I've been reading MMM for a few months now and I know that I risk taking a beating for this but here goes.
After 40 years of federal service, including some military, I retired at 57 years of age a little over 2 years ago. I was pretty high up in the ranks and I maxed out my savings plan for the last few years. My wife and I are pretty frugal, me more than her, and we live well within our means, putting a couple of thousand away each month. Our house and cars are paid for and we have no debt. We only use a Discover or Chase card because we get paid back a little bit for using them for things like gas or purchases at Home Depot. We take one vacation a year, usually to Colorado. Sometimes two if we feel like skiing. We have 7 grandkids, the oldest is 8, and they are the joy of our lives. We spend quite a bit of time with them. Overall, life and retirement is good.
So, here's where I might not be a Mustachian: We belong to a nice Country Club and we keep a large houseboat docked there on the lake. Our grandkids enjoy fishing from the doc, kayaking, and jet skiing. It's pretty reasonable to belong because it's only $500/month in dues plus any restaurant charges (there is no minimum which is rare). Dock fees alone in some cities are more than $500/month, like in Austin, and that is without any club amenities. It has a workout center with all kinds of machines and free classes and a nice outdoor pool which we use quite a bit with the grand kids. I have a covered houseboat slip with dock power. The boat has air conditioning, a kitchen, DishNetwork and it sleeps 8. We are out there several times a week with the kids or friends during probably 8 months of the year. It is like a condo on the water.
So, since the grandkids are getting older and I'm thinking of spending another $200/month to up my membership to get unlimited golf with cart and free range balls. The grandkids can tag along for $20 and they can accompany me to the range for free.
Even though the extra $200 is a pretty good deal for unlimited golf and cart, spending $700/month on a regular basis was more than my old house payment. I'm leaning towards doing it and since we are not hurting financially, my wife says to go ahead. But, she's not the one that handles the finances and looks at the economy. As long as she can buy groceries, go to lunch with her friends, take a vacation now and then, spend a few bucks on clothes and treat the grandkids to stuff when she wants to, she is fine. She always says that we can't take it with us and who knows how long we will be here, so lets enjoy the last years of our life.
So, can I rule out being a Mustachian?