Conquering guilt: How to enjoy what you’ve earned

[Beric01]

I get Ramit Sethi's emails because I like some of his stuff on negotiating/earning more and a few of his other tips. However, I cannot believe how far off reality this statement in his latest post is (clearly a direct attack at Mustachians):

If it were up to personal-finance “experts,” we’d never spend a penny on ourselves. We’d save 80% of our income, live in a cardboard box, and wait to take a vacation until we were 65 (“Pack your own lunch and enjoy it even more!”).

link for reference.

That's the entire point of this calculator! If you were indeed to save 80% right out of college, you could retire at age 28, not 65. In other words, about 1/7 of the time he is talking about. Ramit needs to learn the power of compounding interest.

Oh - and my lunches I pack are $2 or less and yet beat any $8 lunch I can buy.

[ender]

I personally find combining Ramit's advice in general with MMM's lifestyle/attitude toward saving leads to an unbelievably fulfilling financial perspective. The only thing different is his "why" is to consume more -- substitute your own why and everything he says is suddenly incredibly relevant to you, whether you save 10% or 80% of your income.

He definitely has a lot of very valuable insights on people, maximizing earning potential, and enjoying a more fulfilling life.

[Beric01]

I personally find combining Ramit's advice in general with MMM's lifestyle/attitude toward saving leads to an unbelievably fulfilling financial perspective. The only thing different is his "why" is to consume more -- substitute your own why and everything he says is suddenly incredibly relevant to you, whether you save 10% or 80% of your income.

He definitely has a lot of very valuable insights on people, maximizing earning potential, and enjoying a more fulfilling life.

I agree. It seems like he's figured out a lot of stuff. However, as MMM has mentioned one thing he hasn't figured out is that more spending /= more happiness. And that changes the entire equation of financial independence. One thing I know - following Ramit will NOT give you financial independence as he encourages you to spend the additional money you may make!

[HairyUpperLip]

MMM said in one of his posts he'd like to secretly have hot wings and beer with Ramit.

[Beric01]

MMM said in one of his posts he'd like to secretly have hot wings and beer with Ramit.

I assume you're talking about this post?

met my frugality arch-rival, Ramit Sethi, at the financial blogger conference this weekend. Today, he started a contest which I feel is applicable to Mustachianism:

http://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/win-two-roundtrip-tickets-anywhere-in-the-usa/

So I entered it with this response. Do you think Mr. Money Mustache will win?

---

Ramit, I would need only one of these tickets. I would use it to come visit you at your apartment in San Francisco.

There, I could Teach you why the monetary philosophies of Mr. Money Mustache and Ramit Sethi are not nearly as different as you suggested on the financial bloggers conference stage we recently shared.

I’m not a frugality blogger or a “buying things is evil” ranter. I’m actually a fairly rich man at this point. But monetary wealth (and my advanced age of 38) has bought me a taste of freedom from wanting things that is proving elusive to most other rich people. It’s actually a pretty advanced superpower to add to one’s roster of abilities. I believe I’d be able to train you in this superpower, given a longer in-person talk.

It would also give me a chance to take a picture of ME, eating plates of chicken wings with YOU, a photo I need to update an earlier article I wrote about your IWTY book.

[HairyUpperLip]

Nah, I don't have a FB so I never saw that before. The one I was referring to was on his blog and was a book review of Ramit's.

[Beric01]

Nah, I don't have a FB so I never saw that before. The one I was referring to was on his blog and was a book review of Ramit's.

I don't use FB either - just found the post based on a Google search.

[JPinDC]

This post: http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2011/11/06/book-review-will-this-guy-really-teach-you-to-be-rich/