Author Topic: Mustachian Confessions.....  (Read 27925 times)

SteveRyeCurd

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Re: Mustachian Confessions.....
« Reply #50 on: September 22, 2014, 02:04:03 PM »
Sometimes I go for a drive just to get out of the house for a while (I work at home).

ketchup

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Re: Mustachian Confessions.....
« Reply #51 on: September 22, 2014, 03:04:18 PM »
Eating out has by far been our least efficient spending.  At our worst we'd go out like twice a week.  Even "only" $16 for two at Chipotle is dumb when it's that often.  We max at around $35 including tip for dinner out, so it's not nearly as awful as it could be (I see people talk about $50-100 date nights and it makes my eyes widen).  We've been a lot better about this lately though.  It's been at least two weeks since we've eaten out.  It helps that we've been cooking amazing food at home.  Also, we've starting meal planning with a calender.

And we have three dogs.  Three showdogs.  But my girlfriend does all the grooming/bathing/etc herself, we buy their food in bulk online, and trips to shows are paid more (and then some, worst case she breaks even) by her doing photoshoots (she's a photographer) of other people's dogs at said shows.  While antimustachian, we're probably about as efficient as can be when it comes to all this.  It's ludicrous some of the spending I witness from dog show people.

Hedge_87

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Re: Mustachian Confessions.....
« Reply #52 on: September 22, 2014, 06:31:30 PM »
Sometimes I go for a drive just to get out of the house for a while (I work at home).

Probably the single worse part of converting.  I used to amble around in my pickup truck with no real destination. This was a blast! I used to go 5 miles out of the way to drive by the lake and down by the creeks. Watch the random wildlife, possibly stop along the way and try to catch a couple fish, and listen to some of my favorite tunes on the radio.  Now I feel guilty for something that used to be the highlight of my day. Now a days I might do it once a month compared to a couple times a week before.

CptCool

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Re: Mustachian Confessions.....
« Reply #53 on: September 22, 2014, 08:22:22 PM »
I'd recommend doing the same thing, but on a bike or just your own 2 feet!

tofuchampion

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Re: Mustachian Confessions.....
« Reply #54 on: September 23, 2014, 04:47:42 AM »
I paid $30 in library fines the other day.  Still cheaper than buying the same # of books, but it happens far too often.

We get pizza delivery every weekend.

I have a gym membership, but it's only $20/month through work (we used to pay $70/month oop for a less-nice gym), so I don't feel the least bit guilty.  We could use it more often, though...

We have Netflix AND Hulu AND Amazon Prime. 

jmusic

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Re: Mustachian Confessions.....
« Reply #55 on: September 23, 2014, 07:20:12 AM »
Hopefully living cheaply out of necessity long enough will curb some of these cravings, but I honestly don't know when I'll feel like we have "enough."

That's probably the dirty secret of consumerism; I don't think anyone ever does!

paleogirl

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Re: Mustachian Confessions.....
« Reply #56 on: September 23, 2014, 09:28:52 AM »
I'm also guilty of eating fast food more than I'd like to admit ... partly because it's anti-mustachian, and mostly because it's very NOT Paleo and very unhealthy, and because I love to cook ... I'm getting better, though ... but I'm such a sucker for French fries ... >.< Funny enough, as big of a coffee addict that I am, I don't visit Starbucks or coffee shops as often as one might think. I just like plain, black coffee.

My very anti-mustachian confession I have to make is running ... "running is free" is very misguiding! The prices I pay for races from 5Ks to marathons and 50Ks are rather face punch worthy, but I try to sign up as early as possible to get the lower fees, and a lot of times I get discount codes from participating in previous races or volunteering. And the travel costs to get to those races (all of them have been within driving distance, and I drive a paid off 2007 Hyundai Elantra, so it could be worse) ... O.o ... The way I see it is that the races benefit various charities, and it's a raison d'etre for me ... (food being the other). I should be ashamed at the number of running shoes and clothes and various gear I have accumulated over the years, as well, but I always wait until it's marked down to buy anything. I feel like I'm justifying myself here. Haha. More like trying to be mustachian about an anti-mustachian passion?

But at least I don't pay for a gym membership because I just bought a weightlifting set from a friend, which could be seen as anti-mustachian because I have access to free gyms on post while I'm still in the military. But since I'm getting out within the next year, I knew I'll need to buy a set, and he was selling exactly what I wanted, so I had to take the opportunity.

My final confession ... I am a sucker for purses. Not shoes (except minimalist running shoes) or clothes (except running clothes because I have zero sense of fashion) or make up (don't wear any) or jewelry (don't like them) ... but purses. I've always been on the frugal side, but now with a minimalist and early retirement as a goal (and the impending career change), I've scaled down significantly.

Chranstronaut

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Re: Mustachian Confessions.....
« Reply #57 on: September 23, 2014, 12:46:08 PM »
I eat out every Friday and often Saturday.  No justification or excuse.  It's often fast food.  I don't even pretend any more that I will work out extra to burn off the additional thousands of calories because we all know the satisfaction runs deeper than the guilt.

My name is ChransStache and I have a regular order at McDonald's.  I order my Filet-O-Fish without the slightest hint of irony, with medium fries and a Coke.  I always use two cups of fancy ketchup and usually refill my 20oz of sugar-acid.  Please, no ice.

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Cheddar Stacker

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Re: Mustachian Confessions.....
« Reply #58 on: September 23, 2014, 01:16:51 PM »
Gaffigan is the best. Kudos for owning up to your vice and not apologizing. No judgment here.

Caoineag

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Re: Mustachian Confessions.....
« Reply #59 on: September 23, 2014, 01:51:22 PM »
Periodically I try to convince myself to feel bad about how much I eat out. Periodically it will work...for a couple of months. See all the posts on here that mention frequency of eating out? If I could get down to their max per week, I would feel positively virtuous. I eat a good balance of food, even when eating out and I cook from scratch at home but I still eat out a ton. When I weigh not eating out against more years of financial freedom, I actually choose the food. Sigh.

Worst part? I have corrupted my husband so now we both consider it a priority. To say we enjoy the experience is a bit of an understatement.


Middlesbrough

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Re: Mustachian Confessions.....
« Reply #60 on: September 23, 2014, 09:22:34 PM »
It's my birthday and I bought a bottle of single barrel scotch. It really blew the monthly budget, but it's sooooooooooooooooo good!

UnleashHell

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Re: Mustachian Confessions.....
« Reply #61 on: September 24, 2014, 04:14:16 AM »
It's my birthday and I bought a bottle of single barrel scotch. It really blew the monthly budget, but it's sooooooooooooooooo good!

I'm flying to England on Friday. Let me help you out by taking that mistake away from you :D



confessions...  I'm doing a 16 night trip to Europe with the family. so far I've got 14 nights staying with friends and relatives and 2 nights in hotels... but theres noway I can cut the budget more on this trip at the end - like a day trip to London - and we are all meeting up at a good pub on the last day for a meal to celebrate my sons birthday...


I do feel like costing everything out and sending my BIL the bill as its his wedding we are going for... I swear I'm spending more on this trip than he is on his wedding....

Tempe

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Re: Mustachian Confessions.....
« Reply #62 on: September 24, 2014, 07:39:32 AM »
Restaurant eating out is one my weaknesses. Living on my own I really never ate out as much, but since bf and I got together we have struggled with it. We just really enjoy eating out. It isn't terribly compared to some people, but staying in my budget ends up being tough. Delicious, delicious food~

sleepyguy

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Re: Mustachian Confessions.....
« Reply #63 on: September 24, 2014, 10:08:36 AM »
I'm not even close to the MMM lifestyle but I'm working on it... off the top of my head.

- enough tennis equipment to probably outfit a collegiate team, lol.
- enough computer equipment to run a computer class, haha
- when in a rush or it "might" rain... I drive my son to daycare... daycare is 8 blocks away
- i take the train to work, but i drive to the train station.  Its about 15min drive.  I don't go in too often so it isn't super bad, lol.
- we own 2 cars for no reason either than convenience
- we've hired to have our grass cut and house cleaned... far too often then I'd like to admit.


Dr. Doom

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Re: Mustachian Confessions.....
« Reply #64 on: September 24, 2014, 10:22:19 AM »
A few times a year I pay someone $30 to cut my lawn instead of doing it myself -- usually to free the weekend up to go somewhere.

ash7962

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Re: Mustachian Confessions.....
« Reply #65 on: September 24, 2014, 10:28:57 AM »
Pre MMM I was paying something like 18$/month for... cat insurance.  Only used it once, and it barely even covered anything (no vaccines or checkups) so I was paying everything out of pocket anyway.  Total ripoff and I hadn't even realized that I was paying it.  I had gotten it on some promotion basis when I adopted my cat from the shelter and had pretty much forgotten about it until I found MMM and started taking a look at where my money was going.

NoraLenderbee

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Re: Mustachian Confessions.....
« Reply #66 on: September 24, 2014, 02:46:20 PM »
My husband and I have something like eleven bicycles between us. Some were free or cheap, but some were quite expensive (even though we didn't pay retail for most of them).
We have between 2500 and 3000 books--even though I use the library constantly. I *love* books.
My therapy bills would have paid off a mortgage by now. (But the results have been worth every penny.)
I don't eat oatmeal, because I OD'ed on it in the past.

mydogismyheart

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Re: Mustachian Confessions.....
« Reply #67 on: September 24, 2014, 03:12:59 PM »
I feel very anti-mustachian right now although I also feel like it's somewhat justified (at least that's what I tell myself).  I just finally (after several years of saving and working towards) bought a small very mustachian house.  However, I'm used to living in a teeny tiny 670 sq ft studio apartment.  And now I'm in a 3 bedroom 1600sq ft 2.5 bath townhouse.  So I have been spending some money to purchase several items for the house.  However, since discovering Mr. Money Mustache, my spending is very different than what it would have been previously.  Previously, I would have gone out and financed several thousand worth of furniture, and put several thousand on a CC for all of the items I wanted immediately.  Now that I'm being more cautious, I am making a very careful list of all the items I NEED to get me by in the new place and spending only the money that is in my pocket.  Over time, I will purchase the items I need and then move into more of my want items (I want a 2nd couch, I can live without it for the time being).

I'm trying...

justajane

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Re: Mustachian Confessions.....
« Reply #68 on: September 25, 2014, 11:01:49 AM »
I'm enjoying this thread. We can't be Mustachian all the time, can we?

re the library fines: I consider that just a contribution to a public institution that I value. We even lost a kids book and had to pay $16 for it. It showed up under a piece of furniture months late.

Our biggest un-Mustachian thing that we do is eat out. Since we had our third, we have been TERRIBLE about over-indulging on nicer meals. When we have a babysitter (a.k.a. my parents), we just want to sit in a civilized restaurant and have a civilized conversation that isn't punctuated by screams and kid chatter. This is a huge budget buster.

We also eat out at fast food places with the kids WAY more than we should. It's pure exhaustion that fuels this, not an inherent enjoyment of the food, although I do love the Filet-o-Fish at McDonalds as well.

Another thing that is rather anti-Mustachian of me is that I almost never buy used clothes. It's not even that I am opposed to them but rather that I can't stomach the time it takes to find the right size. I try to buy everything on clearance, though, and have pretty low price points for the kids clothes - $5 for shorts, under $5 for shirts, $7.50 for pants. This allays my guilt somewhat, although I know wearing used clothes is also good for the environment.

Zikoris

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Re: Mustachian Confessions.....
« Reply #69 on: September 25, 2014, 03:07:02 PM »
We went nuts on fancy ice cream all summer. There, I said it. Should be done now, since it's cold and miserable out.

LibraryGirl

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Re: Mustachian Confessions.....
« Reply #70 on: September 25, 2014, 05:08:48 PM »
Not a big one, but the level of stupid drives me nuts.  I got another $2 overdue fine at the library today.

I WORK at the library.  I'm there five days a week.  You would think I would pay closer attention to my account so I wasn't giving money back to my employer for no reason.

trailrated

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Re: Mustachian Confessions.....
« Reply #71 on: September 27, 2014, 11:41:45 AM »
I bought A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy, and was about 3/4 of the way through and I lost it. I looked everywhere for 3 weeks and decided to pull the trigger to buy another one. Of coarse I found the old copy a day after the new one was already in the mail on the way.

ambimammular

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Re: Mustachian Confessions.....
« Reply #72 on: September 27, 2014, 03:48:20 PM »
Not a big one, but the level of stupid drives me nuts.  I got another $2 overdue fine at the library today.

I WORK at the library.  I'm there five days a week.  You would think I would pay closer attention to my account so I wasn't giving money back to my employer for no reason.

This one had me laughing! At least the library is a good cause.

mm1970

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Re: Mustachian Confessions.....
« Reply #73 on: September 28, 2014, 01:48:24 PM »
As I'm rather new to all this Mustachian stuff but I am also inherently frugal, I often slip up in the quest of being more Mustachian. There are some things I just refuse to give up like the occasional cup of Starbucks. And sometimes, I'm a car clown. And sometimes I over tip......Lets hear some of your recent anti-mustachian faux pas!
Well, I have a cleaning person.

Also, despite trying to always be prepared - often when I go for hour long walks with my toddler to play on the weekend, and I take water and snacks for him -

Sometimes (like yesterday), he ate the snacks, drank all the water, was still hungry and thirsty.  And I forgot water for myself.  So I ended up buying him 1/2 a smoothie (he drank it all), plus more water and snacks.

fallstoclimb

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Re: Mustachian Confessions.....
« Reply #74 on: September 29, 2014, 06:10:07 AM »
I just bought a $1250 light touring bike (Surly).  And 2 pairs of leather ankle boots, and a new dress, and a new pair of pants. 

However, ALL OF THIS MONEY THAT I SPENT is still less than what I was putting towards my now-paid off student loan each month.  I can't get over that.  My husband keeps joking that we could buy a new Surly every MONTH and still increase our savings a significant amount. 

(He's joking.  I promise.  We are done with the spending - those were all long-deferred wants - and are excited to save, and save, and save.  Although he is really jealous about my bike.)

DeepEllumStache

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Re: Mustachian Confessions.....
« Reply #75 on: September 29, 2014, 07:43:15 AM »
Not a big one, but the level of stupid drives me nuts.  I got another $2 overdue fine at the library today.

I WORK at the library.  I'm there five days a week.  You would think I would pay closer attention to my account so I wasn't giving money back to my employer for no reason.

This one had me laughing! At least the library is a good cause.

You win!  I work less than 0.25 miles from the library or could have renewed online...  Then again, it is for a good cause.

golden1

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Re: Mustachian Confessions.....
« Reply #76 on: September 29, 2014, 08:20:53 AM »
I buy an iced coffee every day at Dunkin Donuts.  I have tried giving it up, multiple times, and trying to replace it with other, cheaper coffee, but I always go back.  It is definitely one of my weaknesses.  I have added up the cost and calculated it over 10 years etc... and I STILL can't give it up.  I console myself with the fact that I save money in other areas. 

Lately I have been buying some clothes - good quality ones.  I am trying to buy stuff that lasts and doesn't fall apart, but I really have too many clothes now so it is time to stop. 




Albert

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Re: Mustachian Confessions.....
« Reply #77 on: September 29, 2014, 12:50:00 PM »
I do a lot of non-mustachian things. What saves me (still 50% savings rate) is high income and being frugal on big ticket items (apartment, transportation, phone etc). My biggest financial weakness is probably extensive travel, hiking (it's not free!) and eating out. The latter is particularly expensive here. Some friends were visiting from abroad and the four of us went for a night out (drinks, dinner at a nice place with wine and some extra drinks again). Total bill ca 350$…. I'd don't regret it, though.

RetiredAt63

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Re: Mustachian Confessions.....
« Reply #78 on: September 30, 2014, 07:56:46 PM »
Understandable.  I spent my first paycheque from my first full-time job on clothes - after being an under-grad for 4 years and a grad student for 3, doing lab work, I owned one thing suitable to wear to work.  After that spree I was set.

I just bought a $1250 light touring bike (Surly).  And 2 pairs of leather ankle boots, and a new dress, and a new pair of pants. 
  We are done with the spending - those were all long-deferred wants - and are excited to save, and save, and save.

hybrid

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Re: Mustachian Confessions.....
« Reply #79 on: October 01, 2014, 06:45:38 AM »
My brother sold us his 2003 Highlander for $4100 last year. The missus had always wanted one (in part for a proposed side business) and my dumbass assumption was she would get rid of her 2005 Mazda 3 when she bought it, because we need an extra vehicle like a hole in the head.

Nope. All we really got was an extra clown car, and an SUV on top of it. Oh, I feel super special about this. And then my son had a fender bender in it. Piece of shit has been idle in my driveway for months now with a damaged fender and quarter panel and out of inspection. I'd sell the SOB tomorrow, but both our names are on the title. Missus refuses to deal with the mess. Oh happy day.

We can still come out of this mostly revenue neutral one way or the other, but decisions have to be made rather than swept under the rug. 
 

infogoon

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Re: Mustachian Confessions.....
« Reply #80 on: October 01, 2014, 09:04:12 AM »
I only bring my lunch to work about half the time. At least I keep drinks in my cube, so I don't have to spend a buck and a half for a soda when I buy lunch.

nawhite

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Re: Mustachian Confessions.....
« Reply #81 on: October 01, 2014, 01:24:04 PM »
My wife and I travel. A lot. Like close to 1/4 of our annual budget goes toward trips of one kind or another. Travel spending, >$10k/year, other spending, ~$35k/year. Normally, no big deal so far from a mustacian perspective but what kills it is that we do this while we still have $70k in student debt to pay off (about 3-4 years until they are paid off at current rate).

I'm trying to get better about travel hacking (Airbnb has helped us a lot and the Southwest Companion Pass is AMAZING. Last year we did Puerto Rico for 9 days for $1200 including airfare.) and we don't usually blow the whole budget in one place, but you can only save so much on international trips, they still add up. In March we are going to Iceland and Scotland, because my friend from college is getting married in a Scottish Castle. I'm pretty sure we are the only non-family going. It was one of those, "we invited him to our wedding so he invited us to his" so we could just as easily take a trip somewhere cheaper. But the wedding is the excuse we are using to justify the $2000 in airfare.

The student loans will be there when we get back :-)

Lis

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Re: Mustachian Confessions.....
« Reply #82 on: October 01, 2014, 01:48:19 PM »
Restaurant eating out is one my weaknesses. Living on my own I really never ate out as much, but since bf and I got together we have struggled with it. We just really enjoy eating out. It isn't terribly compared to some people, but staying in my budget ends up being tough. Delicious, delicious food~

Are you me? I was going to type something exactly like this...

When I see my restaurant budget implode month after month, I feel guilty. BF and I are luckily passed that whole trying to impress the other portion of the beginnings of a relationship, and we have been eating in more often (I love cooking, and he's not complaining!). Heck, this week he's cooking for me :) Still, we still eat out at least once, if not twice a week. Ugh...

VirginiaBob

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Re: Mustachian Confessions.....
« Reply #83 on: October 02, 2014, 11:16:42 AM »
You guys thing you are bad - check this out:  I'm married to someone who has no sense of a household budget.  This is the gift that keeps on giving.

greenmimama

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Re: Mustachian Confessions.....
« Reply #84 on: October 02, 2014, 01:09:36 PM »
Last night we spent $120 on a date, we went to one of the best restaurants in town and saw an Improv show, we laughed and enjoyed our food, we haven't done that tin about 3 years, to that extent, we do go on dates more than once every 3 years :)

tofuchampion

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Re: Mustachian Confessions.....
« Reply #85 on: October 02, 2014, 02:54:24 PM »
I'm married to someone who has no sense of a household budget.  This is the gift that keeps on giving.

You are far from the only one...