Mustachian before there was a word for it

[spiro]

I discovered MMM last fall and consumed every post from first to last over a period of a few weeks. On one hand the concept of RE was eye-opening as it had never really occurred to me and my SO (who is fully on board as well) to save more aggressively for retirement. We always saved, but didn't really have a concrete goal in mind. Just knew that we should save 10-20% and limit debt. But now looking back, I've begun to remember certain habits and realized that I've always been pretty mustachian, even since high school. Here are some examples:

- Worked as a waitress in the summers during high school and college, every night I wrote down what I made in tips and at the end of the month would get kind of down on myself when I realized that I had made $800 per month in tips but only had $700 to show for. Where did that missing $ go?
- I was a resident assistant in college to cover my room and board. This required me to give up my part-time job because it was suggested by our supervisors that being an RA was a big commitment and having a job would be too much. After the first semester, I got another job. Couldn't stand not earning and saving money. Also my mom gave me $100/month in spending money since I was doing all these things to keep my tuition low, but I just ended up saving that each month. Couldn't find anything to spend it on.
- After college SO and I got married and were living outside of a miltary base while he was active duty. All of our friends (also military) got store credit cards and furnished their apartments with brand new living room and bedroom sets, bought new cars every other year or so and spent every re-enlistment bonus as soon as it hit their bank accounts. Meanwhile SO and I bought used furniture on Craigslist, drove our cars from college and opened IRAs and money market accounts. We certainly wasted our fair share on stupid shit too, but not nearly to the extent of our friends.

At the time it felt odd to be the only ones making these decisions, but it was second nature to us and I detested debt. Obviously now I'm glad we made those choices and it feels validating to know that we're not the only ones who think like this.

So looking back, what are some of the things you've always done that were mustachian without realizing it?

[wageslave23]

Everything I do now.  Nothing has changed.  I bet a majority of people on here are naturally frugal and just found a community that supports it.  Then there are some that stumbled on MMM and decided to make drastic changes to their life.  But as an anecdote, I used to save the $100 or so that I got for my birthday and christmas as a child and at the age of 10 or 11 opened a Janus Fund account and deposited the $1000 that I had saved up.  That was the start of my stache.

[ixtap]

There were always words for it, just not necessarily a charismatic trademarked name.

In my family, the preferred term is "parsimonious." I was always told it sounds better than cheap, but that isn't what the dictionary says.

[Enigma]

I used to have envelopes of money set aside dated when I could use it.  Each week I alloted myself $20 and stored the envelopes in my safe.  Got me through college and helped me budget.

[Blueberries]

I can't think of a single thing I've changed.  Actually, I'm lying; I just learned the word "parsimonious" and I will now use it.

There were always words for it, just not necessarily a charismatic trademarked name.

In my family, the preferred term is "parsimonious." I was always told it sounds better than cheap, but that isn't what the dictionary says.

:)

[spiro]

It is a good word. I will store that for later.

Back to original topic- I was hoping other people would have stories about habits they've always done but only recently realized that these habits were "parsimonious" :-)


When reading Millionaire Next Door he talks a lot about how the millionaires are often meticulous note takers and keep spreadsheets of spending. I've done that for years too so it was kind of neat to read that and realized that I too have those habits.

[Just Joe]

We just did the smartest things we saw our elders do. School. University. Learn to fix stuff. Learn to cook. Don't shop too much. Minimize the number of bad habits. Make more than we spend and try to make more. Have frugal fun.

We weren't always on target. The people around us aren't always of the same mind as so many have detailed here. Our choices seem weird to a portion of the people we know. Familiar to others.

[Annie101]

I also just discovered the fire movement last fall.

Things we have always done:
Been a one-car family
Late to adopt new technologies (smart phones, texting)
Rabbit ears (until they didn't get a decent connection, we have basic cable now but no sports, Netflix, etc)
No amazon prime
We always have saved 10-15 percent for retirement, plus extra money for special stuff (paid cash for an addition to our house, over100k, husband took time off work to write a book, paternity leave unpaid, etc)
Refinanced into 15year mortgage
Buy used cars and pay off faster than typical

The fire ideas have gotten me thinking about what more to do

[FIREby35]

I'm an entrepreneur and mustachian with a healthy disregard for authority. I remember being in the 8th grade, going to the grocery store and purchasing all of their gum in bulk then going to school and selling it by the pack for a profit. I'd sell out, come home and count my money, note my costs and profits and do it all over again. The anti-authority part came when the school administration started to suspect something was up and I had to hide my merchandise in all my friends lockers and move it around.

Either way, I told all my friends they could make more money like that than washing dishes for $4.25 an hour. No one listened. They still don't.

Ahh man, clues about the future me for sure :)

[markbike528CBX]

Rabbit ear TV.   I think I bought the last TV sold in the US with a dial, no remote.  If there was motorcycle racing on TV, I'd head down to the bar for an hour.
Lived in cheaper rentals for most of my adult life. 
Had roommates in a two bedroom.  Most roommates were colleagues or summer technical interns. If THEY wanted cable I'd pay half, but not on my own.

Did not own a car in Eastern Washington state (think desert flatland, 20+ miles to work) until I was 30.  Used motorcycle or company bus  until then.

Anti-Mustachian- got car to tow trailer with racing motorcycle.

Never gave in to the "you must have"
  a watch
  a house
  a car
  an expensive girlfriend/wife
 
"you HAVE to" is a phrase that just gets my back up.

As soon as a 401(k) was available I put at least the match in.
Hate debt, payed off student loans in ~2 years.

Payed cash for used car most of the motorcycles etc.

[FIREstache]

I've been frugal all my life - nothing much has changed in the regard.   When I was a kid, I used to regularly count my money to the last cent and log how much I had in a notebook.

[Firehazard]

I started saving 40% of my gross pay at around or a bit before age 40 because I thought I was way, way behind on saving for retirement, thanks to all the "you must have 2 million" headlines I'd read on the subject.  I was pretty ignorant about personal finance, but I knew I'd never be able to save enough; I hoped saving 4 times the recommended percentage would at least keep me off skid row in my old age.  And look at that, it worked.  FIRED at 53.  Saved 12 years of my life.