Money Magazine "Early Retirement Guide 2017"

[DieHard_772]

The latest edition of Money Magazine features highly a Mustachian type conversation about retiring early.

Here's a quote from the beginning:

"Reset your relationship with money

"The first and probably most critical step if you really want to retire early is to assume a whole new attitude toward your finances. Every decision to spend money has to be a conscious tradeoff weighed against your goal. A little belt-tightening won't do it.  It's saying no to big-ticket expenditures that makes the difference, not swearing off your daily latte.....

"The goal, in short, is to live far below your means so that you can shovel away an outsize portion of your income. How much? Aim for at least 30%, financial planners say, vs. the conventional target of 10% to 15% for a typical 40-year career.  To do that make savings a nonnegotiable item in your budget....

30% may not be exactly MMM levels (though it's something I'm still aiming for), but the sentiment is quite nice.  It helped clarify for me a way of explaining this to my wife so she gets what we are doing even more. 

[ketchup]

30% is still streets ahead of what the crowd is doing, or even recommending.  I'd call that progress.

[prognastat]

I'd say it is better than the mainstream beliefs and probably progress, but at the same time though I agree that big ticket items make a difference I'm fairly certain you "daily latte" and similar behaviors actually are a lot more concerning than a one off big ticket expense. Say you buy a large latte at starbucks every day, not uncommon for many, this $5 a day can add up to $1825 a year. That's pretty big ticket when looked at it that way. They would say hey don't buy a branch new top range big screen TV for $1000 and upgrade yearly because that would be senseless big ticket items/ Yet your coffee would be costing you more if you bought a large starbucks fancy coffee daily and for most this wouldn't be the only repeating expense where this would be the case.

[Viking Thor]

Until discovering MMM a few months ago I was in the camp that small items like buying a daily coffee at work do not make a big enough impact to justify doing without.

Since then I stopped and only drink the free work coffee. I realized it's not the one daily coffee, which is actually not a big deal by itself, but all the "little things" as a whole add up quite a bit.

I am still not very mustachian compared to most on this website  but trying to move in that direction.

FYI - don't miss the daily coffee at all now that I stopped, the free stuff seems perfectly good to me. Same with other little changes, none of them seemed like a hardship once I did them.

[prognastat]

Until discovering MMM a few months ago I was in the camp that small items like buying a daily coffee at work do not make a big enough impact to justify doing without.

Since then I stopped and only drink the free work coffee. I realized it's not the one daily coffee, which is actually not a big deal by itself, but all the "little things" as a whole add up quite a bit.

I am still not very mustachian compared to most on this website  but trying to move in that direction.

FYI - don't miss the daily coffee at all now that I stopped, the free stuff seems perfectly good to me. Same with other little changes, none of them seemed like a hardship once I did them.

Yeah it's the daily coffee AND eating out every few days AND regularly not bringing lunch to work etc etc. Any one of those is bigger than most people realize, but for most people it's not just one thing.

[RyanAtTanagra]

30% is still streets ahead of what the crowd is doing, or even recommending.  I'd call that progress.

I lol'd at 'streets ahead'.  First time I've seen that used in the real world.  RIP Pierce.  May he rest in Pierce.

I realized it's not the one daily coffee, which is actually not a big deal by itself, but all the "little things" as a whole add up quite a bit.

When I first got into personal finance, due to being always broke, paycheck to paycheck, and having NO idea where my money was going, etc, I quickly hit a 50% savings rate just by tracking and cutting out all the little things.

[ketchup]

30% is still streets ahead of what the crowd is doing, or even recommending.  I'd call that progress.

I lol'd at 'streets ahead'.  First time I've seen that used in the real world.  RIP Pierce.  May he rest in Pierce.

I shoehorn that in whenever possible. If you don't understand, well then I guess you're just streets behind.

[DieHard_772]

When I first got into personal finance, due to being always broke, paycheck to paycheck, and having NO idea where my money was going, etc, I quickly hit a 50% savings rate just by tracking and cutting out all the little things.

Wow, that's awesome.  Not quite there yet myself, yet looking forward to it.

[DieHard_772]

Until discovering MMM a few months ago I was in the camp that small items like buying a daily coffee at work do not make a big enough impact to justify doing without.

Since then I stopped and only drink the free work coffee. I realized it's not the one daily coffee, which is actually not a big deal by itself, but all the "little things" as a whole add up quite a bit.

I am still not very mustachian compared to most on this website  but trying to move in that direction.

FYI - don't miss the daily coffee at all now that I stopped, the free stuff seems perfectly good to me. Same with other little changes, none of them seemed like a hardship once I did them.

I totally agree.  Nowadays we save large amounts by our daily habits.  Last year we spent $3000 less on groceries.
It adds up.

[Dicey]

30% is still streets ahead of what the crowd is doing, or even recommending.  I'd call that progress.

I lol'd at 'streets ahead'.  First time I've seen that used in the real world.  RIP Pierce.  May he rest in Pierce.

I shoehorn that in whenever possible. If you don't understand, well then I guess you're just streets behind.

Too good not to share...

https://youtu.be/rf1GSjo4zSY

[Tyson]

The fact that this made it into a major publication is pretty awesome.

[Rosy]

Wow - that is amazing to read in a popular magazine such as Money. I think I need to show this to Mr. R. who seems to temporarily have dropped out of the program altogether.

[Davids]

30%, I would need to make a lot of big purchases and constantly go out to lunch to decrease my savings rate to 30%

[DieHard_772]

30%, I would need to make a lot of big purchases and constantly go out to lunch to decrease my savings rate to 30%

Way to go.  I'm inching towards there. 

[Brother Esau]

Before MMM, the DW and I routinely had a weekly grocery budget over $200. It is now under $100 simply by paying attention to the "little" things. $5,200 per year!

[Drifterrider]

I was taught at a very early age that I could spend it or I could keep it but I couldn't do both.

Anyone remember "pass book savings"?

I was seven.

Being thrifty is a life style: for all of your life.

Anyone hear the saying "mind the pennies and the pounds will take care of themselves" (or substitute dollars for pounds).

Still true.

BTW:  thrifty doesn't mean living on scraps in order to save: it means making wise choices.