The Money Mustache Community
General Discussion => Post-FIRE => Topic started by: Unionville on April 13, 2019, 05:22:56 PM
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My understanding is Warren Buffett is one of the richest people in the world but he still chooses to drive an old car. As a post-fire person, is there a Warren Buffet type of item you keep around because it works, but people keep suggesting you get a new one?
Mine:
-My microwave only has 2 working buttons, but it's all I need for heating things up.
-I have a 1970's melted-looking stove (it came with the house I bought), but it's been working fine for 17 years (pic) and new stoves seem way overpriced and cheaply made.
I'm not cheapskate or stubborn. I just don't like shopping, and these old ones work just fine.
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Our 23 year old air conditioners that sound like a small plane landing in the backyard (but they still work *knock on wood*) and my hubby’s 20 year old Ford Ranger!
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I have a 17 year old car, bought at 7 years old, totaled by hail, that I still drive. Hope to drive it another 5 years.
Best construction hammer I have is one I used as a kid. Inherited it when my dad passed away.
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I’m not sure warren buffet keeps old broken / damaged items. Functional older items, sure, but to say a broken stove or microwave that doesn’t work properly is the same as warren buffet living in a modest home or driving not a brand new car is not quite the same.
If I’m playing along, I prefer old hand tools to new ones. I have many passed down from my carpenter grandfather and great grandfather.
I also use some kitchen tools that have been handed down from similar generations, rolling pins and cast iron pans that are more than 100 years old.
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I've got a Craftsman drill my dad gave me when I was in college. It still works fine. I've had battery powered stuff, but prefer my old school plug in drill.
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I have a stapler and hole punch that my father brought home in 1972 when his office was shutting down. They were made to last...
I also have an old dented box grater I bought in 1982 from a discount department store when I moved into an apartment on my own - my DH laughed at it and went out and bought me a new one - I made him return it!
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I had multiple coworkers tell me I should buy a nicer car last week. It's a 2005.... which in my mind is still newish :-P
Don't tell me that those years of my life are already <redacted> years ago!
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We have a 15 year old basic electric stove, bought as a "placeholder" until we reno-d the kitchen. Reno finally coming up, stove still going strong. We'll look into how to donate it to a charity helping refugees and others set up households.
We have a 1985 portable dishwasher. Still works although it's losing its prongs one by one. Getting a bit toothless on the inside. We know that the plumbed in dishwasher we'll replace it with won't last a fraction of the time.
Until 2 years ago we had a 1975 washer and dryer that we loved. Finally both failed and the parts needed were no longer available. Had to get new Speed Queens, which are considered workhorses but we know they won't last 40 years.
I have some Revere Wear pots my parents got as wedding presents in 1953. Use them daily.
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The pressure cooker my mother gave me. It is well over 40 years old and works like a charm! (plus a lot of sentimental value)
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Hamilton Beach blender, circa 1985. Works great and I have no doubt will last longer than anything made today!
Trek carbon fiber racing bike I bought new while in college around 1991. It cost me what felt like a fortune then, and it's still as good as I need a bike to be.
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Today on a construction site walk I had I took a picture of my 1999 Camry lined up in a parking lot that only had trucks. I had the only car, and it’s 20 years old. I paid around $5k for it 5.5 years ago. Full disclosure, our other vehicle is a 2017 4Runner.
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When I was first setting up my own apartment as a young adult in the late 1970s I bought a set of Tupperware cannisters (harvest gold) at a garage sale for cheap. I still use them, they work well and they will never wear out.
I saw a similar set for sale recently in a vintage store, seems they are now worth considerably more than I paid for them. So not only cheap, useful, and durable but a good financial investment as well.
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Just of the top of my head I have
Tools that are at least 40 years old
Clothes well over 20 years old
A bike I have had and is like new still over 20 years old
a ring I wear that is over 60 years old
Downsized into a house thats going on 50 years old which compared to what we use to live in was a big step but happy we did it.
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We've got a ton of kitchen stuff that's old but works really well. 40 year old microwave and blender, 30 year old stand mixer, etc. Most of my construction hand tools were inherited from my father (and some of those were inherited from my grandfather) and they all work just fine. I still have a few shirts and pants from high school that fit me, but my wife has made me swear to never wear my baggy jeans from the 90s again. :'(
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We've got a ton of kitchen stuff that's old but works really well. 40 year old microwave and blender, 30 year old stand mixer, etc. Most of my construction hand tools were inherited from my father (and some of those were inherited from my grandfather) and they all work just fine. I still have a few shirts and pants from high school that fit me, but my wife has made me swear to never wear my baggy jeans from the 90s again. :'(
The fact that you still have them and there still baggy is a good thing! Sounds like you have maintained close to the same size. Not sure that would be still the case for me but I did grow about 9" after I graduated and went into the military.
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@meteor - I agree with @PapaBear that your subject title is misleading and possibly derogatory towards Warren Buffett. While he eschews the most expensive homes and newest cars preferred by the billionaire set, by all accounts his possessions are more reflective of a typical upper-middle class white collar worker. He drives an upper-tier luxury Cadillac sedan and his very large manicured home in Omaha is more than triple what the median home price is in that city. Unquestionably he can afford all he has, but he's living a very, very comfortable lifestyle.
I highly doubt he has any half-functional or damaged appliances kicking around.
Also - you spelled his last name wrong in the Subject line.
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Buffett only drives 3,500 miles a year. That's pretty mustachian for a billionaire i'd say.
https://www.businessinsider.com/5-of-warren-buffetts-most-frugal-habits-2017-5#buffett-treats-his-friends-well-but-not-extravagantly-5
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My hairbrush was given to me by my grandmother when I was about 8 years old. It's Mason Pearson brand, with boar bristles, and is the best hairbrush I have EVER used.
Its handle broke off when I was a teenager. One of my parents then tossed the brush in the trash, but fortunately I noticed it fished it out.
Over the years of use it has become totally battered, but it works as well as ever, and I still love it and use it every day.
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So funny about the hairbrush. I have one that I got when I was 15. I still use it daily, despite a number of attempts at replacement, which all fell short. I'm 53, so that makes my brush 38 years old.
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I have hand tools that belonged to my great grandfather. My favourite drill is one my Dad gave me for my first apartment more than 40 years ago. I've been given modern battery ones, and always go back to the old one. I just like it better.
Also a small electric hand mixer that I paid $3 for back in the 60s that still works perfectly. I use it every time I make birthday cakes for friends and family.
Wine glasses I got for free with gas purchases from Texaco in the 60s - they still look new.
A serrated knife that I think was a ginzu (sp?) knockoff that I bought for my first apartment. Cost me 19 cents, and it still cuts through turkey, bread or cardboard like it's going through butter.
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My understanding is Warren Buffett is one of the richest people in the world but he still chooses to drive an old car. As a post-fire person, is there a Warren Buffet type of item you keep around because it works, but people keep suggesting you get a new one?
Mine:
-My microwave only has 2 working buttons, but it's all I need for heating things up.
-I have a 1970's melted-looking stove (it came with the house I bought), but it's been working fine for 17 years (pic) and new stoves seem way overpriced and cheaply made.
I'm not cheapskate or stubborn. I just don't like shopping, and these old ones work just fine.
My microwave oven has a bit of rust from condensation.
It's unsightly but as long as the oven works I'll keep it.
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@meteor - I agree with @PapaBear that your subject title is misleading and possibly derogatory towards Warren Buffett. While he eschews the most expensive homes and newest cars preferred by the billionaire set, by all accounts his possessions are more reflective of a typical upper-middle class white collar worker. He drives an upper-tier luxury Cadillac sedan and his very large manicured home in Omaha is more than triple what the median home price is in that city. Unquestionably he can afford all he has, but he's living a very, very comfortable lifestyle.
I highly doubt he has any half-functional or damaged appliances kicking around.
I always laugh when I read about WB's "austerity". Sure, he may have an old vehicle that he doesn't drive much, but is it the only vehicle he owns? Skeptical me kinda doubts it. Same with the house. Are we sure he doesn't own a lovely little vacation chalet or villa on a lake somewhere? Does he rent luxury hotel suites whenever he travels? Have a car snd driver or even a private plane at his disposal?
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@meteor - I agree with @PapaBear that your subject title is misleading and possibly derogatory towards Warren Buffett. While he eschews the most expensive homes and newest cars preferred by the billionaire set, by all accounts his possessions are more reflective of a typical upper-middle class white collar worker. He drives an upper-tier luxury Cadillac sedan and his very large manicured home in Omaha is more than triple what the median home price is in that city. Unquestionably he can afford all he has, but he's living a very, very comfortable lifestyle.
I highly doubt he has any half-functional or damaged appliances kicking around.
I always laugh when I read about WB's "austerity". Sure, he may have an old vehicle that he doesn't drive much, but is it the only vehicle he owns? Skeptical me kinda doubts it. Same with the house. Are we sure he doesn't own a lovely little vacation chalet or villa on a lake somewhere? Does he rent luxury hotel suites whenever he travels? Have a car snd driver or even a private plane at his disposal?
Warren Buffett's lifestyle is well documented, and despite the common narrative it isn't one of a penny-pinching miser. His primary residence (the same one he's lived in since 1958) has five bedrooms and is a whopping 6,500sqft. He also owned a vacation home in Laguna Beach, California which he recently sold for $7.1MM. He bought his first private jet in the 1990s (a Bombardier Challenger he christened "The Indefensible" - a nod to his earlier criticism of CEOs having their own jets). More recently he bought a controlling stake in NetJets, giving him access to their jet-pool fleet, which he and his family uses extensively. His most recent car is a 2014 Cadillac XTS - purchased new - at an estimated $72k.
I'm a huge fan of Warren Buffett, but it's frankly weird how everyone believes him to be living this stoic, thrifty lifestyle. Sure, he spends just a tiny fraction of his estimated $86B+ net worth, but his lifestyle only appears modest if you compare him to spendy-pants members of the hundred-millionaire's and billionaires club.
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I have a stapler and hole punch that my father brought home in 1972 when his office was shutting down. They were made to last...
I have an old hole punch that was made in Taiwan.
It still works perfectly.
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@meteor - I agree with @PapaBear that your subject title is misleading and possibly derogatory towards Warren Buffett. While he eschews the most expensive homes and newest cars preferred by the billionaire set, by all accounts his possessions are more reflective of a typical upper-middle class white collar worker. He drives an upper-tier luxury Cadillac sedan and his very large manicured home in Omaha is more than triple what the median home price is in that city. Unquestionably he can afford all he has, but he's living a very, very comfortable lifestyle.
I highly doubt he has any half-functional or damaged appliances kicking around.
I always laugh when I read about WB's "austerity". Sure, he may have an old vehicle that he doesn't drive much, but is it the only vehicle he owns? Skeptical me kinda doubts it. Same with the house. Are we sure he doesn't own a lovely little vacation chalet or villa on a lake somewhere? Does he rent luxury hotel suites whenever he travels? Have a car snd driver or even a private plane at his disposal?
Warren Buffett's lifestyle is well documented, and despite the common narrative it isn't one of a penny-pinching miser. His primary residence (the same one he's lived in since 1958) has five bedrooms and is a whopping 6,500sqft. He also owned a vacation home in Laguna Beach, California which he recently sold for $7.1MM. He bought his first private jet in the 1990s (a Bombardier Challenger he christened "The Indefensible" - a nod to his earlier criticism of CEOs having their own jets). More recently he bought a controlling stake in NetJets, giving him access to their jet-pool fleet, which he and his family uses extensively. His most recent car is a 2014 Cadillac XTS - purchased new - at an estimated $72k.
I'm a huge fan of Warren Buffett, but it's frankly weird how everyone believes him to be living this stoic, thrifty lifestyle. Sure, he spends just a tiny fraction of his estimated $86B+ net worth, but his lifestyle only appears modest if you compare him to spendy-pants members of the hundred-millionaire's and billionaires club.
Thanks for this, nereo. I don't know or care much about WB' lifestyle, but those austerity stores never pass my smell test. What I wrote was pure speculation. Fun to know I wasn't far off.
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I have couches bought from Jordan's Furniture, pre-Berkshire Hathaway corporate buyout. I could make them like new if I raised the bridge, filed down the nut and took the buzz out of the low E.
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I have couches bought from Jordan's Furniture, pre-Berkshire Hathaway corporate buyout. I could make them like new if I raised the bridge, filed down the nut and took the buzz out of the low E.
What tuning to you usually run your couches at?
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A Kitchenaid stand mixer that's older than I am. My mom still regrets giving it to me so she could "upgrade" to a new one. She says the old one has more power.
Gas station steak knives that my parents got in the '70s and handed down to me... free knife when you filled up your tank, or something like that. Anyone else have these? The handles are dark brown/black plastic carved in a sad attempt to look like wood.
Clothes from at least 20 years ago. My favorite party pants from college are now workout pants.
Someone who makes significantly less than I do at work the other day complained about her old iPhone. It was a 7. So I pulled out what I consider my very fancypants SE (released between the 5 and the 6), purchased used, and she was aghast.
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I'm a huge fan of Warren Buffett, but it's frankly weird how everyone believes him to be living this stoic, thrifty lifestyle. Sure, he spends just a tiny fraction of his estimated $86B+ net worth, but his lifestyle only appears modest if you compare him to spendy-pants members of the hundred-millionaire's and billionaires club.
I'd have to check to be sure, but I believe when he was talking about his tax returns it turns out he spends about $2 million a year. Which I'm sure buys a pretty nice lifestyle. But he probably averages $10 million a day in stock appreciation, so for him it is less than a rounding error. Probably fair to say he's experienced some hedonic adaptation, but but at a far lower rate than most people.