Author Topic: What's your Mustachian superpower?  (Read 8821 times)

StarBright

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Re: What's your Mustachian superpower?
« Reply #50 on: February 11, 2020, 10:15:37 AM »
My Mustachian superpower is not actually liking any of the consumer stuff people spend money on. The whole thing is a hell of a lot easier when you actively dislike things like restaurant food, cars, shopping, coffee, and so on. For people like me, saving tons of money is incredibly easy, automatic, and does not require one iota of discipline, sacrifice, or suffering.

^ that is a total superpower when it comes to major savings. Whenever I see you post something like the above my brain basically always goes, "REALLY?!! How do you dislike restaurant food?!" (I mean, I totally understand not liking some restaurant food - but at this stage of my life I would almost never choose to cook for myself if I had my druthers).

I'm firmly in the "dislike restaurant food" camp.  First, I can cook food that tastes much better at home.  Also, I can buy better quality ingredients than the restaurants because I'm not trying to beat a razor thin profit margin.  When I go out to a restaurant, I'm one of those people who wonder where they sourced their chicken and beef and what type of lives did those animals have.  I don't say this out loud, of course, because I don't want to act like a snob.  Finally, at home, I can eat whatever portion size that I am hungry for and just put the leftovers in the fridge.  I don't have to choose between eating everything on my plate or asking for a Styrofoam take out container that will be used for a day and then contaminate the environment for the next 500 years.

I am generally pretty pleased with the food I cook (and I know my husband would rather eat at home over a restaurant) but it is the meal planning, shopping, prep work, constant interruptions while actually cooking, and clean up that I could do without!
« Last Edit: February 11, 2020, 10:21:21 AM by StarBright »

Zikoris

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Re: What's your Mustachian superpower?
« Reply #51 on: February 11, 2020, 10:41:28 AM »
I am generally pretty pleased with the food I cook (and I know my husband would rather eat at home over a restaurant) but it is the meal planning, shopping, prep work, constant interruptions while actually cooking, and clean up that I could do without!

Interesting, none of those things are really issues for me. I don't really meal plan other than very loosely - I have a general idea of what veg go well with what protein, so when I shop it's more just I get a bunch of ingredients that loosely go together and then hammer out the specifics in the kitchen.

Shopping is really quick, and pretty fun for us. We walk to a Chinese-style market nearby, and my boyfriend follows me around with a basket while I toss things in it and talk at him about food (it's pretty one-sided since food is mostly a mystery to him). His job is to rein me in if I go overboard, and he's mostly good at that, except sometimes I'm pretty convincing when I insist we need something like rainbow carrots (spoiler: we don't). He carries everything home since too much weight messes with my neck. It normally takes us about ten minutes to shop for the week. Boyfriend also goes to Costco a couple times a month and grabs other one-off things during the day while I'm at work.

I work really fast in the kitchen, so prep work or interruptions aren't really an issue either. Boyfriend deals with most of the cleanup, other than my cast-iron pans.

Probably a big piece of the puzzle is sharing the labour between two people. When I was single I used a weekly home grocery delivery service, and that was really good. They had a key to my apartment and left the bin in my kitchen.

FIRE Artist

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Re: What's your Mustachian superpower?
« Reply #52 on: February 11, 2020, 11:06:26 AM »
My most mustachian super power is my high level of introversion coupled with a superior ability to self entertain.  With a properly stocked house, I can go days without needing or wanting to leave my neighbourhood.  My “entertainment” budget line is right at the bottom of my expense list - I have two scheduled social events I attend every month to stop myself from becoming too much of a weirdo. 

My second super power is I can, and more importantly, like to cook.  I love trying to replicate different world cuisines that I have enjoyed over my years of expat lifestyle. 

My third super power is that I am in general very good at anything involving working with my hands and am mechanically inclined.  I am not afraid of mucking in and doing work that my gender unfortunately typically shies away from, or simply would not dream of trying to do for themselves.  If something doesn’t require physical strength beyond my ability, or the purchase of expensive tools I can’t justify the ROI on, I will do the job myself - this can be as small scale as replacing the screen on my iPhone, or a big job like renovating my bathroom. 

And finally, like others have mentioned, my mad, mad love and skills in building spreadsheets and the thrill of the financial trivia they provide.  Like just today I calculated that every bi-weekly mortgage payment I double up on today saves me $1.25 in interest payments bi-weekly.  I revel in my nerdiness. 

Buffaloski Boris

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Re: What's your Mustachian superpower?
« Reply #53 on: February 11, 2020, 11:08:59 AM »
Making cheap food even when I'm not worried about the cost.

We were tasked with making food to feed 25 people this week and decided on pulled jerk chicken, coconut rice w/ red beans, and coleslaw. We'll be reimbursed so we were more focused on making it good than making it cheap but after I did the math to figure how much to cook I did a rough estimate on cost and it should be just under $35.

That's not the absolute cheapest way to feed a lot of people, but if it turns out as well as the test batch we made this weekend, $1.40/person* will be more than acceptable.

*And there will almost certainly be leftovers

Ooooh.  That sound delish.  Recipe? 

Here's a quick dinner:  Paprika Chicken

2 lbs of boned chicken, cut into small pieces
1-2 tbsp paprika
1 jalapeño pepper, diced (optional)
Oil to pan sauté chicken (olive or avocado)
2 tsp minced garlic
1/2-3/4 cup white wine, cheap stuff, preferably dry
salt and pepper to taste
 
Put chicken, diced jalapeño, into pan with heated oil to sauté, sprinkle on paprika and some salt and pepper. Cook until chicken starts to brown.
Continue to saute until mostly brown.  Add garlic and sauté.  Don't let garlic scorch, add white wine, cook down sauce. Once sauce has reduced and chicken is fully cooked.  Add additional salt and pepper to taste, serve.

OtherJen

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Re: What's your Mustachian superpower?
« Reply #54 on: February 11, 2020, 11:12:56 AM »
My Mustachian superpower is not actually liking any of the consumer stuff people spend money on. The whole thing is a hell of a lot easier when you actively dislike things like restaurant food, cars, shopping, coffee, and so on. For people like me, saving tons of money is incredibly easy, automatic, and does not require one iota of discipline, sacrifice, or suffering.

^ that is a total superpower when it comes to major savings. Whenever I see you post something like the above my brain basically always goes, "REALLY?!! How do you dislike restaurant food?!" (I mean, I totally understand not liking some restaurant food - but at this stage of my life I would almost never choose to cook for myself if I had my druthers).

It's not that restaurant food is bad, it's more that with few exceptions, it never tastes good as what we make, it costs three times as much, and we don't have any control over the ingredients. Plus, it's far more of a hassle on a weeknight to drive to a restaurant, wait to be seated, wait to order, wait for our food, and wait to pay than it is to defrost a couple of frozen fish fillets, toss those on a baking pan with some seasoning, and bake them for 15 min while microwaving a couple of sweet potatoes and prepping a quick salad.

OtherJen

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Re: What's your Mustachian superpower?
« Reply #55 on: February 11, 2020, 11:17:48 AM »
I think my superpower is finding good coats at Costco for ridiculously cheap. I found a nice-looking, well-fitting raincoat for $10 last fall. Today, I picked up a pretty charcoal gray Pendleton wool-blend (80% wool) coat for $15.

Both coats feel sturdy and well made, are appropriate for nearly all occasions (excluding sports/camping), and shouldn't need to be replaced for several years.

Buffaloski Boris

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Re: What's your Mustachian superpower?
« Reply #56 on: February 11, 2020, 11:23:59 AM »
What a great question!

I have two superpowers. My first one that people here will recognize, is that I’m a Very Stupid Person®️. No, really. As a stupid person, I never really absorbed the lesson that conforming with social norms is a really good idea. But here’s the thing: nonconformity means a great amount of freedom to do what I consider to be right. It also means that there are those fleeting moments where I get people to think and I get their BEST. I get these rare insights that I would never get otherwise. Those moments make it worthwhile. The bad news is I’m often excluded from a sense of community.

My second superpower that is not known about here at MMM is that I’m a pretty good scratch cook. And I specialize in the inexpensive.
I know it's tongue in cheek when you say you're stupid.....because I was going to say my super-power is being intuitive and smart enough to see through the bullshit sales tactics.....like "you'll save the cost of the window replacement in just one year's heating bill" - sounds great, but who pays $10K for heat for a year?   Or time-share pitches about how much you "save" buying a time share.....I actually pulled out a calculator - just to 'play' with them.   I've never been concerned with impressing people with my 'stuff'.   I'm curious about what others think about me, but it won't change my behaviour to know.   And the older I get, the fewer fucks I give.

I'm a pretty good scratch cook as well as is DH - but 'nothing' is simple when he cooks, he likes to complicate things.  We don't eat in restaurants now, and can't remember the last time I thought it was better than what we could do at home.   And the salt - don't get me wrong, we salt our food, but I can't eat most restaurant food - it is SOOOOOOOOOOO salty, how do people eat that crap?

I think my greatest super power is that I'm happy with simple things.   I don't get a thrill out of 5 start resorts.   No wait - my greatest super power would be converting my very spendy spouse....although in all honesty, we're only semi mustachian, we just have high enough incomes that we can have a high savings rate without much hardship.   DH struggles a bit reading facebook post of people at fancy resorts and buying lots of 'stuff'.....I remind them that they're working to 65 and may be in for a shock with how drastically they'll have to downsize their lives.....and we'll be upsizing ours this year as he retires.

I get you on the salt. Fortunately, there are more and more places that are going easy on the salt.  Not a problem for me when I cook. 

I'm trending the exact opposite on "no f*cks given." For most of my life I've really been of that view and been perfectly content to be on the outside looking in. And for the most part still am. As I get older I see why community and friendship and having a sense of tribe is important. I think all of us want and need some sense of belonging. One of the things I want to work on in retirement that ties to all that is attacking loneliness.  I think its a silent killer on the individual and societal level.  And it allows us to waste huge amounts of human capital.  We're a wealthy country, but not THAT wealthy. 

StarBright

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Re: What's your Mustachian superpower?
« Reply #57 on: February 11, 2020, 11:27:44 AM »
I am generally pretty pleased with the food I cook (and I know my husband would rather eat at home over a restaurant) but it is the meal planning, shopping, prep work, constant interruptions while actually cooking, and clean up that I could do without!

Interesting, none of those things are really issues for me. I don't really meal plan other than very loosely - I have a general idea of what veg go well with what protein, so when I shop it's more just I get a bunch of ingredients that loosely go together and then hammer out the specifics in the kitchen.

Shopping is really quick, and pretty fun for us. We walk to a Chinese-style market nearby, and my boyfriend follows me around with a basket while I toss things in it and talk at him about food (it's pretty one-sided since food is mostly a mystery to him). His job is to rein me in if I go overboard, and he's mostly good at that, except sometimes I'm pretty convincing when I insist we need something like rainbow carrots (spoiler: we don't). He carries everything home since too much weight messes with my neck. It normally takes us about ten minutes to shop for the week. Boyfriend also goes to Costco a couple times a month and grabs other one-off things during the day while I'm at work.

I work really fast in the kitchen, so prep work or interruptions aren't really an issue either. Boyfriend deals with most of the cleanup, other than my cast-iron pans.

Probably a big piece of the puzzle is sharing the labour between two people. When I was single I used a weekly home grocery delivery service, and that was really good. They had a key to my apartment and left the bin in my kitchen.

I have two young kids and DH and I both work 50-60 hour a week jobs. My life is nothing but trying to fit in frugal things while constantly being interrupted :)

But to pat my own back, tonight will mark 35 days since we've eaten at a restaurant/gotten take out (I usually only go about 25 days before I crack and need a break for convenience food) and I pack lunch for every single family member every day (and have for years). I may dislike it, but I get it done!   

So I think that is my frugal superpower: the ability to keep doing something even when I dislike it (Mustachianism is a real struggle for me, but I also know it is REALLY good for me). But that is why I am so impressed by YOUR superpower!

Buffaloski Boris

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Re: What's your Mustachian superpower?
« Reply #58 on: February 11, 2020, 11:45:40 AM »
My Mustachian superpower is not actually liking any of the consumer stuff people spend money on. The whole thing is a hell of a lot easier when you actively dislike things like restaurant food, cars, shopping, coffee, and so on. For people like me, saving tons of money is incredibly easy, automatic, and does not require one iota of discipline, sacrifice, or suffering.

^ that is a total superpower when it comes to major savings. Whenever I see you post something like the above my brain basically always goes, "REALLY?!! How do you dislike restaurant food?!" (I mean, I totally understand not liking some restaurant food - but at this stage of my life I would almost never choose to cook for myself if I had my druthers).
there are very few things I get in a restaurant that I don't enjoy more at home.   We haven't mastered sushi yet, and I haven't tried making shawarma, and prime rib is better when it comes off a giant roast - so those things are usually better in a restaurant.   Steaks are better at home, vegetables are always better at home, I know I washed the salad ingredients (and washed my hands in general)....And fries are usually better in a big deep fryer with year old grease that what we cook at home....if I had unlimited funds, I might have a personal chef - but they would be cooking to my specifications, so like I cooked it myself.

Shwarma is super easy.Lots of variations out there but I like this recipe (adapted from one I found online):

Marinade:
1/4 cup of lemon juice
1/4 cup of plain greek yogurt
1 tsp of salt (try it with less first go round if you don't like salt)
1 tbsp dried parsley
1 tbsp minced garlic
1/4 tsp syrian 7 spice
1/4 tsp powdered cardamom
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp cayenne (I like heat, cut it down if you don't)
1/8 tsp cinnamon

Mix all ingredients together in a medium/ large container.  Add to it up to 2lbs of chicken* cut into small strips or pieces.  Cover and let marinade in the fridge at least 4 hours; I usually do overnite or up to a couple days. Great dish to prep ahead of time.  Almost all of the fluid in the marinade will be absorbed.

To cook, take a large (iron) pan.  Heat oil on HIGH.  Avocado oil is good as it has a high smoke point.  Add chicken and sear.  You'll get some fluid the chicken cooks; you want that to cook down and adhere to the meat leaving a nice brown crust.Its done when the chicken is fully cooked, has a nice brown crust and most all the fluid is absorbed.  Usually takes about 10 min.     

 
« Last Edit: February 11, 2020, 12:28:45 PM by Buffaloski Boris, Russian Bot »

Zikoris

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Re: What's your Mustachian superpower?
« Reply #59 on: February 11, 2020, 12:02:06 PM »
I have two young kids and DH and I both work 50-60 hour a week jobs. My life is nothing but trying to fit in frugal things while constantly being interrupted :)

But to pat my own back, tonight will mark 35 days since we've eaten at a restaurant/gotten take out (I usually only go about 25 days before I crack and need a break for convenience food) and I pack lunch for every single family member every day (and have for years). I may dislike it, but I get it done!   

So I think that is my frugal superpower: the ability to keep doing something even when I dislike it (Mustachianism is a real struggle for me, but I also know it is REALLY good for me). But that is why I am so impressed by YOUR superpower!

Oh, yeah, that would make it more difficult! I have to admit, that whole way of living seems almost alien to me. Literally every career decision we've ever made has been primarily about improving quality of life, so we would just never ever consider jobs that required those types of hours or that kind of life impact. My boyfriend even started his own business so he could work from home in his pjs for four or five hours a day and sleep in every morning. I've always focused on finding low stress, good hours admin/receptionist jobs within short walking distance of home. Because long hours suck, stressful work sucks, commuting sucks, and I basically just don't want any of that in my life, so I opt out of all of it.

I'm terrible at sticking to stuff I dislike. I basically have to find ways to make things fun and easy or it's just not going to happen.

Davnasty

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Re: What's your Mustachian superpower?
« Reply #60 on: February 11, 2020, 01:22:04 PM »
Making cheap food even when I'm not worried about the cost.

We were tasked with making food to feed 25 people this week and decided on pulled jerk chicken, coconut rice w/ red beans, and coleslaw. We'll be reimbursed so we were more focused on making it good than making it cheap but after I did the math to figure how much to cook I did a rough estimate on cost and it should be just under $35.

That's not the absolute cheapest way to feed a lot of people, but if it turns out as well as the test batch we made this weekend, $1.40/person* will be more than acceptable.

*And there will almost certainly be leftovers

Ooooh.  That sound delish.  Recipe? 

Here's a quick dinner:  Paprika Chicken

2 lbs of boned chicken, cut into small pieces
1-2 tbsp paprika
1 jalapeño pepper, diced (optional)
Oil to pan sauté chicken (olive or avocado)
2 tsp minced garlic
1/2-3/4 cup white wine, cheap stuff, preferably dry
salt and pepper to taste
 
Put chicken, diced jalapeño, into pan with heated oil to sauté, sprinkle on paprika and some salt and pepper. Cook until chicken starts to brown.
Continue to saute until mostly brown.  Add garlic and sauté.  Don't let garlic scorch, add white wine, cook down sauce. Once sauce has reduced and chicken is fully cooked.  Add additional salt and pepper to taste, serve.

Disclaimer: I'm not great with recipes and I'm not particularly concerned with measuring.

Beans & Rice:
-soften an onion and a few cloves of garlic in 2T butter over medium heat
-add 2c rice and stir a few minutes to coat the rice in butter and toast it
-add thyme, allspice, salt, pepper
-add 14oz can coconut milk and enough water to fill the can again.
-bring to a boil, cover, simmer
-add 2c cooked red beans

Chicken:
-2-3lbs boneless skinless chx breast
-2 poblanos
-2 jalapenos
-1lg onion
-1 orange
-6 cloves garlic
-3 inches ginger
-1/4c brown sugar
-3T soy sauce
-2T oil
-1t allspice
-1t thyme
-pinch nutmeg

Sear chicken in a pan and add to slow cooker. Blend the bolded ingredients. Add this sauce and the rest of the ingredients (chopped) and cook on low for 4-5 hours. I'll probably try braising the chicken on the stove next time we make this for ourselves.

Zikoris

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Re: What's your Mustachian superpower?
« Reply #61 on: February 11, 2020, 03:41:32 PM »
My Mustachian superpower is not actually liking any of the consumer stuff people spend money on. The whole thing is a hell of a lot easier when you actively dislike things like restaurant food, cars, shopping, coffee, and so on. For people like me, saving tons of money is incredibly easy, automatic, and does not require one iota of discipline, sacrifice, or suffering.
This is me too. Just a total lack of desire for most things. To be honest I get a bit of a sick stomach churning feeling when I see all the rampant consumerism. Especially here in SoCal where image for the sake of image seems to be all important. I try not to be judgy IRL but the feeling remains. Being a big minimalist I get I'm not "normal" but it did help me save money and keeps expenses low. Now off to do some "Swedish Death Cleaning" like a proper minimalist with obsessive compulsive spartanism (they are both a thing).

Yeah, it is totally playing the game on easy mode. Our base spending is so effortlessly low that we can basically blow as much money as we want on our hobbies and overseas travel, and still save 65% of our (solidly average) income. Apparently normal people would need to put in some amount of effort for that, lol.

Buffaloski Boris

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Re: What's your Mustachian superpower?
« Reply #62 on: February 11, 2020, 04:40:44 PM »

Disclaimer: I'm not great with recipes and I'm not particularly concerned with measuring.

Beans & Rice:
-soften an onion and a few cloves of garlic in 2T butter over medium heat
-add 2c rice and stir a few minutes to coat the rice in butter and toast it
-add thyme, allspice, salt, pepper
-add 14oz can coconut milk and enough water to fill the can again.
-bring to a boil, cover, simmer
-add 2c cooked red beans

Chicken:
-2-3lbs boneless skinless chx breast
-2 poblanos
-2 jalapenos
-1lg onion
-1 orange
-6 cloves garlic
-3 inches ginger
-1/4c brown sugar
-3T soy sauce
-2T oil
-1t allspice
-1t thyme
-pinch nutmeg

Sear chicken in a pan and add to slow cooker. Blend the bolded ingredients. Add this sauce and the rest of the ingredients (chopped) and cook on low for 4-5 hours. I'll probably try braising the chicken on the stove next time we make this for ourselves.
Thank you!  I'm not a recipe cook, either, except with baking.  Dash of this, enough of that "till it looks right." But thanks for the estimate.  If I like a recipe, I change it till I'm convinced it's perfect! Then I try to remember to write it down. 
   

lexde

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Re: What's your Mustachian superpower?
« Reply #63 on: February 11, 2020, 07:28:20 PM »
Superpowers? Goodness, no, I'm just mediocre-to-halfway-decent at most principles of Mustachianism, which combine to get the job done at a B-.
^^^ This!

2sk22

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Re: What's your Mustachian superpower?
« Reply #64 on: February 12, 2020, 02:35:35 AM »
My Mustachian superpower is not actually liking any of the consumer stuff people spend money on. The whole thing is a hell of a lot easier when you actively dislike things like restaurant food, cars, shopping, coffee, and so on. For people like me, saving tons of money is incredibly easy, automatic, and does not require one iota of discipline, sacrifice, or suffering.
This is me too. Just a total lack of desire for most things. To be honest I get a bit of a sick stomach churning feeling when I see all the rampant consumerism. Especially here in SoCal where image for the sake of image seems to be all important. I try not to be judgy IRL but the feeling remains. Being a big minimalist I get I'm not "normal" but it did help me save money and keeps expenses low. Now off to do some "Swedish Death Cleaning" like a proper minimalist with obsessive compulsive spartanism (they are both a thing).

I agree - This is genuinely one of the real superpowers in modern life! Being able to resist buying lavish cars, clothes, jewelry and houses is a big deal.

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Re: What's your Mustachian superpower?
« Reply #65 on: February 12, 2020, 03:13:32 AM »
I am also in the good cook category but my true mustachian superpower is I am *amazing* at finding high quality, stylish clothing and accessories at op shops. Not just for me, for friends and family, and over the last 30 years.

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Re: What's your Mustachian superpower?
« Reply #66 on: February 12, 2020, 03:41:55 AM »
Not quite a superpower,  but we eat very well for the amount we spend on groceries. If I wanted to we could spend way less, and I know how to, but we spend well below what's considered "normal" here and we eat a hell lott better than what's "normal".

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Re: What's your Mustachian superpower?
« Reply #67 on: February 12, 2020, 04:03:59 AM »
I am naturally good at finding loopholes.

Metalcat

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Re: What's your Mustachian superpower?
« Reply #68 on: February 12, 2020, 06:04:17 AM »
-Former chef, and like others, I prefer my own cooking.
-I'm terrifyingly efficient, I do not waste movements. In my job, this is $$$$$$$$
-DH and I are minimalists, so our 1 bedroom is more than enough space
-I Steve Jobs'd my wardrobe and I wear the same outfit 99% of the time: black leggings from Costco and a black long sleeve merino wool shirt.
-I'm surrounded by rich people who are generally miserable, so they make keeping up with the Joneses look pretty shitty.
-I've lived a much more consumerist life of a high level of luxury and found it chronically underwhelming.
-My health is truly my #1 priority above everything and anything else.
-I'm very comfortable saying "no"

Most importantly, above all else: I have absolutely zero fear of change. I actually never ever ever want to be exactly where I expected to be 5 years later. If I am, that means nothing amazing happened along the way to knock me off course.

I consider following my own plans to be the lowest form of success.

DadJokes

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Re: What's your Mustachian superpower?
« Reply #69 on: February 12, 2020, 06:53:12 AM »
Well...

Davnasty

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Re: What's your Mustachian superpower?
« Reply #70 on: February 12, 2020, 06:57:43 AM »
nice

StarBright

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Re: What's your Mustachian superpower?
« Reply #71 on: February 12, 2020, 09:09:38 AM »

Oh, yeah, that would make it more difficult! I have to admit, that whole way of living seems almost alien to me. Literally every career decision we've ever made has been primarily about improving quality of life, so we would just never ever consider jobs that required those types of hours or that kind of life impact. -snip

>insert shrug emjoi <, the recession and the need for health insurance tipped us into career paths that we hadn't planned on when we got married. The road often doesn't lead where you expect it to :)

Metalcat

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Re: What's your Mustachian superpower?
« Reply #72 on: February 12, 2020, 09:15:00 AM »

Oh, yeah, that would make it more difficult! I have to admit, that whole way of living seems almost alien to me. Literally every career decision we've ever made has been primarily about improving quality of life, so we would just never ever consider jobs that required those types of hours or that kind of life impact. -snip

>insert shrug emjoi <, the recession and the need for health insurance tipped us into career paths that we hadn't planned on when we got married. The road often doesn't lead where you expect it to :)

Yeah, health insurance is such a monkey wrench for Americans sometimes and seems to be something that locks a lot of people into jobs/careers that are suboptimal.

2sk22

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Re: What's your Mustachian superpower?
« Reply #73 on: February 12, 2020, 10:04:28 AM »
Looking at many of the interesting postings on this topic, I was reminded of this interesting research paper on the importance of self-control.

Quote
Following a cohort of 1,000 children from birth to the age of 32 y, we show that childhood self-control predicts physical health, substance dependence, personal finances, and criminal offending outcomes, following a gradient of self-control.

I think that people aiming for early retirement are precisely those with greater self-control.

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Re: What's your Mustachian superpower?
« Reply #74 on: February 12, 2020, 11:22:13 AM »
I have two mustachian superpowers:
- free stuff finds a way to my house. Almost everything in my house from furniture to kitchen tools to washing machines to clothes was given to me for free by people who used it a couple of times and then wanted to get rid of me.
- I can make everything textile myself and I especially love reclaiming used materials. My love for crafting doesn't cost me money but saves me money.

dignam

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Re: What's your Mustachian superpower?
« Reply #75 on: February 12, 2020, 11:29:11 AM »
I freaking hate shopping.  The "let's go wander around the store" type of shopping.  God, just put me out of my misery if I have to endure that.  I do, however, enjoy researching an item that I need to buy; then go straight to the location of said item, and straight to the checkout.  Or...a few mouse clicks and I'm done.

I'm also quite resourceful.  I pride myself in my ability to do a lot with a little.  Yet, I have way more than I need so I don't really "need" to exercise this ability much.

PoutineLover

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Re: What's your Mustachian superpower?
« Reply #76 on: February 12, 2020, 11:34:26 AM »
I am really good at propagating plants and trading those plants for things I need. I also trade gifts that I don't want or things I no longer need, so I get to have things I do need for practically free. The value I have gotten from trading and not having to buy new things is at least in the hundreds if not thousand+ over the past, plus it's great for the environment.

Reynold

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Re: What's your Mustachian superpower?
« Reply #77 on: February 12, 2020, 12:11:47 PM »
I can look in the fridge/cupboard/flyer and figure out how to make something tasty, no matter how sparse or mismatched the available stuff.

And I can eat something new and usually tell what's in it and how it was made.

Among my DW's superpowers, though the down side to the latter is that she loves going to a restaurant to try to get new ideas for how to make things and combine flavors.  Unfortunately for her, fortunately for me, it is pretty rare these days she finds something she can't do better, because she is a very versatile cook, so we eat at home a lot.  Fortunately for both of us she is also very frugal, and won't go out to eat without a good deal or a possibility of a really amazing meal, so we don't go out THAT often.  She is also a serious power shopper, so she always has plenty of ingredients to make whatever we want, and buys all other things in our life on sale as well.

My superpowers are;
-I can fix a lot, spent many years in R&D where I built and repaired a lot of the equipment we used, so I'm not afraid of plumbing or electrical work.  Unfortunately no drywall, that takes a nice touch to make it look good, and I haven't done enough of it to get the hang of it. 
-I'll eat anything, so I often bring home leftover food from company events that other people are too picky to eat because it has been in the fridge since yesterday, we probably get 2-3 meals every week from that. 
-I don't panic easily, so when the market drops by 50%, I'm looking for where I can buy more of it. 
-There just isn't much stuff I want, and I'm very lazy about going shopping for anything, so I don't have much trouble resisting buying things. 

Ladychips

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Re: What's your Mustachian superpower?
« Reply #78 on: February 12, 2020, 01:19:11 PM »
My other super power is that I can fix almost anything from the tiniest electronics to the biggest ginormous ships engines. Its just that...I don't wanna (insert whiny brat meme). Duct tape is now my friend.

Are you saying the duct tape does not equal fixing?  Are you crazy?  Do you only count it as fixing if you also use WD40?

EliteZags

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Re: What's your Mustachian superpower?
« Reply #79 on: February 12, 2020, 01:55:09 PM »
Gorilla tape actually fixes anything

rahby1us

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Re: What's your Mustachian superpower?
« Reply #80 on: February 12, 2020, 04:32:28 PM »
I can eat almost anything and not give a sh*t. It's all calories baby!!!! Nothing gets thrown away and I don't care where we eat, i'll be fine.

My kryptonite might be that my metabolism means i need to eat a lot of the above mentioned sh*t.
 

Just Joe

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Re: What's your Mustachian superpower?
« Reply #81 on: February 13, 2020, 12:03:01 PM »
Unfortunately no drywall, that takes a nice touch to make it look good, and I haven't done enough of it to get the hang of it. 

Look for a video on YT about using drywall sponge.

deborah

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Re: What's your Mustachian superpower?
« Reply #82 on: February 14, 2020, 01:06:41 AM »
My superpower is... no television.

lazycow

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Re: What's your Mustachian superpower?
« Reply #83 on: February 14, 2020, 02:56:28 AM »
Mine is that I am very friendly and can chat to anyone about anything, so people usually like me and I always get good service, discounts, free stuff on occasion. I also like to be encouraging and enthusiastic with friends' dreams, goals and plans.  (I know,  it makes me sound exhausting, like a boisterous labrador retriever).
Hmmm maybe it is actually that I really think most people are good and am rarely disappointed.
« Last Edit: February 14, 2020, 03:00:50 AM by lazycow »

LiveLean

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Re: What's your Mustachian superpower?
« Reply #84 on: February 14, 2020, 08:08:51 AM »
My superpower is the ability to remember names and faces, which has all sorts of personal and professional rewards.

I attribute this to two things:

1. Having a last name at the end of the alphabet. Thus I've always had to pay attention to the entire roll call. Even now I can picture where everyone was sitting in fourth grade --- I'm 50.

2. Collecting baseball cards. Again, I'm dating myself here. But spending those formative 6-to-11 years sorting and looking at baseball cards taught me to remember names and faces. Even now if someone were to reference a 1977 Reggie Jackson card or 1978 Pete Rose card, I can picture it. I've also worked as a sportswriter -- constantly staring at names, faces and stats - and served as a volunteer PA announcer for 11 years for my sons' swim meets. I have a mental storehouse of tens of thousands of names. Hopefully that will pay off as I get older into the years where memory loss is a factor.

Ricochet

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Re: What's your Mustachian superpower?
« Reply #85 on: February 17, 2020, 12:42:32 PM »
I have x-ray vision, of sorts.  I can see right through the vapor of 'happiness' that so many people pretend to have because they bought something seemingly cool to impress others or make themselves feel better. I ain't buying it, and that's my superpower.

Buffaloski Boris

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Re: What's your Mustachian superpower?
« Reply #86 on: February 17, 2020, 01:35:37 PM »
I have x-ray vision, of sorts.  I can see right through the vapor of 'happiness' that so many people pretend to have because they bought something seemingly cool to impress others or make themselves feel better. I ain't buying it, and that's my superpower.

Welcome to the forums. I haven’t seen you before. The tagline is funny and betrays a sense of skepticism. As does your superpower. Good on you.

And I ain’t paying $14 for a flipping Stella. 😁

Ricochet

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Re: What's your Mustachian superpower?
« Reply #87 on: February 20, 2020, 12:25:44 PM »
I have x-ray vision, of sorts.  I can see right through the vapor of 'happiness' that so many people pretend to have because they bought something seemingly cool to impress others or make themselves feel better. I ain't buying it, and that's my superpower.

Welcome to the forums. I haven’t seen you before. The tagline is funny and betrays a sense of skepticism. As does your superpower. Good on you.

And I ain’t paying $14 for a flipping Stella. 😁
Comrade; I didn't know the cost until it was opened and handed to me. That's how they getcha! But it was a free hockey game, thanks to my friend's hook up, so saving $150 on the seats, I could afford the beer.

Buffaloski Boris

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Re: What's your Mustachian superpower?
« Reply #88 on: February 20, 2020, 01:55:54 PM »
I have x-ray vision, of sorts.  I can see right through the vapor of 'happiness' that so many people pretend to have because they bought something seemingly cool to impress others or make themselves feel better. I ain't buying it, and that's my superpower.

Welcome to the forums. I haven’t seen you before. The tagline is funny and betrays a sense of skepticism. As does your superpower. Good on you.

And I ain’t paying $14 for a flipping Stella. 😁
Comrade; I didn't know the cost until it was opened and handed to me. That's how they getcha! But it was a free hockey game, thanks to my friend's hook up, so saving $150 on the seats, I could afford the beer.

Fellow Comrade!  In glorious Russia, capitalist beer seller sent to Siberia! 

undercover

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Re: What's your Mustachian superpower?
« Reply #89 on: February 20, 2020, 01:57:23 PM »
Anxiety, if kept in check. Can’t stay comfortable with the status quo so I’m forced to look higher and higher.

Ozlady

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Re: What's your Mustachian superpower?
« Reply #90 on: February 20, 2020, 08:23:19 PM »
I have 2  which i think(?) are my superpowers:

1) I listen ( no..really listen ) more than i talk:)

2) I love to read anything my hands can get hold of ( the cheapest way to learn!)

StockBeard

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Re: What's your Mustachian superpower?
« Reply #91 on: February 21, 2020, 01:25:03 AM »
1) I'm introvert to the max: I hate traveling because it means having to interact with people I don't know, I would rather walk in the rain for an hour than having to run the risk of interacting with a taxi or uber driver for 5 minutes, I cut my own hair so that I don't have to talk or see a hairdresser, and I will never go physically to a place such as a mall* unless my wife drags me there (the physical state I get in after spending more than 20 minutes in a mall is what she refers to as "low energy mode").

2) I generally don't care about my physical appearance, which means a lot of fashion consumerism just goes way above my head: clothes, accessories, makeup, etc...

* Online shopping has been dangerous for me. It seems I'm not immune to consumerism, just the social aspects of it.

Bearblastbeats

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Re: What's your Mustachian superpower?
« Reply #92 on: February 21, 2020, 06:30:03 AM »
If I had to figure a superpower for myself, it would be my good ole Yankee ingenuity and DIY prowess. Fortunately I grew up in a family where both my father and brother had owned and ran flooring businesses as well as rental properties, so I was onsite building from a young age.

Now in my early thirties, aside from my day to day job, I still get calls from old friends, coworkers/bosses, & friends of friends, who reach out to me for flooring/construction services. They save a lot because I have no overheard they get a better quality than most of the hacks out there today.

Just last weekend my MIL's landlord reached out to me to install LVP in one of his condos. He acquires all the materials and I install 625SF at $2.5 a ft. That's a pretty good weekend.
 

Erma

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Re: What's your Mustachian superpower?
« Reply #93 on: February 21, 2020, 09:21:24 AM »
I can convince people to save. But I have no idea how I do it.

Livingthedream55

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Re: What's your Mustachian superpower?
« Reply #94 on: February 21, 2020, 11:20:53 AM »
Already FIREd but what got me here was:

(1) Automatic investing and not panicking when markets drop; and
(2) Frugality.


Fish Sweet

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Re: What's your Mustachian superpower?
« Reply #95 on: February 21, 2020, 09:30:11 PM »
Mine is an instinctive desire to DIY.  Try a new dish at a restaurant-- I go home and start looking up recipes and pricing out spices.  See some cute jewelry on etsy -- start poking around Michaels for beads and wire to replicate it.   In fact, that's how I got into one of my primary hobbies/side gigs today-- a friend sent me some artisan soap, and I became so enamored that I started researching how to make soap myself.  I love doing and making things with my hands, and the pride I feel from mending a pair of ripped jeans, nailing a new recipe, or wrangling my broken wire cutter back into shape beats buying something (new pants, takeout, a fresh piece of equipment) each time!  It also helps me temper my perfectionist tendencies (you always start off bad at something if you're DIY for the first time) and reminds me that learning, trying, failing, and succeeding are all part of living my best life.

Morning Glory

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Re: What's your Mustachian superpower?
« Reply #96 on: February 22, 2020, 04:05:00 AM »
I just never inflated my lifestyle. I have had the same car since college and have never really liked restaurants. Places like hair salons and coffee shops give me anxiety so I stay out of there. I do like travel but once I get there I would rather go hiking than go see tourist attractions. The only thing I have that could be considered lifestyle inflation is my house in the country: we paid a premium to be close enough to town to be able to bike to work, before even discovering the true cost of commuting article. I have always done frugal things like dry the clothes outside and choose reusable items when I can, just because it's better for the environment too.

 Having kids supercharged my mustachian lifestyle even more because the idea of taking young kids on a plane sounds like a nightmare.

 Discovering the blog/forum is what got me actually investing, and I discovered I'm pretty risk tolerant too.

pachnik

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Re: What's your Mustachian superpower?
« Reply #97 on: February 22, 2020, 07:08:40 AM »
My superpower is I dislike shopping as an activity.  To me, it is a chore.  I don't find going to a mall entertaining.  And actually really dislike shopping for clothes in stores.  I really prefer going to my local thrift store Value Village.

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!