Author Topic: Millennial Mustaches Out There?  (Read 87783 times)

leenygal

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Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« on: December 22, 2014, 10:09:51 AM »
Hi all,

Just curious to know how many young (twenties and under) Mustaches are out there. The Millennial generation gets a bad rap in the media for poor money management, which isn't unfounded, but makes it seem as if there's no frugal people in our demographic.

How did you find out about MMM, were you always Mustachian, and what are your savings/debt elimination goals?

To start it off, I'm a 23 y.o. finance professional in the Midwest. I found out about MMM from my boyfriend (26) who found it through another friend (27). Looking back, I had a very Mustachian childhoold (anti-debt parents, biking to the library every weekend, no TV in the house, used cars, etc.). My current savings goal is a house down payment.


boyerbt

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #1 on: December 22, 2014, 10:14:39 AM »
Way to get the ball rolling...

I'm 27 and found MMM late last year. I wasn't terrible with my money before but was shocked (in a good way) once I started reading and learning from MMM and realized how much better I could do if I tried.

My girlfriend has always been Mustachian. Started her own company in high school, paid her way through college, and still drives a beater pushing almost 200k miles because she can. She would also be a big push for me to become more Mustachian.

Cromacster

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #2 on: December 22, 2014, 10:16:49 AM »
There are quite a few of us on here.  I am 27.  I found MMM after reading getrichslowly for a few years.  I was always interested in personal finance.  MMM showed me the concept of early retirement, which I had never thought of until that point.

The media coverage is interesting.  You hear/read lots of negative coverage.  The money on electronics, bars, eating out, student loans etc.  You also hear about our generation giving cable the axe and lower rates of car ownership.  So there are two sides.

lostamonkey

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #3 on: December 22, 2014, 10:23:02 AM »
I'm a millennial and I have always been frugal. I am 22 years old, and I have a decent net worth and have no debt. I also know many other frugal people our age, I think our generation gets a bad rap because our generation has easy access to credit which allows spenders to live well above their means. I found mmm after looking for frugality advice.
« Last Edit: December 22, 2014, 10:29:01 AM by lostamonkey »

ketchup

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #4 on: December 22, 2014, 10:23:44 AM »
23.

Plenty of people my age are total financial trainwrecks with a victim mentality, and plenty are just one tier below that: not in acute trouble, but scuttling chances at long-term stability with stupid choices.

Luckily though, plenty of us are sensible with money.

APowers

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #5 on: December 22, 2014, 10:25:32 AM »
26 here. Grew up being frugal, but I never really though about retirement until about 3 years ago when I was thinking about investing and looking around and decided that rental real estate was where the best returns were. I decided that I was going to buy rentals and be "independently wealthy" by the time I was 35. Didn't come across MMM until about 18 months later.

But I'm not a "normal" person, so I wouldn't put myself as being representative of my generation....

mtn

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #6 on: December 22, 2014, 10:28:11 AM »
24, almost 25 here.

I'm not sure I'd call myself Mustachian, as I'm not necessarily out for an early retirement, but I'm certainly not anti-mustachian. I definitely am this way because of my dad--not a debt free home, but an intelligent debt home (lower interest rates than Vanguard returns). Didn't have cable, had me get a job at 13, etc.

Found out about MMM through another forum, not sure which one. My fiance is not mustachian, but at least not a consumerist either. She's working to pay off her student loans (for her masters) while putting enough in her 401k to get the maximum match. Overall, she is pretty frugal, but came from a family who is, IMHO, horrible with money. Hopefully her moms state pension will be there; her dad will probably have to work until he dies.

EDIT: Work in finance in the midwest.

Zikoris

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #7 on: December 22, 2014, 10:28:36 AM »
I'm 28 and my boyfriend is 26. I stumbled across the concept of ER through ERE, but didn't really get into it until I started traveling four years ago and realized how much more fun that was than working.

I always have had pretty low base expenses, but less out of frugality and more out of spite. As in, "Who do you think you are renting out a crappy apartment for $1500/month, you a-hole Vancouver landlord? Screw you! I could afford it, but instead I'll rent from the guy down the street who charges something I consider reasonable." My discretionary spending used to be higher, but never ridiculously so due to low income.

My boyfriend realized he wanted to retire as soon as he entered the working world after finishing school.

My only goal is retirement. No house, no wedding, no cars, sure as hell no kids.

DSKla

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #8 on: December 22, 2014, 10:30:55 AM »
I'm a millennial and I have always been frugal. I am 22 years old, and I am worth maybe $115K and have no debt. Not great but pretty good for my age. I also know many other frugal people our age, I think our generation gets a bad rap because our generation has easy access to credit which allows spenders to live well above their means. I found mmm after looking for frugality advice online.

Having $115k at 22 is not great? I wish I had been less than great at 22.

I'll be in this crowd a few more weeks. From 14-22 I worked min wage jobs (5.15/hr) while in high school and college, and saved up over $12k with no debt. All that got obliterated when I moved to the west coast for grad school. Now I'm trying to get back to livin cheap and savin big. Moving out of the city would be a great start.

so.mpls

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #9 on: December 22, 2014, 10:34:59 AM »
25 here.  My wife and I were both pretty frugal before MMM but it has definitely helped me with some things.  Mainly having the guts to aggressively pay down debt, invest, etc. 

Unfortunately I think a lot of the criticisms of our generations personal money management is well earned.  I feel like I'm pretty flabby with my money at times, but then I take a mental survey of where my friends probably are and realize that I have better habits and am better off than >95% of them.  Some of the things people do... I just want to slap them!

Chranstronaut

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #10 on: December 22, 2014, 10:38:27 AM »
I'm 24, going on 67.

I've always been an excellent saver, and grew up in a family that was poor-poor as a child and then became house-poor as a teenager.  Luckily my parents talked a better game than they walk, and I managed to learn enough about saving and investing to get me started off well after college.  I found MMM when trying to figure out how much I REALLY needed for retirement after realizing it was possible to retire at 65 with >$2 million at my savings rate.  I thought I was doing the math wrong.

Most of my friends are doing pretty well income-wise, but the subset that still "lives like college students" are on a great path.  It's a more accepted form of Mustachianism, and is advice I have received and follow myself.

Public Hermit

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #11 on: December 22, 2014, 10:53:26 AM »
I am one of them. 25 years old. It is appalling how bad people my age are with money. I am not perfect myself but at least I can prioritize.

I was always a bit of a money saver. I didn't get serious about retirement saving until earlier this year. I have absolutely crushed most of my student loan debt. I should be debt free by February. The trick for me was abandoning my social life from college. Friends = expenses & drama.

My goal is to FIRE at 40-45. I am not opposed to retiring to a foreign country with a lower cost of living either. I don't tell anyone my age about my early retirement plans. They would probably look at me like I had snakes coming out of my ears. Either way, I find it to be too much work to explain myself. So I just keep quiet.

ioseftavi

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #12 on: December 22, 2014, 10:54:49 AM »
Hi all,

Just curious to know how many young (twenties and under) Mustaches are out there. The Millennial generation gets a bad rap in the media for poor money management, which isn't unfounded...

I dunno about this.  I am blown away by how money-conscious our generation is.  I suspect that it's our age, and witnessing/experiencing 2 events firsthand:

-Most of us were old enough to watch the dotcom bubble burst and understand that suddenly, a lot of our parents/family friends/siblings were suddenly doing a LOT worse.
-Most of us experienced the awful financial crisis firsthand, meaning we were suddenly under- or unemployed.  At the very least, you watched it crush some family or friends.

This, combined with the crushing student debt a lot of people graduated with, has made more of us way more aware of our finances, I think.  I may be wrong - but that's my guess.

How did you find out about MMM, were you always Mustachian, and what are your savings/debt elimination goals?

Found out through ERE.  FI/RE appealed to me, but the ERE lifestyle was too, uhhhh, extreme.  MMM was way more appealing.

Our first major savings goal was paying off $115,000 of student loans - now done!  Next one is to buy our first rental property while continuing to max out our retirement accounts.  Target date for the first rental is Nov/Dec 2015.

GingerStache

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #13 on: December 22, 2014, 10:56:12 AM »
Love the idea for this thread.

27M Here. Was not really Mustachian at all before. Went into law school with a shrug right into the financial crisis and picked up about $60k in student loan debt (merit scholarships kept it from being 6 figures) because "lawyers make enough to pay it off." I figured I was doing ok on auto-pilot because I was still doing better than many of my peers. I consider my turnaround unorthodox. I was basically looking for a hobby that wouldn't be as time-consuming as video games and started poking around on the personal finance subreddit (this is what lead me to MMM). I then became obsessed with financial optimization and started learning as much as possible. My main vice was eating out too much. I got the fiance on board with that (28F) and a more Mustachian lifestyle.

Current goal is to crush the student debt by the end of 2016.

This was a big mindset turning point for me: http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2014/03/19/make-it-big/. I work at a startup and always kind of thought "I'll pay the minimums on my loans and then if/when we have an exit, then I'll use that money to pay off the loans."  This points out why that's flawed thinking and made me really take charge.

Hannah

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #14 on: December 22, 2014, 11:01:41 AM »
Age 26- married, one kid.

Started marriage debt free (except for mortgage on husband's condo) thanks to the gift of education and frugality from my parents (both frugal and rich)

Had our first son as my husband started grad school.

In a desire to be  stay at home mom, I Googled can a family of 3 live on 24K per year? That was my husband's stipend at the time. Found MMM's annual spending post.

The answer for us is yes! However, I am still working and weighing the options of becoming FI by 31 or staying home, and putting off FI for several more years.

samburger

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #15 on: December 22, 2014, 11:07:20 AM »
I dunno about this.  I am blown away by how money-conscious our generation is.

Yeah, agreed. On the whole we're not necessarily great at investing, but I think we're a generation of hoarders. Economic downturn will do that to you.

I'm 25, my wife is 24. I found MMM a little over a year ago. Like most others here, I was frugally-minded before MMM, but  this blog and a few others helped me clear up my thinking and establish firm long-term goals.

pzxc

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #16 on: December 22, 2014, 11:09:19 AM »
I was born in 1980, making me 34.  I'm always right on the border between generational delineations.

Is it okay with you guys if I count myself as the oldest millennial instead of the youngest Gen-Xer?  :)

I find myself having more in common with millennials.

College Stash

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #17 on: December 22, 2014, 12:12:16 PM »
19 M. Sophomore in college. Probably one of the youngest here. Earned a full-ride to college and will graduate with assets from internships. Finance and Computer Science will likely be my ending majors.

Sibley

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #18 on: December 22, 2014, 12:18:07 PM »
29, possibly not a Millennial? Anyway, I never was really horrible with money but was unfocused, so I built up some debt, though it could have been a lot worse. I've been working on paying if off with no further plans, but recently read an article online that included a link to MMM. The name sounded interesting so took a look, and I'm hooked! First goal is to pay off debt, 2nd to build net worth. After that, not sure. We'll see what life sends my way.

aschmidt2930

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #19 on: December 22, 2014, 12:28:35 PM »
24, and found MMM this summer.  I've always been frugal, and biked to work before even thinking about the long-term savings aspect of it. What MMM has given me is a completely new perspective on long-term investing, and a better understanding on the importance and flexibility of retirement accounts.

I don't have any specific numbers or dates in mind, but I do know I want the ability to live life on my own terms.  I'm maxing out all retirement accounts now, with the plan of working for myself as a consultant, taking only the projects that interest me in the next 4-6 years. 

arbingSam

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #20 on: December 22, 2014, 12:29:53 PM »
25. I'm from London and came across MMM about 6 months ago through monevator. It makes so much sense that I now look around and think everyone else is mad!

I still have a lot of costs to cut down - eating out for one. But I no longer really feel any desire for a nice car or all the other tat most people think is important, so I'm going in the right direction. Got some good savings and although I have a student loan, our student loans are pretty friendly. They only go up with inflation and we only need to pay it back if we earn enough money. If I retire soon I'll never need to pay it back.

Philociraptor

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #21 on: December 22, 2014, 12:39:57 PM »
25 years old here, found MMM right after the wedding last May. Was feeling the pressure of $80k student loans, a mortgage with PMI, and 2 car notes, all while beginning to hate my job. Perfect storm led me to the FIRE concept, for which I am now full-focus on. Traded down a car, am working on refinancing SL's, and then refinancing or selling house when I get a new job. Grew up in a decidedly non-mustachian family, tons of stuff bought on credit, huge birthdays and Christmas, etc. MMM and the community have helped give me a lot of clarity on what really matters.

lostamonkey

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #22 on: December 22, 2014, 12:51:11 PM »
I'm a millennial and I have always been frugal. I am 22 years old, and I am worth maybe $115K and have no debt. Not great but pretty good for my age. I also know many other frugal people our age, I think our generation gets a bad rap because our generation has easy access to credit which allows spenders to live well above their means. I found mmm after looking for frugality advice online.

Having $115k at 22 is not great? I wish I had been less than great at 22.

I'll be in this crowd a few more weeks. From 14-22 I worked min wage jobs (5.15/hr) while in high school and college, and saved up over $12k with no debt. All that got obliterated when I moved to the west coast for grad school. Now I'm trying to get back to livin cheap and savin big. Moving out of the city would be a great start.

Parents paid for uni and I lived at home while I was studying. I also found a good side hustle which made me some money so I had a bit of a head start compared to most people. I also went to school in Canada so my tuition wasn't too expensive.

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #23 on: December 22, 2014, 01:19:50 PM »
You know, until presented with this question, I never bothered looking up the definition of millennial...of which there isn't a specific one.

Quote from: Wikipedia
Millennials (also known as the Millennial Generation[1] or Generation Y) are the demographic cohort following Generation X. There are no precise dates when the generation starts and ends. Researchers and commentators use birth years ranging from the early 1980s to the early 2000s.

I suppose I could be considered one since I was born mid-80's. I'm 29, and managed to find MMM through Mark's Daily Apple in mid-2013. I screwed up my Google-Fu, and found this MMM post. I was hooked. Entire blog read through within a couple of weeks, spreadsheets expanded, and plenty of self-face-punches.

Due to my (juvenile) delinquent nature, I was out of the house and in group homes at age 14. Spent the next 9 years either in jail, in group homes, on probation, on parole, or on the run. Being on the run really saved me from spending a bunch of money. You can't spend money very well when you don't have a social security number, checking account, etc. Granted, once I got my head on straight (around 22-23), I certainly went down the "standard" path, except even more recklessly than the average. I don't remember the 'bad year', when I kicked out my GF (not related to the year being bad...well, kind of...but the first year I really looked at my spending), but my calculations came out to $3640 in pay day loan interest, and $2790 in overdraft fees. That's not to mention smokes, probation restitution, and all that. Fortunately, I didn't wind up in a crazy amount of debt, just not very consciously spending and not saving at all. Only debt I had was a repossessed vehicle, and about $15K in student loans. Now I'm within 5 years of FIRE.

leenygal

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #24 on: December 22, 2014, 01:23:06 PM »
Hi all,

Just curious to know how many young (twenties and under) Mustaches are out there. The Millennial generation gets a bad rap in the media for poor money management, which isn't unfounded...

I dunno about this.  I am blown away by how money-conscious our generation is.  I suspect that it's our age, and witnessing/experiencing 2 events firsthand:

-Most of us were old enough to watch the dotcom bubble burst and understand that suddenly, a lot of our parents/family friends/siblings were suddenly doing a LOT worse.
-Most of us experienced the awful financial crisis firsthand, meaning we were suddenly under- or unemployed.  At the very least, you watched it crush some family or friends.

This, combined with the crushing student debt a lot of people graduated with, has made more of us way more aware of our finances, I think.  I may be wrong - but that's my guess.


I agree. I think the financial crisis brought fiscal responsibility to the forefront of many young people's minds. Anecdotally, though, I'd say about 1/2 of my colleagues/friends near my age are frugal. About 75% of my coworkers are 30 or younger and half of them advocate the "lifestyle inflation" that comes along with the new-found paychecks and promotions available in a person's first job(s) out of college. The other half of us are diligently biking/bussing to work and eating homemade lunches from Tupperware every day. I think the perception gets skewed because spendthrift people's money habits tend to be more public whereas frugal people keep to themselves. Just my observation, though.

My bf is one of the people you describe - he had fairly liberal spending habits in college (putting spring break trips on credit cards, drinking at clubs/bars 4X/week, etc). The 60k of student loans after graduation sucker punched him into frugality. He is now fully Mustachian.

QueenAlice

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #25 on: December 22, 2014, 01:48:25 PM »
I'm 27 and just found MMM a few months ago. I guess I'll be the opposite of most of the other "millennials" that have posted so far... I have never been frugal or financially savvy. My parents weren't rich, but made enough that we lived comfortably and I never bothered to save a penny. How millennial of me!

Anyway, I finished up my doctorate (Engineering) earlier this year, so have been in academia my entire life. I just kept telling myself I'd figure money out when I was in the "real world". I used being a poor student as my excuse for making bad decisions with money. I never got myself into terrible money trouble in terms of not being able to pay bills but I sure did love my credit card (which is now paid in full each month)! I was paid for my doctorate research so no debt from that, but I do have $30k of student loans from my undergrad work that I'm currently tackling.

I enjoy my research so I'm not looking to RE, but FI sounds great. 

Also, first post. Hi! :)

Indy007

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #26 on: December 22, 2014, 01:52:20 PM »
I'm 26, and have been pretty frugal my entire life. I've always been of the mindset where I enjoy saving/investing much more than spending. I come from a fairly frugal family, but really kicked it up a notch. Unfortunately I'm the only person my age that I know of like this...

Grid

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #27 on: December 22, 2014, 02:04:40 PM »
Hi QueenAlice!  Welcome to the forum.

25yo here from the Midwest.

How did you find out about MMM?

My brother and his wife found MMM in 2013, and introduced it to me shortly thereafter (end of July).  That's the reason my age shows me as just a baby.


Were you always Mustachian?

Um, pretty much.  I didn't kick the frugality into overdrive until after college.  Once I saw my student loan debt, every extra penny went towards it.  I've still made some big changes since reading the blog last year:  I started a Master's degree in a completely new field, and I bought a house close to school.

And what are your savings/debt elimination goals?

No debt, and savings involve reaching probably $1 million + no mortgage.  That would only be necessary if the chance for a family pops up.  Currently at around $60k net worth.


And hey look, someone else from Indy possibly.  *Waves*.  Edit:  Ok not "possibly".  Indy007's location is Indianapolis.  :)

skunkfunk

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #28 on: December 22, 2014, 02:19:04 PM »
Another one checking in.

Chranstronaut

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #29 on: December 22, 2014, 02:21:57 PM »
Welcome to the forums Dr. QueenAlice!

I was born in 1980, making me 34.  I'm always right on the border between generational delineations.

Is it okay with you guys if I count myself as the oldest millennial instead of the youngest Gen-Xer?  :)

I find myself having more in common with millennials.

I don't know, man, I've heard that you just can't trust anyone over 30 these days...

MillenialMustache

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #30 on: December 22, 2014, 02:28:30 PM »
28 here. Was also able to get the "MillennialMustache" moniker about six months ago, which I am quite fond of. Found out about MMM from a close friend, after I detailed our retirement plan to her. She thought I would love this community, and she was right! We have paid off our home and bought one rental house. I currently sell on Ebay and adjunct teach for extra money. Hopefully will not be in the workforce too much longer.

andy85

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #31 on: December 22, 2014, 02:29:02 PM »
In...although I may be at the older end of the scale

29 years old

Never thought i was really mustachian, but always spent less than i made...other than for a few years in my early/mid 20s when i racked up some CC debt (paid off now).

nothing to write home about regarding my finances. i'm probably looking at another 20+ years in the workforce, but at least i know i'll be able to retire without having to stress about post-retirement income, like my parents.

marty998

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #32 on: December 22, 2014, 02:32:25 PM »
28yo here too. Agree with Ioseftavi.

I graduated from uni in 2008. Wasn't exactly a great year in terms of entry level finance positions becoming available.

Noticed that my generation is shacking up and "familylizing" itself at a much earlier age than GenX. I'm like the only one now not with a wife and kids in tow.


andy85

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #33 on: December 22, 2014, 02:36:58 PM »
28yo here too. Agree with Ioseftavi.

I graduated from uni in 2008. Wasn't exactly a great year in terms of entry level finance positions becoming available.

Noticed that my generation is shacking up and "familylizing" itself at a much earlier age than GenX. I'm like the only one now not with a wife and kids in tow.
right there with ya bro.
i felt/feel the EXACT same way. People with crappy job prospects were moving out and starting families...they had to have had just mountains of debt. It never made sense to me. I guess they felt like that was what they had to do immediately after college, like it is in the post-college handbook or something....screw all that.

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #34 on: December 22, 2014, 02:43:06 PM »
Age 26- married, one kid.

Started marriage debt free (except for mortgage on husband's condo) thanks to the gift of education and frugality from my parents (both frugal and rich)

Had our first son as my husband started grad school.

In a desire to be  stay at home mom, I Googled can a family of 3 live on 24K per year? That was my husband's stipend at the time. Found MMM's annual spending post.

The answer for us is yes! However, I am still working and weighing the options of becoming FI by 31 or staying home, and putting off FI for several more years.

24, married, and this is how I found MMM too! I want to be a stay at home mom in 2-3 years, and although my husband(23)makes a decent salary ($60k+), but we want at least 4 kids so...

We were both fortunate to graduate college with no debt whatsoever and to have kept that debt-free lifestyle and save at least 65% of our income. Our goal is hopefully RE sometime before my husband is 55.  It's difficult to estimate how much 4 kids cost to raise when we haven't started.  ;)

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #35 on: December 22, 2014, 02:45:18 PM »
i felt/feel the EXACT same way. People with crappy job prospects were moving out and starting families...they had to have had just mountains of debt. It never made sense to me. I guess they felt like that was what they had to do immediately after college, like it is in the post-college handbook or something....screw all that.

In all fairness, it may just be because the 'practice' of starting a family is so damn fun. ;-)

andy85

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #36 on: December 22, 2014, 02:47:48 PM »
i felt/feel the EXACT same way. People with crappy job prospects were moving out and starting families...they had to have had just mountains of debt. It never made sense to me. I guess they felt like that was what they had to do immediately after college, like it is in the post-college handbook or something....screw all that.

In all fairness, it may just be because the 'practice' of starting a family is so damn fun. ;-)
hahaha...i concede this very valid point

marty998

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #37 on: December 22, 2014, 02:55:36 PM »
28yo here too. Agree with Ioseftavi.

I graduated from uni in 2008. Wasn't exactly a great year in terms of entry level finance positions becoming available.

Noticed that my generation is shacking up and "familylizing" itself at a much earlier age than GenX. I'm like the only one now not with a wife and kids in tow.
right there with ya bro.
i felt/feel the EXACT same way. People with crappy job prospects were moving out and starting families...they had to have had just mountains of debt. It never made sense to me. I guess they felt like that was what they had to do immediately after college, like it is in the post-college handbook or something....screw all that.

No actually this is happening for a different reason down here.

It generally takes 2 incomes to buy a house in Australia. I've done it on one, but that is because I earn a relatively high wage.

We don't go into mountains of debt because we want to. We do it because we have to. Sounds complainypants of me to say that but please don't try and tell all of Australia to "move to somewhere cheaper". Those places just don't exist down here. Median house price for ALL of Sydney is now over $800k, with the median wage hovering around $60k.

i felt/feel the EXACT same way. People with crappy job prospects were moving out and starting families...they had to have had just mountains of debt. It never made sense to me. I guess they felt like that was what they had to do immediately after college, like it is in the post-college handbook or something....screw all that.

In all fairness, it may just be because the 'practice' of starting a family is so damn fun. ;-)
hahaha...i concede this very valid point

Yes, and is awkward to do while living with your in laws.

shelivesthedream

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #38 on: December 22, 2014, 03:07:51 PM »
24. Thinking back, personal finance planning started as a hobby for me when I was about fourteen. I had a great book called something like 'The Teenager's Guide to the Real World' by Marshall Brain. It was pretty congenital advice but mind blowing for me and so started planning how to 'win' at the world presented by the book. Then I got into The Simple Dollar and Get Rich Slowly and it escalated from there. I've done some silly things (the first term of university was pretty rocky) but I'm very very good at saving. I am, however, discovering that I am not so good at earning money. Having discovered MMM (and ERE) about this time last year, I realise that is a problem.

As for others of my generation... I am often not surprised given the kind of thing we hear constantly. Boomers were told to save a paltry percentage and be fine, but we're are told YOLO, the next crash is just around the corner, you will never afford to buy a house , stardom is in reach of everyone, and the ways people spend money are so visible on the internet. And even though I don't watch much TV or go to the cinema or read magazines or listen to popular music I am STILL exposed to these messages. How is a normal twenty-something supposed to escape when they don't even know an alternative exists?

trailrated

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #39 on: December 22, 2014, 03:40:58 PM »
27 here, got serious about a year and a half ago and found Mustachianism a few months in. Having a kid made me finally "grow up" and realize I made way too much money to be broke. Thanks to diligent savings, a larger than expected work bonus, and a small windfall I went from a NW of $-8,000 a year and a half ago to a NW of roughly $70,000

jordanread

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #40 on: December 22, 2014, 03:46:59 PM »
i felt/feel the EXACT same way. People with crappy job prospects were moving out and starting families...they had to have had just mountains of debt. It never made sense to me. I guess they felt like that was what they had to do immediately after college, like it is in the post-college handbook or something....screw all that.

In all fairness, it may just be because the 'practice' of starting a family is so damn fun. ;-)
hahaha...i concede this very valid point

Yes, and is awkward to do while living with your in laws.

Awkward is a state of mind. You can totally do it if you just stop caring. :-)

firelight

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #41 on: December 22, 2014, 04:01:44 PM »
28 year old married with a kid. I was frugal before MMM but kicked up a notch after. The biggest advantage was in clearing up our goals and debunking investing for me.

Oscar_C

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #42 on: December 22, 2014, 04:15:44 PM »
23.

I've been reading personal finance blogs since I was 19.

Found out about MMM through wise-bread.

Family is anti-mustachian and considers me cheap :) But I'm not completely mustachian due to video game addiction.

Current goal is a down payment for a rental property, and to start my own business

Accountant & Tax Preparer in West Coast.

atromic

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #43 on: December 22, 2014, 04:26:31 PM »
28 here. I doubt I'll ever make enough money in my field to become FI, but I use MMM principles to keep my expenses low, keep my debt minimal, and squirrel money away for long term purposes (retirement, house downpayment, etc). I'm the only person "Mustachian" person I know, which has made it very difficult to cut down on my one nagging, face punchable expense: Restaurants and Booze.

It sucks being known as "the cheap friend."

Hedge_87

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #44 on: December 22, 2014, 04:29:43 PM »
28 here.
I started making pretty good early on and have always been pretty frugal. Found mmm looking for investment advice and found a whole lot more. I feel like I've been a mustachian all along just needed that little extra help connecting all the dots. Don't really have a set goal other than to just live life on my terms.

TonyPlush

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #45 on: December 22, 2014, 04:39:59 PM »
24 year old here. Goal is FI by 40-45.

Found out about MMM through Early Retirement Extreme. MMM was appealing to me because it's not quite as extreme as living on $8,000 per year.

I've always been frugal, and have been investing since age 16. When I was 12 I came to the epiphany that you work your entire life towards retirement, and I told my mom I was going to start saving for it.

I don't think MMM has changed me much, other than make me obsess more about my spending. Still not sure if that's a good or bad change.

Nudelkopf

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #46 on: December 22, 2014, 05:13:57 PM »
I'm 23, and came to MMM a few years ago. I graduated after 5yrs of uni and started full-time work just over 12 months ago.

I've got ~$25k of HECS/HELP (student loans), ~$40k in shares/cash, and ~$15k in retirement account (super).

My parents were super frugal growing up, but since they've retired they've become quite middle class and now spend close to $70k per year. I don't count myself as very mustachian, because I feel it's more my circumstances that make my budget lower and not me cutting costs. For example, my employer subsidies rent and I can't driver, therefore I *have* to ride my bike.

My goal is to be a SAHM in about 10 years, with enough money that I don't have to worry about going back to work before I want to.

Noticed that my generation is shacking up and "familylizing" itself at a much earlier age than GenX. I'm like the only one now not with a wife and kids in tow.
I'll be your internet/MMM wife :P
« Last Edit: December 22, 2014, 05:15:36 PM by Nudelkopf »

Squashy

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #47 on: December 22, 2014, 05:20:30 PM »
29, raised by a very frugal single mother who made decent money and was obsessed with saving for retirement (she is retiring in 2 years at the age of 68 with I'm guessing $4M). I spent my formative adult years in San Francisco living on a 30K stipend while getting my PhD and saving ~30%. None of my grad school classmates were big spenders, but I also don't think most of them were saving huge amounts. My college friends are also not spenders, and a few are very frugal indeed. Lots of college/law school/med school loans to pay off, though they all have good jobs now so that's a plus.

Found MMM through the personal finance subreddit a couple years ago I think.

I don't necessarily want to retire very early, but I do want to be FI as soon as possible because I hate feeling trapped.

Indexer

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #48 on: December 22, 2014, 05:52:37 PM »
29, finance background.  My parents both make great money, but they aren't frugal at all.  I became frugal when studying finance in college.  I learned the rule of 72 and started applying it to everything. 

A $5 cup of coffee is not $5, its $160 from my future self.

My plan since college was always to make enough that my 'job' would eventually become managing my own account.  So... FI.

I actually love my current job so there is no rush, but I like having options in case that isn't always true.   My current savings aren't as good as I would like, but I'm saving about 33% of my income a year now so it is building up quick.

Middlesbrough

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #49 on: December 22, 2014, 06:03:08 PM »
24 here. I guess I always liked math and video games. This lead to a love of investing and the concepts that could get me money. I then realized you need money to invest. I started an IRA when I was in high school and knew what it could do for me. I found MMM and it just gave me hard numbers to concepts I already understood.
« Last Edit: December 22, 2014, 07:14:39 PM by Middlesbrough »