru, which I understand is the anti-mustachian car because it purports to be mustachian but actually is not.  We're going on a family vacation to England and France this year, which I do consider in line with my financial values (we'll rent a beach house with extended family for several days, we'll find other ways to economize -- I am extremely talented at traveling on the cheap, and I consider this part of my kids' education).  I have started doing a couple of weekend errands, like to the grocery store, with my younger son, by bike.  It's a lot of fun.  I quit my gym in favor of the free company gym, where I shower and dress most mornings of the week.

Negatives: I drive to work, and don't plan to change that.  I have a 30yr mortgage.  I've never done a Roth IRA.  My kids' college funds are still anemic.  I don't have much of an emergency fund.  Although we don't go out to eat for fun, the kids do get hot lunch at school, and I do eat at our (subsidized) work cafe two or three times per week.

I'd fund a Roth over a 529, personally.

Gin, why?  Is it just a question of needing to pay for retirement before paying for college?  I'd rather pay for college no matter what, even if it means working an additional 10 years.  I am pretty serious about this.  My older kid currently has a 4.5 GPA and gets perfect scores on some of his standardized tests, so he may not need much support.  But the other one most likely will.  My kids' education is my highest priority in life, quite honestly.  It was the same for my immigrant grandparents, which is why my generation is so comfortable.

[Pooperman]

A year ago, I was a 1.  Now I'd give myself a 2+, maybe 3.  I cook all of our at-home meals from scratch (really from scratch).  We live in a modest home in a great town/neighborhood.  I max out 401K and HSA, and I got rid of all non-mortgage debt ($14,200) last year.  I put 2% into the employee stock purchase program to get the 20% match.  I put around $30K away for college this year, and will get that up over $40K next year.  I live on exactly the same amount that I lived on 10 years ago, when I made 3x less.

So I'm doing the bare minimum to improve our long-term financial outlook, basically.  I spend too much on clothes, but then again clothes are important in my global public relations job.  I have a 5yo Subaru, which I understand is the anti-mustachian car because it purports to be mustachian but actually is not.  We're going on a family vacation to England and France this year, which I do consider in line with my financial values (we'll rent a beach house with extended family for several days, we'll find other ways to economize -- I am extremely talented at traveling on the cheap, and I consider this part of my kids' education).  I have started doing a couple of weekend errands, like to the grocery store, with my younger son, by bike.  It's a lot of fun.  I quit my gym in favor of the free company gym, where I shower and dress most mornings of the week.

Negatives: I drive to work, and don't plan to change that.  I have a 30yr mortgage.  I've never done a Roth IRA.  My kids' college funds are still anemic.  I don't have much of an emergency fund.  Although we don't go out to eat for fun, the kids do get hot lunch at school, and I do eat at our (subsidized) work cafe two or three times per week.

I'd fund a Roth over a 529, personally.

Gin, why?  Is it just a question of needing to pay for retirement before paying for college?  I'd rather pay for college no matter what, even if it means working an additional 10 years.  I am pretty serious about this.  My older kid currently has a 4.5 GPA and gets perfect scores on some of his standardized tests, so he may not need much support.  But the other one most likely will.  My kids' education is my highest priority in life, quite honestly.  It was the same for my immigrant grandparents, which is why my generation is so comfortable.

Guessing because  #1, you come first, #2, extra 529 money comes with penalties, #3, you can use roth money the same was as the 529 for education (i think).