What is the most interesting thing you've learned and implemented from the blog?

[Cheddar Stacker]

Cutting my own hair with a trimmer. I'm a woman with short hair that was paying >$100 a month to a nice salon for a fashionable pixie cut. I read the post on getting shaving your own head, and figured if men can do it, so can I. I wind up looking like a radical feminist for a week (which would not be far from the truth) but then it grows out and looks super cute for about two months.

I think this is the most interesting since I have done it, nobody can tell that I do it myself and nothing is more badass than standing in front of the mirror shaving your head. (Tips for the ladies: use the longest setting, leave a little bang wave in the front and create some "vulcan" sideburns.)

You are f'n AWESOME.

+1.

I'm a guy and I've cut my own hair with clippers (a trimmer) for about 10 years now, long before finding MMM. This is the first I've ever heard of a lady doing it. Very, very nice.

[Joggernot]

Cutting my own hair with a trimmer. I'm a woman with short hair that was paying >$100 a month to a nice salon for a fashionable pixie cut. I read the post on getting shaving your own head, and figured if men can do it, so can I. I wind up looking like a radical feminist for a week (which would not be far from the truth) but then it grows out and looks super cute for about two months.

I think this is the most interesting since I have done it, nobody can tell that I do it myself and nothing is more badass than standing in front of the mirror shaving your head. (Tips for the ladies: use the longest setting, leave a little bang wave in the front and create some "vulcan" sideburns.)

I've given my DW a pixie cut for years.  We've graduated from scissors and comb to using a Flowbee from craigslist.  Same results in less time.

[Gone Fishing]

Roth pipeline (to be implemented)
ACA info (to be implemented)
Also, just having someone to compare with helps get my competitive juices flowing. I always knew I was way above my peers so they weren't much good for egging me on. 

Otherwise just getting motivated for a good 24 month push to knock out FIRE!

[Pooperman]

Thought I would need 2 million to retire. Turns out I only need 750k (1.25MM approx when I retire cause inflation).

[fa]

Awesome thread!

-SWR:  a clear and realistic way to calculate my retirement funding needs, after years of vague answers from financial people
-becoming aware of mindless spending and changing consumerist behavior in response
-rediscovering the bicycle for actual transportation, something I used to know as a kid but forgot as an adult
-becoming aware that I can actually fix and maintain a lot myself, saving money and giving me a feeling of satisfaction

A lot of it pertains to awareness and bringing to the forefront the things I vaguely knew but had never put together in one comprehensive package.  MMM made that happen for me.  It really set me free, the greatest gift anyone can receive.  I know this sounds sentimental, but I mean every word of it.

[RunHappy]

For me there was no ONE THING.  What I learned what that it was possible with planning and hard work. There are many blog posts I still read over and over again, some I'm only starting to understand.

I'm still timid when it comes to investments, so I spend a lot of time lurking in "Investor Alley" learning but I finally rolled over my old 401k into an IRA so I can better manage it. 

Every day I read this blog (and others) and see myself moving closer to my goal every month, I realized that I stumbled on something life changing and wish I could convince everyone else to embrace Mustachism.

[Vilgan]

Big things for me were:

1) Quantifying the cost of consumeristic habits. I'd always been pretty anti materialistic but it was good to understand the benefits rather than just going on a gut feeling
2) Realizing that I would be in a lower tax bracket later in life. I assumed taxes would go up, but didn't think about income. Pre-MMM I was using all Roth in my 401k.
3) Seeing value in doing stuff yourself other than only "saving money". I used to throw money at maintenance without thinking whereas I'm more likely to try to figure it out myself now.

Bad thing I'm still struggling with:

1) Worrying a bit too much about FIRE. I check Mint most days and look at expenses and think about stuff. I think this is hurting me more than helping at this point so I need to learn to back off a bit.

[boognish]

I'm a big fan of MMMs' advocacy of efficiency regardless of social norms and complainy-pants naysayers.

Your commute to work is too far to bike? Move or get a new job

You drive a fancypants car? Sell it immediately, buy a used car

If there's a more efficient way to do something, drop excuses and get to it!

[Gimesalot]

Right now the most interesting thing is...

I can fix things!  All I have to do is try.

For example, we bought a house and one of the apartments was missing a kitchen.  We spent $1500 and have a beautiful kitchen.  We learned how to install a dishwasher saving us at least $200.  We bought used cabinets and painted them.  I learned how to build tile counter tops. 

I think that by December of this year alone, becoming a handylady, thanks to motivation from MMM and the forums, I will have saved over $5k.

[Wanderlusting]

Practicing delayed gratification and more thoughtful consumption has probably been the single biggest idea i've learned from the forums over time. Almost every time I go to purchase something I think about the longterm costs of owning the item, whether it's replacing X or Y object I already own, and estimate the frequency of use. By doing this I manage to put off impulse buying days, weeks or even to the point where I forget what it was I wanted to buy originally.

It's extremely helpful since it allows me to allocate my cash flow more efficiently, and currently with the little free time I have, it's a better method for me to meet savings rate goals and debt repayment targets.

[R62]

I don't think I missed this in the 3 pages of responses:

The Bota Box

Follow it up with The Shockingly Simple Math. 

Right up there with Rolled Oats.

[Joggernot]

Right now the most interesting thing is...

I can fix things!  All I have to do is try.

That's a hard lesson to learn.  You will save a bundle over time!

My hard lesson was "you can get a lot done, if you just get up and do it."

[DSA]

For me, the most interesting thing was that indefinitely long retirement was possible. Almost all the existing retirement calculators I had seen had, as an input, how long I expected to live. Call it fear of death, call it my transhumanist leanings, but this always rubbed me the wrong way. I'm wanting my life expectancy to be significantly longer than what people currently live to, hoping for future technologies to help along the way. For this reason I assumed that I would be working for the rest of my (hopefully long) life rather than hoping my retirement savings burn up at the right rate that I don't outlive them.

So when I saw a retirement calculator (the 4% rule) that was independent of how long the retirement period is, that was really exciting to me.

[RelaxedGal]

What have I actually implemented?

I use Google Maps on my phone every night before I drive home, to get the shortest route in current conditions.  It has probably saved me $10 in gas this summer.  More importantly, this has saved me stress and made my evening commute more pleasant - even when I'm stuck in traffic it's reassuring to know that it's better than it could have been.

[FirePaddle]

1. That you can access 401k money before 65. Learning that simple fact led me to reading topics that come up about tax efficient strategies, which has in turn led me to using them. I max my 401k, I plan on using the 401k-roth pipeline even before I'm fully FI/Free, and who knows how much that simple thing has and will save me. Before I learned about that, I hated retirement accounts because I thought the money was almost completely locked up.

This was on my list as well and a number of people have listed the 401k-Roth pipeline but unfortunately the ACA (Obamacare) made that idea much less viable. I was doing the math for a planned "downshifting" in the next couple years and realized that since I will be getting a health care subsidy due to low income in retirement, every dollar I rollover (and thus increase my annual income by) decreases my subsidy by 13%. Mathematically, its equivalent to a 13% tax on rollovers.

So please, if your post retirement plans include a 401k-Roth rollover pipeline and an ACA subsidy, be sure to re-run the math. That deal isn't as good as it was when MMM posted about it.

I'm not sure I understand this logic.  I assume you mean that you are earning and spending what you spend each year, but on top of that, rolling over additional funds to your Roth in the same year, effectively doubling your earned income?

Our plan is to build up enough savings in after tax accounts to get us through the first 5 years of retirement. In year one of retirement, we'll begin the rollovers, an amount of estimated spending in year 6 of retirement. I suppose well have some capital gains tax to pay on the after tax sales we sell in order to spend in year 1-5 though. If we keep the rollovers low enough to take advantage of some of the ACA subsidies, then we're golden.

As others have said though, unless you're already FIRE and living the dream, health care is likely to change every year for a while.

[Lian]

How to estimate my retirement needs based on my expenses. I was searching for that kind of information, and the retirement calculators were frustrating - I already knew I could retire on much less than the standard 80% of income. Got my answers on MMM.

[Seppie]

I have always wanted to be more handy, but find it intimidating. So I started volunteering for Habitat for Humanity with my teenage son. He's getting something to put on his resume, we're spending time together, we're both learning a lot of really practical skills, and we've met some cool and interesting people. Also, we've gotten to know and like the homeowners whose houses we are working on (two going up at once, right next door to each other) so it feels good to help them, even though we are still beginners. So none of that exactly came from MMM, but none of it came without MMM, either!

[steveo]

I've learned lots of stuff on here. They key one is that you can retire early although my early will be 50.

Myself and my wife have always been frugal but I earned relatively good money and sometimes we just spend it on stupid stuff. We still have moments of spending too much but now its contained. So we don't go on fancy holidays but we never have. We do though go out for dinner when we are on holidays or go for long car trips.

[Squirrel away]

The Shockingly Simple Math (or Maths as we would say over here:)) was the thing that struck me first.

I had been thinking before that we needed to save so we could retire to live on the salary we are on now and thought we will never been able to retire comfortably.:0

I didn't realise that the figure we need is far less and we are more than halfway there already.:)

[Johnez]

Investing with index funds.  It all seemed so mystifying till I read about these super easy funds.

Valuing the little ten dollar soldiers, for what they cost (my time) and what they bring (more soldiers!), and that money works harder than I can.

Compound interest.  It's magic.  I've been told about the magic, when I was younger I thought "whatever man, 4% every year of $1000 equals a half mill sounds great"* but MMM showed what it all means and how to get there.

Basically MMM has empowered me.

Summed up:

Saving is a matter of choice.
Money grows faster than I can earn it!
Investing is not voodoo.  No people in suits to see, no blind shots in the dark.


 *figures are made up!

[Buffaloski Boris]

Being optimistic.    For me this goes hand in hand with the low information diet.

Absolutely!  A low information diet is key!  I think my biggest takeaway is to turn off the news/tv.  I used to have a fondness for the routine of coming home from work and turning on Nightly News with Brian Williams or the local news on in the background as I prepared dinner or 'decompressed' from the work day.  Now, I can't stand the news at all.  It's all just so awful.  When I do want to catch up on the news, I prefer the option of actively reading my local online newspaper instead of passively absorbing the local news channel. 

I think my biggest disdain for local news is that they often make the daily occurrence of "weather" a top news story.  They make it all sound so scary that we MUST tune into them so we know how to survive a rain storm or a gentle breeze!  I can quickly look up the weather forecast in 10 seconds and take precaution as necessary.  I don't need to get bent out of shape when the local news station has "breaking news" that there was hail spotted in the area!! OH NO!!! 

These things also go hand in hand with only focusing on your circle of control!

lol.   Don't get me started.     My wife always wants to watch the weather report on the local news.   I keep telling her she can look up the weather on line in just a few seconds.    By the time the weatherman gets done yammering about fronts and pressure systems I've usually let my mind wander and miss the fact that we might have rain tomorrow.   And so what?   From time to time it rains, hails, and sometimes the wind blows.   I've learned to live with it.   

I also prefer to get my news on line.   I can completely skip all the "news" about Justin Bieber and get right to whether or not bill 1107 passed the Senate or not.    Then I'm done.   The Palestinians and Israelis are killing one another and I don't need to know who fired the most recent shot or threw the most recent bomb.  The  Chinese and Japanese continue to argue about some islands that neither side would give a crap about if the other side didn't want them.    The US is planning to spend my tax money on more warfare instead of fixing my roads.   This, is just an example of a few items in the perpetual cycle of "news", which in reality has grown quite "old".   Why do I need to pay attention to this crap?     

Meanwhile, by paying attention to my finances, I've discovered I have at least $1,000 a month more than I need to live on.   This is by far more powerful information than the "news", because this is in my area of control.   

Amen to that.

[Buffaloski Boris]

The most surprising thing I’ve learned here: hard to choose. All sorts of choices there. But I’m going to give a shout out to portfoliocharts. That’s an amazing tool. And a bit contrary to the top typical “put it all in VTSAX “ line we hear so much.

[RedmondStash]

Some good answers already.

For me, it was questioning societal assumptions about activities that are supposed to be fun but just aren't for me. I hate having my hair cut professionally. I hate getting professional massages. I've done both things many times because they're supposed to be fun, or you're supposed to do them. It never occurred to me to wonder whether I really wanted to.

So, yeah, I cut my own hair now, but more broadly, I've started to ask, "What do I genuinely enjoy?" instead of "What's the done thing?"

And yeah. The 4% rule generally.

[LWYRUP]

Freedom, really.  That there are a lot of different ways to construct a great life.  That there are a ton of interesting and fun ideas to cut spending and to increase income.  That things that seem hard or weird at first can just become second nature. 

I was always a saver, but more of the "work a corporate job you don't like for 30 years and max your 401(k)" boglehead style.  MMM made me realize I have more options than that.  I can work somewhere small.  I can change careers.  I can start my own company.  I don't need to beat to someone else's drum my whole life if that's not what I want to do.

I've had some great successes but also made some mistakes and also some deliberate choices (three kids, moving back to an expensive area near family) but the process of the ride has taught me a lot of skills and also new ways of thinking. 

I will note that batch cooking / meal prepping techniques have been particularly awesome.  I can cook a bunch of chicken breasts and some sweet potatoes on a Sunday night and throw in some chopped veggies and boom have lunches for the week.  It's awesome to put in just a little bit of effort / planning and get a $10 a day return and improve my health in the process.   I'm not bothered by the lack of variety as I get plenty of variety at dinner, on weekends, etc. 

As with most things, building the habit is the hard part.  Once you've got dialed down it's awesome.

[Loren Ver]

Ohh, this is a really good old thread.  So nice to see what people were talking about "back then" :).

For me, strategy (and the confidence that comes with it).  I was always going to retire early (like my dad did) but the actual nuts and bolts were still foggy.  I guess that is why most of my investments are post tax, I lacked a more efficient strategy until a few years ago.

Loren

[save234]

The biggest surprise to me was MVNOs for cell phones.  We've dropped our bill by 90%, and my sister has done about the same.

This!

[Gin1984]

The biggest surprise to me was MVNOs for cell phones.  We've dropped our bill by 90%, and my sister has done about the same.

This!

I've been with ting for 51 months.  It has saved us about $20-25/month in that time so that is $1173 with little effort. 

[iluvzbeach]

PTF and hoping those who’ve posted previously will come back and update the rest of us on what’s changed in their lives over the past 5 1/2 years.

I’ll also add my own post about the most interesting thing I’ve learned and implemented.

[MissNancyPryor]

This was the most fascinating calculator of all.  Seeing that I am far more likely to be dead than run out of money was so helpful in reframing my thoughts on getting off the hamster wheel and stop being so scared to pull the plug on working life.   

https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/welcome-to-the-forum/rich-broke-or-dead-visualizing-probabilities-of-outcomes-in-early-retirement/msg2039750/#msg2039750

[AnnaGrowsAMustache]

I also really enjoyed the Shockingly Simple Math ^TM. So much of accounting and economics seems sooooooo complicated and words I don't really understand and like the numbers and, like, after 10 minutes I'm lost. Just not my thing at all. I think I can prove that I'm otherwise reasonably intelligent. I mean, I don't walk into walls and shit..... Anyway, the Shockingly Simple Math ^TM was, in fact, shockingly simple. It was a revelation. And I guess my attitude to money has changed based on that post. It's not that complicated and there are smart people out there that can speak enough dumbass to make me understand!

[runningthroughFIRE]

This was the most fascinating calculator of all.  Seeing that I am far more likely to be dead than run out of money was so helpful in reframing my thoughts on getting off the hamster wheel and stop being so scared to pull the plug on working life.   

https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/welcome-to-the-forum/rich-broke-or-dead-visualizing-probabilities-of-outcomes-in-early-retirement/msg2039750/#msg2039750

Holy shit, that's fascinating.  I had thought about this in the abstract, but to put some data to it and see the actual numbers is very eye opening.  Thanks for sharing the link to the other thread!

For me the biggest impact is probably having a goal in mind for saving and investing, as well as a more personalized way of thinking about how I wanted to live my life a la Stoicism.  I've always been pretty frugal, but MMM has made me more mindful and conscious of it. Plus I've met and made some of my best friends through talking about FIRE, so that's a net positive to general happiness.

[DadJokes]

I didn't even think of early retirement as a possibility until I was referred to MMM by someone. That's such a silly limiting belief, but it just never occurred to me as an option.

[GodlessCommie]

Circle of Control, low information diet, and the optimism gun are my true favorites however.

To second (or third) this, the most interesting was the philosophy, the worldview. We were always reasonably frugal and handy, but didn't have clarity, didn't see options.

[scottnews]

One of the the most interesting things learned/implemented was that the majority of people are up to their eyeballs in debt.   Thats between MMM and The Millionaire Next Door.    When we walk around the marina and see these 30-40 foot boats, the fancy new trucks that pull them.  I still have to pause and remind myself their existence is owned by the bank. After 6 years, this still blows my mind.  It is everywhere.

[scottish]

It's really fascinating.    Here we are, more freedom than ever before in history and what does everyone do?

Spend spend spend with borrowed money.    It's almost as if they want to be wage slaves!    I try and explain this to DW, but she doesn't believe me!

[iluvzbeach]

It's really fascinating.    Here we are, more freedom than ever before in history and what does everyone do?

Spend spend spend with borrowed money.    It's almost as if they want to be wage slaves!    I try and explain this to DW, but she doesn't believe me!

Bingo! Yes, this.

[Legsofsteel]

That there are many folks who are more frugal than I am.  Before I found MMM I was the frugalest person I knew and I was pretty smug about it. Now I can see that there is still a lot to learn and I am finding new tricks all the time.

Pretty much the same here. Yet I still thought I would have to work until I was about 65+!

The Shockingly Simple Math really opened my eyes to early retirement. The $10 is a lot of money really reinforced this.

[Bloop Bloop]

One of the the most interesting things learned/implemented was that the majority of people are up to their eyeballs in debt.   Thats between MMM and The Millionaire Next Door.    When we walk around the marina and see these 30-40 foot boats, the fancy new trucks that pull them.  I still have to pause and remind myself their existence is owned by the bank. After 6 years, this still blows my mind.  It is everywhere.

It might be different in the US but in Australia the average household wealth is close to $1m and even the median household wealth is in the low six figures so it would not be correct to say that the majority of people are up to their eyeballs in debt.

Some of those boats and cars might just be owned by high income earners.

[RWTL]

This site among others helped me to answer a question I had for 25 years - I'm saving the max, but "How much do I really need to save to retire?" 

In addition, it gave me the confidence to know that I have FU money and can walk away at any time.  The freedom that this has provided is liberating and life altering.

[LWYRUP]

One of the the most interesting things learned/implemented was that the majority of people are up to their eyeballs in debt.   Thats between MMM and The Millionaire Next Door.    When we walk around the marina and see these 30-40 foot boats, the fancy new trucks that pull them.  I still have to pause and remind myself their existence is owned by the bank. After 6 years, this still blows my mind.  It is everywhere.

It might be different in the US but in Australia the average household wealth is close to $1m and even the median household wealth is in the low six figures so it would not be correct to say that the majority of people are up to their eyeballs in debt.

Some of those boats and cars might just be owned by high income earners.

I'm sure you are both right.  Plenty of high earners in both countries, and also plenty of debt.

Look at this link, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_household_debt, click on the most recent year, and sort.  Australia comes out as #2.

The richest countries have the most debt.  It's tricky because high wealth and income makes one more creditworthy, and a combination of just pure demand and everyone else taking out debt drives up home prices in major cities. 

The U.S. is higher in mean wealth and lower in median wealth than Australia.  (AKA, more income inequality.)  But plenty of debt to go around. 

[Metalcat]

More fun with necroposting.

I learned from MMM that if you enjoy working on projects that can be profitable, then an ideal post-FIRE life can be just as lucrative as a day job, if not more (in some cases MUCH more).

So I really don't have to waste my time at a day job saving to a specific FI goal in order to start living my best life.
It may sound counter intuitive, but my biggest takeaway was to stop worrying about my retirement and instead build a life I don't feel a need to retire from.

[triple7stash]

It may sound counter intuitive, but my biggest takeaway was to stop worrying about my retirement and instead build a life I don't feel a need to retire from.

If you haven’t listened to Radical Personal Finance, I would recommend it. There are plenty of episodes revolving around that idea.

[Dicey]

I've been around here for a long time. I couldn't remember if I had commented the first time around, so I just skimmed through the whole thread. So many old-timers have moved on! I hope they're mostly FIRE or at least FI and living happily ever after.

The biggest thing I learned from MMM is that I am not alone. I always felt like a bit of a frugal freak. I didn't mind, because my goals were crystal clear, but there was a lot of stumbling around in the dark trying to get there. Through MMM and this Forum, I have found My Tribe. If the internet and Pete, et al,  had existed when i was in my twenties, the journey to FIRE would have been much faster and far less lonely. I am forever grateful.

[Buffaloski Boris]

I didn't even think of early retirement as a possibility until I was referred to MMM by someone. That's such a silly limiting belief, but it just never occurred to me as an option.

I’d heard about FIRE a few years back and dismissed it out of hand. Then ran across it a couple more times. And finally gave it an objective think.  Hook, line, and sinker.

[Buffaloski Boris]

More fun with necroposting.

I learned from MMM that if you enjoy working on projects that can be profitable, then an ideal post-FIRE life can be just as lucrative as a day job, if not more (in some cases MUCH more).

So I really don't have to waste my time at a day job saving to a specific FI goal in order to start living my best life.
It may sound counter intuitive, but my biggest takeaway was to stop worrying about my retirement and instead build a life I don't feel a need to retire from.

Necroposting is fun. What’s old is new again.

[LWYRUP]

I have always wanted to be more handy, but find it intimidating. So I started volunteering for Habitat for Humanity with my teenage son. He's getting something to put on his resume, we're spending time together, we're both learning a lot of really practical skills, and we've met some cool and interesting people. Also, we've gotten to know and like the homeowners whose houses we are working on (two going up at once, right next door to each other) so it feels good to help them, even though we are still beginners. So none of that exactly came from MMM, but none of it came without MMM, either!

Necroposting here but this warms my heart.  What a great way to help your community, be a great parent and learn in the process!

[Rosy]

It's really fascinating.    Here we are, more freedom than ever before in history and what does everyone do?

Spend spend spend with borrowed money.    It's almost as if they want to be wage slaves!    I try and explain this to DW, but she doesn't believe me!

Bingo! Yes, this.

I always wonder what the attraction can possibly be to actually want to be working for someone else, at their discretion, their beck and call, with no power over even my own damn time, from taking lunch to taking a long vacation.
Worse when you have to beg for a day off to deal with something of importance or tend to your own sick child.

[2sk22]

I didn't even think of early retirement as a possibility until I was referred to MMM by someone. That's such a silly limiting belief, but it just never occurred to me as an option.

That makes two of us!! I don't know why, but it never even occurred to me that I did not have to wait until age 65 to retire. Once I internalized this and ran the fire simulators, I was able to quit my megacorp job.

[Metalcat]

It's really fascinating.    Here we are, more freedom than ever before in history and what does everyone do?

Spend spend spend with borrowed money.    It's almost as if they want to be wage slaves!    I try and explain this to DW, but she doesn't believe me!

Bingo! Yes, this.

I always wonder what the attraction can possibly be to actually want to be working for someone else, at their discretion, their beck and call, with no power over even my own damn time, from taking lunch to taking a long vacation.
Worse when you have to beg for a day off to deal with something of importance or tend to your own sick child.

Umm...maybe because it's not always like that?

I have none of those issues with any of the 3 businesses that I do work for.

[zinnie]

Besides the concept of FIRE in general, of course:

-The idea that challenge and small discomforts are good. I often do the harder or more physically demanding thing intentionally now, and the challenge of it makes me enjoy things more than doing things the "easy" way. Walk/bike to get groceries, run home from work, train/bus instead of Uber, walk to hardware store and carry heavy things home. It makes things in everyday life feel more like a challenge and I enjoy that.

-Hedonic Adaptation--if you always have amazing things you'll keep needing more and more. And reducing the number of amazing things actually makes those things seems better. Eating super basic meals just for nutrition for breakfast/lunch often, and saving the fun, tasty things for dinner. Making overseas vacations more rare, rarely going out to eat, finding fun near our house instead of needing to do lots of travel. It saves money and makes those special things feel more special.

-Frugality as environmentalism. I quite enjoy this perspective from MMM and it moved me further into this way of thinking. I started biking for fun, then taking the bus to work, then eventually sold my car and moved somewhere with better transit. Come to think of it, I wouldn't have been in this mindset at all without this blog.