The Money Mustache Community
General Discussion => Welcome and General Discussion => Topic started by: backandforth on February 09, 2015, 09:34:31 PM
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If you have just one anti-mustachian habit, what is it? do you feel guilty about it and plan to change?
For us the one that's most difficult to kick is the food part..
We don't eat out much anymore since conversion to the mustachian way (1-2/months, no fancy pants restaurants), but we do eat VERY well at home, I am a pretty awesome cook and more than half of our groceries are organic... and the finished products are restaurant quality and we are carnivores, so for 2 people, that add up to ~$600+$700 a month for food alone we kind of justify it by thinking hey it would have cost 3x-4x if we eat out for something similar (most dinners at home are 3-4 courses+ 1 or 2 drink... and I can put it together in an hour, my way of unwind) I cook most days even if I have to work some more after dinner, bigger production on weekends and we do love having friends over. If we could do it as average family standard, let alone the mustachian way, it could come down a lot
We tried a few days at a stretch on simpler and nutritious meals but the appetite always come back with a vengeance... BTW, we are not junk food eating fatties, both are pretty fit.. We shop Costco and local regular price grocery stores, occasionally Traders Joes for snacks, rarely ever Whole foods or the like..
Do you think this is something worth squeezing out? Do you have a habit that you want to kick but sort of justify in in your own way?
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Dammit, I only get ONE? I will never ever ever give up my occasional cigars and premium tequila. Never. No guilt, either.
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I drive sports cars...
On the balance side, think about how much money I'm not spending for therapy.
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I wouldn't go so far as to call it a habit. More like a hobby. I like good whiskey
“Hitch: making rules about drinking can be the sign of an alcoholic,' as Martin Amis once teasingly said to me. (Adorno would have savored that, as well.) Of course, watching the clock for the start-time is probably a bad sign, but here are some simple pieces of advice for the young. Don't drink on an empty stomach: the main point of the refreshment is the enhancement of food. Don't drink if you have the blues: it's a junk cure. Drink when you are in a good mood. Cheap booze is a false economy. It's not true that you shouldn't drink alone: these can be the happiest glasses you ever drain. Hangovers are another bad sign, and you should not expect to be believed if you take refuge in saying you can't properly remember last night. (If you really don't remember, that's an even worse sign.) Avoid all narcotics: these make you more boring rather than less and are not designed—as are the grape and the grain—to enliven company. Be careful about up-grading too far to single malt Scotch: when you are voyaging in rough countries it won't be easily available. Never even think about driving a car if you have taken a drop. It's much worse to see a woman drunk than a man: I don't know quite why this is true but it just is. Don't ever be responsible for it.”
― Christopher Hitchens, Hitch-22: A Memoir .
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I'm a sucker for modern safety features in cars.
Brand new minivans are going for 30k.
Used ones with 100,000 miles are going for 10k.
Both are safer than my current subcompact, and the 10k van will go for another 100,000 miles, but I just can't seem to reason with myself.
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Golf, and not on run of the mill courses. I like beautiful settings which means high property value and therefore high costs.
To me it's very peaceful, like a walk in a garden but better. In my mind hiking is the mustachian version of golf and I very much enjoy hiking, but I also like the challenge of golf and the fact that I can always do a little better.
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I use a clothes dryer. Not planning on changing that; in fact we've just bought a new one (that's more energy-efficient then the one we had before)
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Travel. Big time.
I have other bad habits, too.
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Sushi.
although i have cut back and not eaten it in months.
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My biggest Mustachian no-no is my book collecting passion.
I read and study history. I could easily do that by checking out books at the public library. But I like to be surrounded by books, especially those that are on topics I'm interested in and, yes, those I have already read. So I spend a lot of my discretionary funds buying books -- whether at a buck a throw at a thrift store, or at $40-plus each from specialty publishers -- AND buying or making the bookshelves to house them.
However, since I'm already FIRE'd and my passive income far exceeds my basic living expenses... I am allowed to do this. (heh, heh, heh)
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Travel - I spend so much on travel.... I do try to be frugal about how I spend the money while traveling, but I am a sucker for opportunities to go somewhere.
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Expensive beer.
I home brew along with hunting down or trading for rare beers. It's not uncommon to drop 400 in a liquor store or 20 - 30 for one bottle.
Most I paid for beer was $45 for a wine bottle of Bruery Chocolate Rain. Totally worth it to me, but fuck that's insane through the lens of MMM.
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Not really a habit, but a hobby. Concert tickets. My husband and I could save hundreds a year, but when our favorite bands come to town, we get tickets. We're not far from Minneapolis/St. Paul, so a lot of acts come through on their tours, and we have a blast at these shows. We also have season tickets to the orchestra; we both look forward to these concerts and enjoy them (and our time together) so much, we've decided it's worth it to keep going (and we are only paying student rates right now with DH in grad school, which helps significantly--we're seeing Gil Shaham perform a violin concerto this week for $12/ticket!!!).
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Good microbrew beer, sushi, motorcycle touring. Those are my top 3.
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Golf, beer/wine, travel. I spend roughly the same amount on these 3 categories each year. Could probably retire 2 or 3 years sooner by eliminating these "habits", but then what would I do in retirement?
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Sushi.
although i have cut back and not eaten it in months.
We make our own sushi! It's not difficult, it tastes the same, but for half of the price or maybe even less!!
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Long showers, especially on a cold day.
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I eat at Chipotle 4-5 times a week, though I'd argue it's not that anti-MMM.
For starters, you get a lot of nutrition for that $7. I get a cup of water, always get the burrito bowl with guacamole and tons of lettuce. And if the cashier doesn't notice the guac under all of that lettuce, I'm not going to correct him/her for the $1.90 surcharge. If they do notice, I'm still only at $9. Plus, I order half chicken and half carnitas, but the servers tend to treat it as a serving of each, so it's almost like getting double meat.
Also -- this is often dinner, not lunch.
I also own Chipotle stock, which flies in the face of MMM by holding individual stocks.
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Beer, good craft or foreign beer. Sure I could try homebrewing but i won't so I pay for others excellent beer. I am also by no means a beer snob as i will throw down a miller or coors if the mood is right.
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Thanks for sharing! feel better now. We all have our own modified mustachian way to make life a bit more interesting in our own way. I am gonna make a leg of lamb this weekend for party!
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Mine is a good haircut and color every 6-8 weeks. I am a bit vain and as I get older, nice hair makes me feel like I am aging gracefully. I tried to go 12 weeks and was putting graying hair into a bun and decided this is one way I want to spend my money.
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I drive sports cars...
On the balance side, think about how much money I'm not spending for therapy.
lol, this.
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Golf, and not on run of the mill courses. I like beautiful settings which means high property value and therefore high costs.
To me it's very peaceful, like a walk in a garden but better. In my mind hiking is the mustachian version of golf and I very much enjoy hiking, but I also like the challenge of golf and the fact that I can always do a little better.
I couldn't agree more. Golfing is my happy place
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Travel and Long Distance Boyfriend. I know that's two things, but they are related.
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My most anti-MMM habit is living in the high cost of living area I live in, in a house that's bigger than I need, on a property that's bigger than I need; and I don't plan to give that up.
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Manicures and pedicures. I've tried doing them myself but end up with sloppy looking nails. I love the time out going to the salon gives me, the conversations, and leaving with hands looking pretty. I've curbed the frequency in which I visit the salon, but I still go.
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Eating out. I have cut back on it, but will not cut it out. I enjoy it. Its relaxing and a lot of the time when we eat out it is socializing with another couple. We don't have alcohol and we don't eat at expensive restaurants. At the most, we spend $35 including taxes and tip.
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A good hi-fi system and ongoing purchasing of records - for me listening to high quality audio is a very relaxing experience.
Luckily once a system is purchased and it's good quality it should last for many years - my first system is still going strong - amplifier, speakers and tuner are all 32 years old with no repair. Unbelievably the CD player has been going without fail since 1985!
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I eat meat, we drink a box of wine a week, I drive a (very old) car, I buy memberships for museums and the zoo so the kids have something to do, I travel, I have a projector, a kegerator etc.
Most of my expensive stuff falls under the durable goods category. I hate spending a lot of money on something that only happens once. For things like travel I generally opt for the cheapest (though safe) option available.
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Weekly golf (sometimes twice a week) and a monthly massage keep a smile on my face.
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School stuff. I spend WAY too much on things for my classroom. I keep doing it because it makes my life easier.
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Driving! MMM would be appalled at how much driving I do. I haul my kids hither and yonder all week long...some of it is voluntary (lessons, social activities, 100 miles RT to see my 86-year-old grandma, etc.) and some of it is required (DD's school, dad's house), but some of it is pretty far. Nothing here is walkable except an expensive grocery store and drug store, and I cannot even imagine trying to bike back up the hill between here and there. In fact, a problem I have with my spine makes it pretty hard to bike anywhere, although I haven't totally given up.
Do I plan to stop? Yes, someday my children will be grown up and I'd like to move somewhere I can get around without driving, or driving much. But for now, I'm driving 25,000 - 30,000 miles annually without guilt. Moving isn't an option at the moment, and I think the things the kids are doing are really important to their growth and development. It's not forever, but it's right for now.
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My horse. But saving money elsewhere makes him possible.
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Golf
+1
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Travel I suppose? Of my ~24k spending last year, $2k was on travel.
But at the same time, my trips to Sydney and Spain were paid for by my school (I went to conferences) so I was not paying full sticker price.
Also, I'm young, single, and have incredibly flexibility with respect to my "job." I'm a grad student, getting paid hourly as a grad research assistant. I've finished all my classwork, so it's just research all the time for me. Since I'm paid hourly, my advisor doesn't really care that I go on vacation sometimes. I fell like I should take advantage of my situation while I can.
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Used to be my sailboat, but it was breaking the bank so I had to sell it.
Now I think it's taking my kids to their various sports activities. I sure spend a lot of time doing it, and I sure spend a lot of money on it. Our older son has always been athletic and loves it, and I did choose to have the kid, so I guess that's my hobby for the next few years.
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I have plenty. My current obsession is photography. Hoping to make some money off it at some point, but it is expensive.
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Liquor. We drink a lot of alcohol, especially wine. Not super expensive--our staple is trader joes stuff, about 1/2 $3 chuck (which we do enjoy) 1/2 stuff in the $8-10 range (which we also enjoy, sometimes more than the $3 stuff, sometimes less). We also do about 2 crates a year of stuff in the $10-20 range. We drink more expensive scotch ($60-80 range), but more sparingly.
Used to be a bottle of wine with dinner ~3 days a week, a glass of cheaper scotch (i.e., JW red) as a nightcap, and a drink or two throughout the day on Saturdays/Sundays (e.g., irish coffee). We've cut down--mostly because I need to lose weight and this is an easy target--but this is one of our pleasures in life.
Eating out. Spent $400/month on restaurants last year, lots of that being lunches at work. Cutting back on that--I've packed lunch every day this year so far for days that lunch isn't covered by work/I'm not traveling. Aim is a cap of $200/month on restaurants. Managed to get it in for $100 in Jan. Will be higher for Feb (spouse birthday). Fortunately, spouse enjoys cooking (I'm terrible at it and don't have time during the week).
Phone bill. We both have iPhones. I am required to have one for work (only options are Blackberry or iPhone) and my data gets paid for, but I'm not going to ask spouse to have some a cricket phone while I'm using an iPhone. This ends up being $150 a month for both of us, with about half of that being spouse's piece that we could probably cut back.
Coffee/tea. Spouse is a tea fanatic, I am a coffee fanatic. No access to Sam's Club etc for bulk coffee beans, so I end up paying about $10 a bag (I do not go to coffee shops though). I go through.. a lot.. of coffee. Spouse goes through a lot of tea and does not buy cheap stuff (not buying super expensive either, though it's a pretty easy gift for most situations).
I don't have too too much guilt about this stuff because we spent about $48k last year all-in (including our $1,350 of monthly rent and a $6k vacation) on income over $200k, so we're doing ok with saving. But not as well as we could if we went to extremes.
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Motorcycles. I have two and feel like I need three.
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Coffee, specifially mochas. I need an intervention.
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Travel. In Europe, I rode the train or the discount airlines all over the place. Here in SoCal I'm driving, be it to the coast, to see family, or in the case of this upcoming weekend, to the Grand Canyon.
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Eating out.. once a week: $8 a pop for all you can eat pizza + soda
6000+ Calories in a sitting? Yes please.... I mean No! No no no no nonononono... okay maybe one last time...
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Travel. I keep my spending pretty low, and even while traveling I try to do it on a budget with AirBNB and eating at less costly local restaurants, but I love to see the world, and think that it is money well spent.
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Travel. I keep my spending pretty low, and even while traveling I try to do it on a budget with AirBNB and eating at less costly local restaurants, but I love to see the world, and think that it is money well spent.
I wholeheartedly agree. I don't take much issue with either myself or others spending money on experiences as opposed to stuff, so long it's all spending that is well within your means and you understand that that spending is pushing back FI/RE.
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Travel. I keep my spending pretty low, and even while traveling I try to do it on a budget with AirBNB and eating at less costly local restaurants, but I love to see the world, and think that it is money well spent.
I wholeheartedly agree. I don't take much issue with either myself or others spending money on experiences as opposed to stuff, so long it's all spending that is well within your means and you understand that that spending is pushing back FI/RE.
Agreed. I am working on getting my boyfriend to stop spending money on gifts for holidays, birthdays, etc, and instead take trips or have an experience together. So far for Xmas we took a trip to Quebec, and for Valentine's day we are having a homecooked meal and watching movies at home, instead of spending a ridiculous amount on a prixe fix meal. The memories are worth much more to me than another sparkly necklace....although I do love the glitz, I also tend to break or lose them quite easily!
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Eating out. My husband works from home and honestly he NEEDS to get out of the house some nights or he goes crazy... so we have a weekly date night and then go out on the weekends usually. We are lucky to have a lot of cheap places around here (especially Vietnamese and Mexican) where we can eat for <$10, and we get a lot of Groupon/Amazon Local deals, so that helps us stretch the budget farther and go out more often while still staying at our budget.
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Phone bill. We both have iPhones. I am required to have one for work (only options are Blackberry or iPhone) and my data gets paid for, but I'm not going to ask spouse to have some a cricket phone while I'm using an iPhone. This ends up being $150 a month for both of us, with about half of that being spouse's piece that we could probably cut back.
You can use an iPhone on Cricket. They actually sell Cricket branded iPhones on their site or you can transfer yours if it's a GSM phone.
I would say my one habit that I hope to break is drinking soda. I love Mountain Dew. I know water is better for me and would save me money in dental bills but it's a hard habit for me to break.
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Phone bill. We both have iPhones. I am required to have one for work (only options are Blackberry or iPhone) and my data gets paid for, but I'm not going to ask spouse to have some a cricket phone while I'm using an iPhone. This ends up being $150 a month for both of us, with about half of that being spouse's piece that we could probably cut back.
You can use an iPhone on Cricket. They actually sell Cricket branded iPhones on their site or you can transfer yours if it's a GSM phone.
I would say my one habit that I hope to break is drinking soda. I love Mountain Dew. I know water is better for me and would save me money in dental bills but it's a hard habit for me to break.
Not an option for us unfortunately (concerns about the security infrastructure on the discount carriers).
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Phone bill. We both have iPhones. I am required to have one for work (only options are Blackberry or iPhone) and my data gets paid for, but I'm not going to ask spouse to have some a cricket phone while I'm using an iPhone. This ends up being $150 a month for both of us, with about half of that being spouse's piece that we could probably cut back.
You can use an iPhone on Cricket. They actually sell Cricket branded iPhones on their site or you can transfer yours if it's a GSM phone.
I would say my one habit that I hope to break is drinking soda. I love Mountain Dew. I know water is better for me and would save me money in dental bills but it's a hard habit for me to break.
Not an option for us unfortunately (concerns about the security infrastructure on the discount carriers).
Security like what? Cricket runs on AT&T's network.
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We currently own 2 cars. Our goal is to move closer to our jobs when my fiancé finishes his degree, and get rid of one car.
Eating out is one of our habits, but I don't feel guilty about it at all. It's even planned in our monthly grocery budget since I am pretty much the only one who cooks : sometimes I just need a break. We also like to eat out in fancier restaurants for special occasions (3-4 times a year). It's part of the ''own less, experience more'' lifestyle we chose. Eventually, it will apply to travels, no shame.
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Only one? Cause I have several guilty pleasures. And may I just say OP -- thanks for the thread.
1. Cable and my DVR. Yes I know. I like my tv, what can I say? I've decreased the bill. But I haven't been able to cut the chord.
2. Gardener. I hate yard work. It makes me very cross just thinking about it, let alone actually doing it. Yuck. Don't think I'll be cutting this one.
3. Travel. I just love seeing different places and learning new things. However I try my best to keep those travel expenses down. I'm not giving that one up either.
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I pay someone to clean our house once a month for $100. It's some of the best money we spend, because it's a giant monthly reset button for the entire place.
My GF is a bit more messy than I am around the house, but we've had zero arguments about it. I just look at any clutter/messes and think, "not worth caring about -- it'll look perfect again in about 8 days."
We pretty much have zero fights. =)
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Dog grooming. It saves us both trauma and saves me a ton of cleanup. Until I have a place with a bathtub (so she can't streak out of the shower stall as easily) or a backyard, I'll stick with the expense.
Also, wine.
Also, the occasional latte. Sometimes I just need to work somewhere other than my desk at home. I consider the coffee the cost of the "rent".
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I have more than one, but getting my hair colored at a fancy salon is pretty high up on the list of anti-mustachian habits for me.
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Motorcycles. I have two and feel like I need three.
That's how I feel about sewing machines. I have four and feel like I need another one.
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I have 2 major vices...
1. Ham radio. I have spent way too much on radios and antennas, and it has at times been a major source of stress in my life (mostly with dealing with governments w.r.t permissions for antenna towers). I've been actively downsizing in this department, though, as it was getting a bit out of hand.
2. Guitars. $84 a month for lessons, and in the last year I've somehow gone from 1 to 4 guitars... that said, I've at least always been able to afford the guitars without debt. I could start a thread in the Antimustashian forum for the things I've overheard wannabe rockstars talking about in the lesson waiting room!
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I have a journal entry half typed up on my work PC about vices like these! For me the list is beer, locally-roasted premium coffee beans and baths on cold evenings.
The good thing is that identifying them gives you a place to start if you ever need to tighten the belt.
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I drive an SUV that gets 18mpg on the highway, or 12mpg in town if it's too cold to bike. It was also very expensive to purchase (used), so there's a lot of money tied up depreciating rather than being invested.
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Yeah, I've probably got a lot of bad habits...
If I had to choose one to be the least mustashian, it would have to be travel. I have a thing for Venice & Florence. And Mexican beaches.
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Motorcycles. I have two and feel like I need three.
That's how I feel about sewing machines. I have four and feel like I need another one.
This strikes a chord in my family. My mother is at five sewing machines and an overlocker plus a coverstitch machine. The correct answer to the question 'how many sewing machines are enough?' Is apparently 'one more than I currently own'. But she does makes all of own clothes, the majority of my father's, the bridesmaids dresses and her own outfit for my wedding and many of the soft furnishings in their house. She sews every day.
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Fine wine. My SO works in the industry, so we always taste for free, and get a 20-33%discount on any that we buy, but we drink 4-5 bottles of the stuff each week. We are very conscious of value, but it still isn't cheap.
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Fine wine. My SO works in the industry, so we always taste for free, and get a 20-33%discount on any that we buy, but we drink 4-5 bottles of the stuff each week. We are very conscious of value, but it still isn't cheap.
Want a friend in Oregon? :D
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Computer games / simulators.
I build all my own computers, although even in pure parts from Newegg / TigerDirect etc they don't end up being cheap. (I do build a step or two above the TOP of the line though since that's often nearly double the price for maybe 5-10% performance gain)
I play all sorts of flight / space / driving simulators. DCS, XPlane, Elite: Dangerous, Assetto Corsa, Euro Truck Simulator etc.
My set-up is nowhere near as nice as THIS but this is similar to the end goal (http://i.imgur.com/dkJJO.jpg).
Although I have an Oculus Rift prototype (Virtual Reality Headset). So if Oculus' consumer version in mid late 2015 / early 2016 is as amazing as we all expect, I might not need more than 1 screen.
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I've got a clown car. I wouldn't buy it again today, but I'm not going to sell it either. I'm going to drive it for 300K kms+.
I'll probably buy another different clown car when it's gone though - a travel van. I love doing sports all over [MTB, surfing, etc..] so having a vehicle I can live out of on the road will be pretty sweet.
I've seen folks doing this out of mini-vans and that doesn't appeal to me despite being more Bad Ass!
-- Vik
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Fine wine. My SO works in the industry, so we always taste for free, and get a 20-33%discount on any that we buy, but we drink 4-5 bottles of the stuff each week. We are very conscious of value, but it still isn't cheap.
Want a friend in Oregon? :D
Sure. We could take you wine tasting in exchange for a place to stay. What part of Oregon are you in? We have been meaning to get up to the Willamette Valley for some time now; so far, we have done some tasting down in the Rogue Valley because it is much closer to home.
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I am a private pilot. I am in a flying club/partnership that owns a handful of planes. Have to go get the $100 burger every couple of weeks.
Travel would also be one. But the credit card bonuses paying for 80% of it.
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1. Travel. This has been ~10% of our spending over the last 5 years. This has gone down over the last couple of years thanks to travel hacking.
2. "Fancy" restaurants (~10% of our spending) (especially when we travel) - we have significantly stopped this and probably will continue to go down with our little one in our life now.
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Another vote for concerts. And the good seats are more expensive for a reason.
We try to get out to local lounges to see live music regularly as well (which is pretty mustachian) but tickets to any major act are simply not cheap. (and we have seen a lot of major acts:)
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'how many sewing machines are enough?' Is apparently 'one more than I currently own'.
Cyclists always say the appropriate number of bikes is n+1. I imagine it's the same for most any hobby.
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Fine wine. My SO works in the industry, so we always taste for free, and get a 20-33%discount on any that we buy, but we drink 4-5 bottles of the stuff each week. We are very conscious of value, but it still isn't cheap.
Want a friend in Oregon? :D
Sure. We could take you wine tasting in exchange for a place to stay. What part of Oregon are you in? We have been meaning to get up to the Willamette Valley for some time now; so far, we have done some tasting down in the Rogue Valley because it is much closer to home.
We're up in PDX right now. I love the valley, grew up there in a small town. There are some really great wineries around- pretty much everyone I went to college with got married at one.
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I will never give up my gym membership. It's the best 30 dollars I spend all month - especially in the Winter.
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Restaurants are probably are our primary anti-Mustachian habit. We spend around $200/month eating out. I would prefer to cut that number down to around $100/month, but eating out is more important to DW than to me.
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Cyclists always say the appropriate number of bikes is n+1. I imagine it's the same for most any hobby.
This is true, but those same cyclists have to work full-time for all the fancy bikes so they can actually ride them much!
I was going to buy a sweet new motorcycle this year to replace my current one. Then I asked myself...would I rather ride my current bike as much as I want for say ~6 months [because I'd be FI sooner] or have that sweet new bike and mostly just look at it in my parking spot at work while I paid for it.
-- Vik
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I have several:
Cable (FiOS and HBO. $100 per month)
iPhone 6 (plan is 35 dollar pay-go though)
Occasional Starbucks
Eat out usually once per week, but once in a while twice.
Video Games
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'how many sewing machines are enough?' Is apparently 'one more than I currently own'.
Cyclists always say the appropriate number of bikes is n+1. I imagine it's the same for most any hobby.
That was my dad and his guns. He had more than he needed, but not as many as he wanted.
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1. Eating out
2. Expensive birthday parties for Little Yankuba
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I have the same guilty pleasure as you OP, eating well. I've recently taken up cooking and really enjoy it. If my husband and I spend $600 on groceries for the month for the two U.S., I pat myself o. The back. Sometimes we spend more. I'm trying to figure out ways to brimg this down but still eat well.
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1. Eating out.
2. Sportscar. It is an older car with no loan, but it isn't super fuel efficient. If I try to get the best mileage possible by hypermiling I can almost squeeze out 30mpg. Last tank I averaged 28pmg which is above the car's stated highway MPG so I was proud to manage that(since I'm driving it in a city 90% of the time). I don't drive a whole lot so its efficient enough that I'm still paying very little in fuel costs(<$50/month). It's also in great shape for it's age, and I would hate to sell it for something more fuel efficient just to have it bite me in repairs.
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I'll take the biggest slap on this question....$20k a year for the kids' gymnastics practices and meets. On the flip side, those kids' muscles are scuplted out of iron.
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I'll take the biggest slap on this question....$20k a year for the kids' gymnastics practices and meets. On the flip side, those kids' muscles are scuplted out of iron.
I'm guessing they compete? That stuff gets expensive FAST. It wasn't nearly *that* much when I was a kid, but it was still like $2k/yr+.
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Alcohol...lots of good booze - often from Scotland and rhymes with Lagavulin distillers edition
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I'll take the biggest slap on this question....$20k a year for the kids' gymnastics practices and meets. On the flip side, those kids' muscles are scuplted out of iron.
I'm guessing they compete? That stuff gets expensive FAST. It wasn't nearly *that* much when I was a kid, but it was still like $2k/yr+.
I include their practices, leotards and other clothing, and expenses of going to meets all over the Midwest. Yes, the shit adds up fast! Jacks up the grocery bill, too.
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I'll take the biggest slap on this question....$20k a year for the kids' gymnastics practices and meets. On the flip side, those kids' muscles are scuplted out of iron.
I'm guessing they compete? That stuff gets expensive FAST. It wasn't nearly *that* much when I was a kid, but it was still like $2k/yr+.
I include their practices, leotards and other clothing, and expenses of going to meets all over the Midwest. Yes, the shit adds up fast! Jacks up the grocery bill, too.
The grocery bill is a great point (and I don't envy you there!). I really don't understand how people with 3 teens are feeding their family on here for like $500. To be fair, me and my brothers were/are very tall very active people, but we ATE. Even with a huge garden, preserving the produce, and hunting for a lot of meat, we still cleaned out two fridges on a weekly basis. (We did have friends around a lot too, I bet that didn't help). I remember in high school after a match sitting down to a whole roast chicken, a can of corn, and a box of rice-a-roni and eating it all in one sitting. That's what some people plan for a family dinner.
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A house isn't a "habit" so I'll go with travel.
DH would select dining out, unfortunately. I've learned it does significant damage to our relationship if I don't agree to going out at a wildly unmustachian rate (DH would be happy/prefer to eat takeout every night), which is still less than DH wants.
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We keep the house warm instead of keeping it cool and wearing more clothes.
I wouldn't call this one a habit, exactly, because it's something I don't do often--I prefer to buy cars new rather than used. Then I drive them as long as possible (18 years and counting with my current car).
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Just discovered this site, so still trying to rectify a bunch of mistakes we made early on but, 1. expensive luxury SUV 2. Travel/Vacations( 2-3 a year) 3. high cost of living area (median income is around 120k per family). 4. Large house, with correspondingly large payment. 5. Cable/High Speed Fiber optic internet. So far I have started biking to the grocery store, started tracking weekly expenses to limit frivolous purchases, bought a clipper set to start doing own haircuts. Wife has student loans almost paid off, which will open up an extra 5k a month for savings. On track to double income in job within the next 5-7yr, will avoid further lifestyle expansion at all costs.
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Going to sporting events and getting the good seats. It's not a frequent thing since we usually combine it with our vacations, but we're seriously considering retiring to Pittsburgh and if we do I am definitely getting Penguins season tickets.
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I have a gas-guzzling Jeep and a noisy Harley. I offset that fact by biking to work as much as possible (26 miles r/t).
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While most of my income is purely discretionary, it is fairly low and I'm trying to save for FIRE. That being said, the stress of my current workplace drove me to start smoking. I've been unable to kick it so far, but plan on quitting entirely when I go back stateside. I'll be closer to family and have less stress. On top of that, my family is very against smoking and my sister has two young children. I may not have the motivation to quit while living overseas, but I know I'll be able to when I'm home.
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Kids activities. Definitely.
Currently saving $3500 so my son can go an an exchange to NZ for two weeks.
Naturally this means DD will go to local 4wk art school this summer for $2k, to be equal and fair...
I cut it down to $80 or less per month ( each) a couple of years ago, and here I go again!
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iPhone 6 (plan is 35 dollar pay-go)
How is this possible? Explain! :)
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iPhone 6 (plan is 35 dollar pay-go)
How is this possible? Explain! :)
Cricket has a $35 plan with 2.5GB of data. Of course you have to pay the $600-700 for the iPhone 6 outright.
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Property
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iPhone 6 (plan is 35 dollar pay-go)
How is this possible? Explain! :)
Cricket has a $35 plan with 2.5GB of data. Of course you have to pay the $600-700 for the iPhone 6 outright.
Thanks for the info! I'm stuck in a stupid anti-Mustachian service contract, but I will remember Cricket when the timing is more favorable.
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Eating and drinking good edibles. As someone else said, I'm a pretty good cook myself, am a carnivore, and buy a lot of organic meats. The grocery bill sort of adds up fast. No regrets. I also like good coffee.
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Soda... I know it would be so much better if I could stop but I can't seem to. I've cut way down though. Also going out to eat but I generally go to local restaurants that get make everything from scratch, get their supplies from other local businesses. I consider this "putting my money where my values are" so I don't really mind. I try to be more deliberate vs. I don't want to cook, I'll just go pick something up. Considering I live downtown in a major city temptation is all around.
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Travel and Booze. However, we rarely got a hotel when traveling. We typically stay with friends and family. We also typically drink at home or at friends/family house. We might hit up a bar when traveling, but we go to bars about once every 2 months where we live.
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Good wine. We tried drinking boxed wine but just couldn't do it. Now we keep our purchases in the $10-$16 range and we never buy single bottles. Always a case at a time to get the 15% case discount.
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Cookies.
Though I need to kick the habit. It's doing nothing for my abs. As Paul Simon put it, "Why am I soft in the middle now?"
So other than cookies, I'm going to go with spending way too much money on live shows. I love a good concert. By gum I'll pay that 80$ Pearl Jam ticket, if it's the only way I'll get to see them live now.
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The motorhome, if my husband had the time he could do most of the maintenance. Hiring it done is a horrible expense. That is my one very big vice. He can fix and do most anything, but eventually we will get to old to do so.
I only get the lawn done if I'm out of town, then its $150 a time as its 4 acres. Shouldn't have got such a big yard for our old age. I used to mow 2 acres at our house and at all the rent houses so at least I'm not hauling it all over like I used to.
Cable TV is a big indulgence. We are thinking of Netflix and a big antenna later. The programming isn't even very good anymore.
We keep our house about 75 and 76 summer and winter. I like being warm in winter and not real cold in the summer.
I too have 4 sewing machines, A genome professional machine with walking foot wonderful machine. A regular older Sears Kenmore, a White serger over 25 years old, and a newer coverstitch. I have lost 20 pounds and I like sewing but like it better if I don't have to do tons of alternations. I can upholster furniture, finish drywall, make curtains, and clothes and I do all the yardwork. Haven't sewn much the last 2 years but will again. I have tons of fabric back, its washed and in cabinets so it won't fade, also patterns, notions, and accessories. I wouldn't start sewing nowadays to expensive to get started.
I have spent to much money on clothing and accessories in the past and need to stop that too.
That's pretty much it.
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Cable TV is a big indulgence. We are thinking of Netflix and a big antenna later. The programming isn't even very good anymore.
My friend said that it feels like they aren't even trying these days. "We've lost this battle, just put any old crap on there."
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Forgive me fellow mustachians, for I have sinned! I replaced my patchy, weedy rear lawn with beautiful, spendypants rolled turf.
Before:
(http://i744.photobucket.com/albums/xx82/kawabungaoz/before_zpshnadyeva.jpg) (http://s744.photobucket.com/user/kawabungaoz/media/before_zpshnadyeva.jpg.html)
After:
(http://i744.photobucket.com/albums/xx82/kawabungaoz/after_zpscxyxvexe.jpg) (http://s744.photobucket.com/user/kawabungaoz/media/after_zpscxyxvexe.jpg.html)
My reasoning? Firstly, we stare at this lawn most of the time we are home as it surrounds our family room windows. Having nice turf makes this view so much more pleasurable. Secondly, my dogs absolutely love lush lawn. They now lay on it and romp around on it (and wee/poop on it - not so good!). Thirdly, it is not that big an area (45sqm) and the lawn type is buffalo which is a low maintenance, low watering requirement variety.
On a more mustachian note, my wife and I did dig up the old lawn, prepare the new surface and lay the new turn ourselves by hand. This amounted to the movement of around 3.5 tonnes of dirt and sod using shovels, buckets and a small wheelbarrow. It took us 5 days to recover from the sore muscles!
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Horses. We have 2 horses. I would have 1 million net worth if we hadn't started that hobby, but DH wouldn't have his current job. He loves his job, but it is hard on the body, he is a farrier. My DD would be boy crazy right now instead of horse crazy. I love my horses and they have given a lot of pleasure over the years. We are now spending real quality time with my parents and sister which is priceless. I am teaching them all how to ride.