I can't believe the amount of resentment here.
I don't resent them, I just DISMISS them and everything they've ever said because it was a lie. Saying you make an "average" salary which was ~$50K in 2014 when I read their blog when you really make ~$350k is dishonest, as has been discussed in the other threads ad naseum.
When I found all these FIRE Blogs I was a SAHD making $15-20k on weekends and watching other kids while my wife made about $65K as a teacher. Here I am thinking I'm an idiot for not being able to make ends meet in a Maryland Suburb when they're saving more then 50% of their salary in Cambridge Mass. But its because their salary was SO MUCH HIGHER, that makes in my opinion EVERY SINGLE THING they ever said irrelevant.
Claiming you make an average salary when you make 10-20% above average is an exaggeration, claiming you make average salary when you make seven times the average is a LIE!!
And to answer your question above MMM outlined his approx 10 year salary (and his wifes) leading to their FIRE here:
https://mrmoneymustache.com/2011/09/15/a-brief-history-of-the-stash-how-we-saved-from-zero-to-retirement-in-ten-years/
To really display a waste of finite resources, I present the following:
In my case, it's because I'm the kind of idiot who thinks people are telling the truth all the time, and so when someone gives the very clear impression that they probably make under $100k and live off $25k, and I cannot come close to replicating half of this despite that they also lived in a HCOLA with a baby, it's like motherfuckers!!!! You could have said that your quote about 'not being investment bankers' was actually saying you make well more than most of them.
EXCATLY!!!
The Frugal woods have got rich and retired, good for them! I've got plenty of relatives and clients who have done the same. But none of them look down at me acting like I spend too much money on restraunts or haircuts when they KNOW they made way above average salaries and I don't.
Everything about them just gives me an ick/lying/scammer/out for likes and clicks feeling. On top of that in my opinion they went out of their way to lie by using percentages and saying it excluded investments or even rent and convoluting the numbers so much it seemed impossible to figure out the real story. I understand privacy but to me they were outright deceitful and dishonest.
Like in what world does 401k not count as savings? Article below quote form 2014-
As a result, I’m proud to announce that we’ve hit a savings rate of 82%!
This percentage is calculated from the amount of our take home pay that we save every month, which doesn’t include our 401K contributions–in other words, we max out our 401Ks before calculating our rate of savings.
This means we’re managing to live on just 18% of our combined incomes while we sock away the rest!
They were calculating saving rate AFTER 401k MAXING, what the what?? So your spending about $3,500 a month per her other reports which is 42,000 and you have an 82% savings rate meaning you saved ~$168K PLUS 2 peoples 401k at $17,500 each meaning a total savings of $203,000.00
Add to that the $42K they spent and your at $245K AFTER TAXES meaning they were making around $350K figuring a 30% tax burden between state/federal FICA.
If my household income were $350K instead of $80K then I 100% can guarantee I'd of been able to save more money, not 80% but maybe 50 or even 30. Point being it was'nt the skipping pizza or haircuts that got them to FIRE it was the SEVEN TIMES median household income.
Just say your living on 10% of your income and we can see you spend $35K a year and equate that to a $350K salary. We can then realize we make less, try to make more, or just ignore their Blog and figure it's not for us. But when you go out of your way to beat around the bush and act like 90% of your FIRE success is based on frugality rather then earning it's going to leave a sour taste for us peasants with normal jobs.
End rant/
