Making mustachian friends

[asauer]

We've been on our mustachian path for 3.5 yrs now and doing well with optimization.  But, we've lost most of our friends in the process.  They spend as we used to; going out every weekend, dropping boatloads on travel and clothes etc.  We've tried inviting them over for drinks, dinner and I go window shopping while the others actually buy.  Occasionally we'll meet for dinner or drinks too but not often b/c it's expensive to pay for that AND a sitter.  I think the final blow was that we are no longer willing to pay thousands to travel to the places they go ($2,000 per family for a beach house!).  We still see them, but we're not especially close anymore.  My question is...how do I find more mustachian type friends who will love it if we invite them over for a BBQ and kids play on the slip and slide!?  I thought it would be easier than it's turning out to be.  MAking friends as an adult is tough!

[firewalker]

Where did you meet those previous friends?

[Gretamom]

Did you check the meet up / Social Events forum on the site? 

[Cookie]

It is hard! I have no advice, I just came to empathize.

[makincaid]

Outdoor clubs tend to include a lot of frugal folks. Artists tend to be very frugal as well.

[Thegoblinchief]

There's no special trick. All of our friends are way spendier than we are, but we still get along great, especially after we took it upon ourselves to host a board game night every month. We do it meal from us, bring beer and snacks for guests. I cooked for 20 people last Saturday for less than $20 and everyone had a blast.

I think board games are a great way to meet people. Even when they're spendier than you, board gaming is best done at people's houses anyways, so there's none of the "we should go out" bias operating.

[StockBeard]

It is hard! I have no advice, I just came to empathize.

+1 here. It's tough to make friends as an adult, it's tougher when you don't live a "conventional" life.

I like the board games idea. Mostly because I like board games.

[Cougar]

 you can still do it, you just dont join 'em on trips to stay at loinhead at vail.

 and skip the 5 star restaurant invites. they'll figure out you're not going to spend like they are but unless they're pigheaded, they wont drop you as friendsl they just wont invite you to most things that are a pricey event.

 then, when they're still working weekends at 60 and you're backpacking across the state of montana, they'll have their coulda had a V-8 moment and the good friends will let you know you were really smart.

[Zikoris]

Does your area have much of a Meetup.com community? It's REALLY popular in Vancouver at least. I'm a member of a ballroom dancing group, a childfree group, and our local Mustachian meetup. It's a great way to meet people with similar interests.

[MakingSenseofCents]

Definitely check out outdoor clubs, such as for hiking, rock climbing (if you do so), and so on.

[Mrs.LC]

I agree that it is tough to meet people who think like we do. You have to keep putting yourself out where like-minded people would hang out and eventually you will find some.  A good place for us to meet new people has been at the YMCA during the day.  Join a class or league and start talking.

[Davids]

I agree it is hard to make new friends as an adult. If you have kids you have to rely on them so they make friends and you meet their parents.