What is Anti-Mustachian, that you wont give up?

[beachkat]

Living at the beach. We could have bought a cheaper home with a closer work commute that was further away from the beach.

It would have been a trade off meaning we would have to always drive to the beach. Raising our children where they can spend hours exploring and playing on the beach every day is awesome.

[dude]

Starbucks.  Though I've cut WAY down, I still need a cup of Starbucks joe a couple times a week (I bring my stainless steel mug, get the $0.10 discount and order a tall regular dark coffee -- no foo-foo drinks - for $1.76).  I can afford it.

And while I've taken to biking a lot (primarily to the climbing gym and jiu-jitsu), I can never envision myself being without a car.  I like to get away -- far away -- too much.

Jiu-Jitsu is expensive. I would have hard time spending on coffee what I spend on BJJ.

Yep, gotta agree with you there.  I get a law enforcement discount, but still, it's not chump change each month. But I love it, so it's worth it.

[dude]

Starbucks.  Though I've cut WAY down, I still need a cup of Starbucks joe a couple times a week (I bring my stainless steel mug, get the $0.10 discount and order a tall regular dark coffee -- no foo-foo drinks - for $1.76).  I can afford it.

And while I've taken to biking a lot (primarily to the climbing gym and jiu-jitsu), I can never envision myself being without a car.  I like to get away -- far away -- too much.

There are cheaper and far better alternatives to Starbucks. If you're a drip coffee drinker, a $10 pour over cone, a good hand grinder $40, and access to beans from a quality local roaster (freshness is key - or you can roast your own beans: http://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/do-it-yourself-forum!/roasted-my-first-batch-of-coffee-beans!/), will blow away Starbucks acidic brews.

Right, I agree, but that's about 15 more minutes of my morning I don't want to give away!  $1.76 occasionally is worth the time savings!

[dude]

Okay, reading all the things here, I'm getting the idea that I'm not Mustachian at all!

Pets?  check (1 large breed dog, 2 cats)
Travel? check (4-5 trips, including a couple international trips, per year)
Skiing? check (snowboarding actually)
Food?  check (organic, grass fed meats, free range chickens, mostly organic vegetables, cheeses, etc.)
Gym memberships? check (3 of them; climbing gym, regular gym, jiu jitsu academy)

Oy!

BUT I SAVE AN ABOVE AVERAGE PERCENTAGE OF MY INCOME!!!!   hahaha!

[justajane]

Childcare.  My children are amazing little rays of light in my life.  I am so lucky to spend most of my days tending to their needs.  But, one day a week I get to work with adult humans on things that are important to me...or sit at home and cook great meals...or read a book...or think about something other than poop or PB&J.  My husband works long hours.  If I was a full time SAHM without any breaks I would go mad.

I've never thought of our childcare this way, mainly because, as you point out, it is a sanity saver. But I guess you're right that it's anti-mustachian. We have three and currently spend ca. $550 a month on part-time childcare for two of them. Worth every penny. Sometimes I earn enough freelance income to cover it, but when I don't? I figure it's cheaper than checking me into an asylum, right? I exaggerate, but it's not far off the mark.

[greaper007]

Does cocaine and hookers count?

[ketchup]

Dogs.  Three dogs.  Three showdogs.

Big (secondary) car that gets 20MPG.

Fancy food (at home).

But I like to think we do all of the above as efficiently as possible.  We don't outsource any dog stuff. The tank is 22 years old, cost us $700, and I wrench on it myself. We are smart about grocery shopping/food prep and probably spend less than most people that eat junk.

[Dances With Fire]

Okay, reading all the things here, I'm getting the idea that I'm not Mustachian at all!

Pets?  check (1 large breed dog, 2 cats)
Travel? check (4-5 trips, including a couple international trips, per year)
Skiing? check (snowboarding actually)
Food?  check (organic, grass fed meats, free range chickens, mostly organic vegetables, cheeses, etc.)
Gym memberships? check (3 of them; climbing gym, regular gym, jiu jitsu academy)

Oy!

BUT I SAVE AN ABOVE AVERAGE PERCENTAGE OF MY INCOME!!!!   hahaha!

+ 1 Even with the boat, travel, skiing/hockey, we STILL are able to save 25%-50% of income. It's all about balance, and NO we are not high income earners. (Smaller house = more money for travel etc.

[Paul der Krake]

Flying.
The Internet.
Two ply toilet paper.
TV series.

[BaldingStoic]

Craft Beer and overpriced kid activities. 

Beer - Consume a weekly six pack on average ($9 * 52 = $468/year).  Over 10 years with compounding this probably equates to $7,500. 

Kids - Living in a nice neighborhood in San Diego where every kid activity is expensive.  Gymnastics, Soccer, Piano Lessons, Trampoline parks, etc.  Multiply by 3 kids and I'm spending ~ $400  per month, nearly 5,000 per year.  Over 10 years, ~ $80,000. 

[Jon_Snow]

I really can't think of anything obvious...  probably explains why I'm FIRE'd. ;)

I suppose we could cut our cable cost down a bit. But hell, I like watching my "teams" and my wife and I enjoy watching our "shows". Screw that.

But even though I "retired" a few months ago, our savings rate is still 75% (wife income plus dividend stream). To try and nickel and dime our expenses further is really quite silly. We think we have really hit the lifestyle vs. expenses sweet-spot.

[lielec11]

Beer, I am too lazy to brew my own so I will drink the craft and foreign brews.

My "beer/alcohol" bill on my budget is always high every month, right up their with "groceries". There is something very satisfying about drinking a nice 9% IPA or a hearty porter in the winter. Besides, if I wanted to get a buzz I'd need to drink a bunch more Bud or Bud Light to get the same effect of 2 or 3 IPA's. Fair trade-off.

[shesaves]

My Vitamix blender.  It improves my life on a daily basis and I love it.  If it ever dies I will be buying a new one.  Also I covet my MacBook Air.  I'm a recent Apple convert and will never look back!

[lielec11]

Two ply toilet paper.

Does this mean I have to add flushable wet wipes to my list as well?

[TropicNebraska]

I have a 2006 Mustang GT (paid off) that I have kept in storage since we started a family. I'll take it out and cruise with it once in awhile. And my snowblower, I won't ruin my back over saving a few bucks shoveling snow.

[Less]

I am concerned that once i am FI and not working full time, I might end up brewing too much beer.... and maybe making more pairs of skis then i can realistically learn to ski...

Mustachian problems that i look forward to in the future.

[4alpacas]

Dogs.  Three dogs.  Three showdogs.

Your dogs are beautiful!

[hyla]

Definitely skiing for me!  I've managed to control costs somewhat by buying mostly used gear, and I currently have a pass to the local nonprofit mountain instead of the big resorty mountain nearby, but it's still expensive.  But so fun.  Fortunately, I have two pairs of skis with touring bindings, so if I ever can't reasonably afford lift tickets, I can just do more skinning and hiking in the national forest!

[Joshin]

Twice weekly "coffee date" with the Mister, where we drink frou-frou espressos at $3 a pop. We use the basic wussy excuse that we deserve it, because we both work from home AND he would never leave his basement studio if we never went out. We try to keep it cheap -- we use a frequent customer card, have become buddy-buddy enough with the baristas that they spot us a couple of free drinks a month, and I grab groupons when they are available. Oldest kid is 14, so no need to pay a sitter or anything. But yes, these are just excuses and I don't care :) But I do think our four hours out a week connecting and chatting is one of the reasons our marriage has remained kick ass.

We save just about everywhere else, though, and spend well below average and save well above average. We'd cut the dates if our hair was on fire, and we have cut them out temporarily in the past to hit a savings goal or maintain one during down times with our respective freelance careers.

[iris lily]

I've been answering this same question on sites like MMM for years and it's always the same:

Dogs
Wine
Iris 'n lilies

[AsianStash]

Right now? It's definitely the monthly "date nights" with my SO, and this makes up a pretty large portion of my pretty unnecessary expenses. I'm working on learning how to cook, though, so I can just prepare a great meal for her and we can curl up on the couch while watching a movie instead.

My monthly gym membership is also more expensive than it has to be. There's an alternative one in my area that is a third of the price, but I'm sticking with the current one because I like being able to go there right after or before work.

In the future, it will probably be dogs. Both of us LOVE them, so we plan to own at least one.

[Maaike]

Traveling to my parents in Europe every year with my family in the Caribbean. It's $3000 for the three of us.
Spartana, an ex and I have traveled by bike and trailer and 3 dogs which were in the trailers. It was fun!

[iris lily]

For you people having trouble with books, I'll tell you that I believe books to be the Final  Frontier in collecting and decluttering. They are hard for so many people to give up.

I figured that out when I was in my late 20's, probably because I had moved across country a couple of times, hauling books back and forth, and decided "no more."

I look to the public library to be "my" library. That sort of worked for many years until I started buying art in book form, children's picture books. But I stopped that about ten years ago. There are still some killer illustrators out there that are not represented in my collection, but oh well.

Books. And also dishes. A lot of women have trouble with dishes. They have been a problem for me!

[iris lily]

...And then there's the cats. I don't feed them kibble, so they go through a lot of cans of Friskies and Fancy Feast every month, use a lot of grain-based litter, and they get vet care as they need it. A couple of them have chronic health issues, and are on meds. I adopted a foster kitty who had cancer back in January; chemo would not have been an option (cost + suffering + low success rate), but I made sure her final months were good ones. I'm now fostering a 22-year-old cat who is surprisingly healthy for her age, and might end up adopting her at some point.

I have an affinity for old and chronically fucked-up cats. It's an expensive hobby, but I get a huge amount of joy and satisfaction from it. And I'm now experienced enough to know when I really need to call the vet, and what I can do something about on my own. And I also know when it's time to say goodbye, rather than throw more money into forestalling the inevitable.

I do stop every so often and weigh whether I want to continue doing this--is the time, energy, and money worth it? And the answer keeps coming back, "Yes." ...

This is such as uplifting post! I love cats and am really a cat person although in the past 20 years I've been a "dog person who also has some cats."

Thanks for taking them in and double thanks for understanding when to let them go to Kitty Heaven. That is always a hard decision.

[MrsK]

Children.  Mine are 16 and 21.  I have spent so much money on these hooligans over the years, it blows my mind to think about. 
In my yuppie phase we are talking fancy summer camps, boarding schools, trips all over the world and so much money on lessons FOR EVERYTHING.  And honestly, as much as I love them, I don't think they retained a single skill from any of those lessons.  Maybe the boy and soccer.  But I bet I paid over $12K for gymnastics and my daughter can do perhaps a half-ass cartwheel . . .   ;)

Did I mention the horses and the dude ranch vacations??

So learn from an older and wiser mother.  Your kids will be better the LESS you spend on them.  Since I have embraced frugality and introduced them to the concept of paying for their own education and everything else, they have become better kids.  I like them better, we all get along better.  Funny how that works. 

So i will keep the kids and we do have many wonderful memories, but I wish I would have learned to spend less as a parent earlier along . . .

But

[hred17]

Food and travel, hands down.

It's just me and my husband and we are currently saving 55% of our income, so I don't feel too guilty about buying all organic meat, fruit and veg as well as good wine ('good' wine to me means up to - but not over - £10/bottle so still not breaking the bank - lol)! We also love a good pub lunch on the weekends after cold/wet/windy walks out in the hills.

As for travel, well... it is what makes me who I am. My family lives in the States and we live in the UK so yearly trips home are a must plus a few other trips thrown in during the year. That being said, we are big hikers/mountaineers/campers so our typical holidays are on the cheaper side as we own all of our kit to participate in these types of vacations. Also, we realized early on that we are not the 'all-inclusive' type travelers and much prefer to just show up with a rucksack on our backs and find cheap and cheerful adventures along the way.

[Stache In Training]

Cars.... well not so much that I have to have cars or love them so much; but that I live in the 7th coldest town in America, and I've wiped out too many times on ice on my bike to bike to work during the winter.

I also love to eat... but at least still have a food bill about 40% lower than the average.

[Panly]

I am not mustachian at all, since almost all things mentioned so far, would apply to me.

Too much house, too many houses, too many cars, plus a rarely used motorbike,  plenty of traveling, ... I love bourgogne wines, dark beers and red meat, esp. the kind served in nice restaurants & pubs.
And I have lots of very convincing excuses for all of the above as well!




 

[Tetsuya Hondo]

Espresso. I got to have my morning dosage. And, maybe an afternoon dosage too.

But, while still spendy, I've managed to do it with a bit of Mustachianism.

The old me would have spent way too much for a top quality heat exchanger espresso machine and a prosumer grinder, dropping around $3K+. The post-MMM me does it for a fraction of the price, using an obscure hand grinder (powered by muscles instead of electricity!) that has a burr set that's on par with multi-thousand dollar machines yet for an order of magnitude less cash. I also use an espresso machine that is considered entry level by hard core standards, but with some tweaks is still able to turn out top notch brew. When the future me decides to up my game with to a better machine, I'll shop used and refurbish something rather than buying new.

I'm still spending too much on locally roasted beans, but plan to buy an old popcorn popper (thanks to those of you with the suggestion in another thread) in the near future and start roasting my own, cutting my bean expenses in half.

This brings me to the moral of the story. I've found that the more Mustachian way of going about all of this is actually more fun, as it's a more hands on experience. And, I swear that I'm making better espresso than if I did drop $3K on equipment (or, even if I got it from a good coffee shop), because it's forced me to do more research, to optimize what I have, and to hone my technique.

[Villanelle]

Travel.  We generally do it at least fairly modestly (as far as choosing hotels, which airlines, going to places in low season etc.), but we travel a great deal.

Also, unless we move to a major city that has decent transportation, I don't ever see us being a one car family.  My car is very Mustachian (2000 Toyota Echo with 86k miles) but I don't think I'll ever give up having it while DH has a car of his own. 

[Skyhigh]

I think the challenge is when you have your anti-mustachian vice and your spouse does and then the kids demand something of huge personal value and the next thing you know the budget is blown.

Skyhigh

[riverffashion]

Dance classes- have been into it for 14 years and is my favorite thing to do. Besides the endorphins, I feel a lovely sense of freedom, but the social aspect is priceless- as everybody there (and there are hundreds of us) is awesome. $15 a pop. was going 3 days/ week. gave it up for a few months to be mustachian, but decided it is worth the money for me to go. now going 2 days/ week instead. also am very mustachian (and have always been very frugal) with almost everything else.
Also travel. I love it and plan to do a lot more of it throughout my life. But I car camp, or stay with fam/friends, stay at hostels, etc. and I live the way I live when home i.e. grocery shop & cook, don't go to events, don't shop.
I feel okay about these because they give me such a huge amount of enjoyment & live in the cheapest room I could find, don't drive much, don't buy clothes (actually cannot stand shopping!) , or things, or go to costly events.

[BBub]

Maid & Yard man.  DW & I just don't like household cleaning and yard work.  These services will most likely be eliminated when we FIRE, but for now it's so damn nice to come home every other week to an immaculate home and yard.  We are pretty well rounded mustachians aside from outsourcing our chores... cableless, regular bikers, relatively low energy consumers, cook at home, travel on a budget, do hhld projects/upgrades ourselves or with the help of handy friends.  I enjoy all of these other optimizations but still hate cleaning around the house, so that's our AntiMustachian splurge.

[MrFancypants]

Cars, pets, and my wife's cooking.

Everything else is negotiable.

[StartingEarly]

The Ford Escape, driving too much when I don't need to, junk food, getting my hair dyed, and my go fast bike the cbr600.

[Firefly]

2 dogs. 2 kids (and they are not going anywhere for the next 18 years:) ). Perfume - use the same brand for the God knows how many years, and it happens to be pricey. Tried different less expensive options - end up going back to my favorite.

[iris lily]

Dogs.  Three dogs.  Three showdogs.

oh those doggies are nice! beautiful!

[Poopsio]

Sex and blow. I can't stop chasing hookers and snorting all of this coke. It's too much fun.

But seriously. For me it's spending extra money on something I perceive to be higher quality. I know sometimes I could probably buy the cheaper item that will last just as long but I'm a sucker to getting the "best" sometimes.

[Poopsio]

I think the challenge is when you have your anti-mustachian vice and your spouse does and then the kids demand something of huge personal value and the next thing you know the budget is blown.

Skyhigh

I did this to my parents as a kid and I know karma will come my way when I have mine. I'm prepared (I hope).

[Zamboni]

diet pepsi.  Gah, I am such an addict . . .

[Skyhigh]

Our biggest anti-mustachian choice is that we have six kids.

I spent a long time thinking about this one and after reading others comments here and still do not know how I truly feel about it. On one hand children are a choice, and an expensive one at that, however on the other they are what I believe to be ones greatest investment in this life. Not an investment in a financial terms (I wanted to be clear about this because in another thread an article referred to multiple children as a retirement plan) but rather an investment in our time on this planet.

As a younger person I spent many years traveling and living a self indulgent minimalist life. By my late-20's I had reached a place of frugality where I wanted naught and largely did whatever I wanted. Each morning I awoke with the joyous thought that there was nothing that I had to do that day. I accomplished this status though extreme frugality, the wise purchase of a four-plex over a house, and a leisure tour career of working fun jobs here and there such as ski season chair lift operator, fishing guide, or seasonal bush pilot for pocket funds and adventure. Everything was fun and self focused but I was not really all that happy.

In my experience  at least, the Mustachian life for young people can be a lonely one.  Your peers are all working hard, too hard to go skiing on a Wednesday.  Stuck at work and can not dump everything and depart on a three day camping and fly fishing trip because the hatch started early. It also was a very unfulfilled life that seemed shallow, unchallenged, and incomplete. I accidentally had solved my problem of subsistence and when the reality struck that I could continue my minimalist path unabated it was kind of terrifying. I realized that as rents increased in time I would not have to work at all if I did not wish too. The thought of sitting idle in my safe financial nest far removed from the world for the rest of my life seemed like muted potential and would have been a major departure from my peer group and from society in general.

My friends from college were all busy getting themselves eyeballs in debt, married, saddled with kids and careers while I slept in and read books all day. In spite of finding nirvana I was not ready to throw in the towel (Foolish youthful idealism, I know.). I flushed myself out from my very Mustacian den of financial safety and engaged in consumerism and the rat race. As a result after nearly two decades I am now married with six kids and am at the opposite end of the spectrum from where I started. In my youth a day skiing wold have cost me $15 in gas and sandwich now it would be a $700 venture as I had to fill up the suburban with gas and eight people then struggle to pay for eight lift tickets and a small fortune in food. As a single person I traveled the US by small truck and small plane several times. I slept where I was when I became tired and let the day dictate which direction I would go. Now it is difficult just to get to the grocery store and back.

My life today is a massive challenge and frequent hardship. I am stressed, burned out, and very much outmatched by my circumstances, however I do feel that my days are being fully utilized and do not have that purposeless feeling I had as a carefree aimless youth.  I never thought about being a parent as a young person. The life I have today was never really a planned goal. Fatherhood seemed to find me. Therefore I still do not really know how to think about all this. My children are my life's work, the best of my time on this planet and a worthy investment, however also my greatest hardship and the most un-frugal anti-mustachian choice  my wife and I will ever make.

Skyhigh

[MrFancypants]

Our biggest anti-mustachian choice is that we have six kids.

If it is considered "anti-mustachian" to avoid any number of children then I would want nothing to do with the label.  I'm generally anti-label anyway, but I would be violently opposed to that one as it would begin to symbolize pure selfishness to me.

Children are not a "bill" to be cut back on, they're children.  Many people may have made the conscious decision to not have children or stop having children so they could elevate their standard of living, and that's fine, but to deride others for having more is a step too far.

[thesinecure]

I will never give up my truck

I compensate for it's inefficiency by driving as little as possible, something around 6-7k miles per year if that

Yes, I could do even that little bit of driving much cheaper, but I also like to go fishing in the Gulf and you can't get down the beach without 4WD

[Ftao93]

My motorcycle/scooter hobby.

it could be a lot cheaper than a car, but then you add all kinds of gear, bikes for each day of the week, etc.

The good is that you only buy quality once a decade.

The bad is that there are always more bikes :P.

[Unique User]

Not much.  If one of us lost a job, everything extra would be axed.  We have a 50% after tax savings rate not including mortgage pay downs, so the small amount of fluffy stuff we do indulge in doesn't bother me right now.  Maybe my daughter's once a week math tutoring, but I don't view that as anti-Mustachian. 

[MoneyCat]

Two things:  1.)  Our cats whom we love so much that we couldn't imagine going without them, 2.) My Major League Soccer season ticket, which is much cheaper than other pro sports.


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[Lia-Aimee]

Anti-Mustachian:
-My social life (which involves going to cafes and restaurants, neither of which I would care to do myself. Probably an extra $250/month)
-Gifts. I don't buy many gifts, but the ones I do are very expensive
-$30 on mascara a month (freakishly short eyelashes!)
-Clothes. Kind of. I'll pay more for better fabrics and my wardrobe, while quite small, is still bigger than it needs to be (~ $50/month.)
-Smartphone with an expensive plan ($100/month) would like to cut this down but it's my only way to communicate with international family, doubles as a computer.

I tell myself I make up for it by...
-Very cheap housing ($300 including utilities, I have yet to see a cheaper option in my city)
-No home internet or cable or netflix, no electronic/tech toys (including no pc) other than my smartphone.
-No vehicle (spend about $50/month on public transit)
-Very low spending on food and no gym/fitness spending since I travel so frequently for work where that all is included (estimated savings of $200/month)

[iwasjustwondering]

Academic camps for my kids.  Last year I paid $5,000, but honestly it keeps them engaged, working on friendships and intellectual pursuits, and builds their independence.  It also keeps them off damned video games.

[Annie-Blake]

-commuting to work - i could live closer (waaaay more expensive housing) but hubby likes where we live too much
-perfume - Chanel - though a 100ml bottle lasts me about 6 yrs. When i holidayed in the USA last yr I got my 100ml for $130 at Macy's.  Here it is $240..for the exact same thing!
-presents - still haven't gotten agreement from immediate family to cut presents out or do secret santa or just do gifts for kids only...

however, we do A LOT of mustachian things too : )

[Sibley]

My name is Lizzzi and I am a bookaholic.  I try and try and try. I go to the library. I really do. But I am a consumer sucka for books--Amazon Prime is my downfall, both for hardcopies and for things to put on my Kindle. I have a book problem. I need to just say no.

Ooh! My name is Melissa and we should be bookaholic friends. I guess it's called buddies here--this is my first post. Although I do love my local libraries too.
I just started reading MMM yesterday, but I was thinking today that I love my cleaner. Which will probably earn me a face punch.

Yes! Books are wonderful! Books make everything better :) Though I control it by limiting the number of bookshelves and only having as many books as will fit on the shelves.

and cats for me - Sibley and Arwen are my fur-babies