Author Topic: Who have you inspired to make mustachian choices?  (Read 6393 times)

saving_dutchman

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Who have you inspired to make mustachian choices?
« on: December 14, 2015, 09:47:55 AM »
As the title says. Who have you inspired to make a more Mustachian choice and what did you say or do to inspire someone?

I recently inspired my dad. I showed him my charts and numbers and explained it takes no more than an hour every month because I have automated the entire process. A few days later I received an e-mail from him asking me about the software. I helped him set everything up. Time will tell what happens to the numbers now that they are being monitored.

GreenSheep

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Re: Who have you inspired to make mustachian choices?
« Reply #1 on: December 14, 2015, 10:37:24 AM »
I haven't really tried to influence anyone, beyond telling them about the blog and living a reasonably Mustachian lifestyle myself. However, my boyfriend has made some huge improvements to his financial life based on my example. He's started putting money into his 401K, and he thinks more about daily expenses. He mentioned a while ago that he's never dated anyone who openly talks about minimizing costs if we go out to eat. Just out of habit, I aim for happy hours and nights when there's a deal (bottle of wine plus large appetizer for $20, for example -- that's a solid meal for us!), and he was used to having to shell out at least $100 for overly fancy restaurants. I suppose if I could have chosen only one person to influence, he'd be the one, since I'm living with him, sharing a lot of expenses with him, etc. It sure would be nice if some of the spendypants I know would get on board too, though!

big_slacker

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Re: Who have you inspired to make mustachian choices?
« Reply #2 on: December 14, 2015, 02:51:55 PM »
I discussed this site with a friend at work. He took it and ran, over a week doing a ton of spreadsheets and figuring out how early he could get FI. He's seriously considering selling his house, moving to a LCOL (relative to where we are now) and doing a 10 or 15 year mortgage and FI before mid 40's. Very awesome seeing him instantly get it.

StockBeard

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Re: Who have you inspired to make mustachian choices?
« Reply #3 on: December 15, 2015, 12:25:05 PM »
One of my colleagues was definitely on board and started a bunch of DIY after we discussed some of the blog posts I read on MMM. He was already fairly frugal but has cranked it up a little bit since I mentioned to him I did not intend to stay much longer in my 9 to 5. He's the only guy in the company who knows about my plans, somewhat.

EllieStan

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Re: Who have you inspired to make mustachian choices?
« Reply #4 on: December 15, 2015, 03:15:52 PM »
I think I'll get my mother on board. She's super worried about her upcoming retirement and I know my parents don't have much money set aside. My father doesn't have a retirement pension and will work until 65. I'd like to spend more time with her and share tips and tricks to save money while still being active and enjoying many activities. She was into (moderate) couponing when I was a kid and has never been much of a spender. I know it's still in her, she just has to become more confident about her budget-savvy skills.

trailperson

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Re: Who have you inspired to make mustachian choices?
« Reply #5 on: December 15, 2015, 05:21:46 PM »
I'm pretty proud of myself because I recently "inspired" two of my coworkers to start putting money in their 457bs. We get a small match which I had told them about (this doesn't seem to be common knowledge at our workplace) and explained how the 457 worked. And recently both of them asked me to help them set theirs up. And then I patted myself on the back.

Olive Branch

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Re: Who have you inspired to make mustachian choices?
« Reply #6 on: December 15, 2015, 05:48:42 PM »
I got my mom involved in reading MMM's blog and passive investing, and now she's all ready to retire in 2-3 years because she realized there's a lot in life she could cut back on, and where/how to invest properly! I think she's on the board now, though I have no idea what her forum name is!

My sister and her girlfriend are also starting to become more Mustachian. I kind of became the "MMM guru" in the household and helped them figure out their savings for the future. The girlfriend has full legal USA matching for her 401K, 18%! I told her to take that money running ASAP because I have no idea what other companies even offer matching your entire legal contributions to the 401K!
« Last Edit: December 15, 2015, 05:50:32 PM by Olive Branch »

AirbusA389

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Re: Who have you inspired to make mustachian choices?
« Reply #7 on: December 15, 2015, 11:28:57 PM »
i wasn't really inspired to make mustachian choices.

I was appalled by the number of elderly people working as dishwashers and toilet cleaners in Sg. Maybe i was too blinded between 2000 to 2008, it seemed that the half the elderly population decided to come out to work low paid jobs all at the same time. Their monthly wages are 600 usd equivalent (around 900 - 1000 SGD). I didn't want to end up being like this when i am old. Or being retrenched at age 40, when employers deem younger employees more productive and anyone age 40 and above less productive. No, there is no age discrimination policies in Sg. Maybe such policies exist, but there is no enforcement.

Since 2008, shopping malls have been built with breakneck speeds, with one new mall every 2-3 months. The only differences between one mall from another, are: shapes, colours, layouts and locations. the shops and offerings are identical. Every mall (template) feels the same, everything is more expensive than Amazon, even after taking into account of shipping and forex conversion. Ironically, the older malls decided to pursue the high-end market en mass, so we ended up with a bunch of white elephants that no one wants to go to.

Eventually i got tired of this soul-less life. Consumerism. Consumerism. Spend more. Buy more. I started thinking how to cut expenses. I stopped window shopping at the malls; i do my "window shopping" at the supermarket without buying stuff. I started saving more, from 30% of my salary to the current 60-70% of my salaries from 2 jobs since 2013. I'm still thinking of how to reduce costs.

I guess i wasn't inspired in an positive way to begin my frugal / mustachian journey. It was fear which drove me onto this path. I only found the MMM blog and forum in late 2014.

The mustachian concept would probably face a lot of resistance here.

deborah

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Re: Who have you inspired to make mustachian choices?
« Reply #8 on: December 15, 2015, 11:41:05 PM »
My SO

steviesterno

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Re: Who have you inspired to make mustachian choices?
« Reply #9 on: December 16, 2015, 05:51:33 AM »
I got I think 3 of our employees to sign up for the company match in our 403b this year! the company will give us 6% of our salary if we put in just 1% of our own, which seems pretty good. It took almost 3 months to get them to walk across the street and fill out the paperwork, and I had to physically go with them and show them how. But effectively got them raises in their eyes.

dude

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Re: Who have you inspired to make mustachian choices?
« Reply #10 on: December 16, 2015, 05:59:55 AM »
DW, to a degree (got her to agree to cutting out/down many services, maxing 401k, saving more in after-tax account).

Two close friends who share similar passions as me and want to quit the rat race at the earliest possible time to pursue those passions.

Miss Prim

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Re: Who have you inspired to make mustachian choices?
« Reply #11 on: December 16, 2015, 06:52:56 AM »
My son and one young lady I used to work with.  No one else is interested and sometimes they are down right hostile to the idea that it is possible to save enough money for even a normal retirement age.  I wonder what some people think they are going to live on in retirement?  Certainly SS alone would not be enough.

                                                                             Miss Prim

TravelJunkyQC

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Re: Who have you inspired to make mustachian choices?
« Reply #12 on: December 17, 2015, 07:45:13 AM »
My SO. He was never a huge consumer of physical goods anyway, but he never thought much about spending for experiences, even if they were experiences he didn't care for (as in, going out to pubs with his buddies). He still goes out occasionnaly, but he much prefers to have some microbrew beer at home with his boys - bonus, doesn't need to drive. Also, he rides his bike to work now, and we both bike or longboard to the store or anywhere we need to go whenever there is no snow. I also taught him to look at prices during grocery shopping (he didn't before). His financial «vice» is still buying sports and outdoor equipment. Do we really need 3 surfboards, 2 pairs of skis, 3 snowboards, and 6... I shit you not... 6 skateboards? Probably not, but they're mostly all bought used, so hey, pick your battles, right?

Also, his money used to sit in the bank. I got him to max out his TFSA and invest in low-cost funds. I still haven't convinced him to rebalance on a regular basis, but I'm working on it.

Apocalyptica602

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Re: Who have you inspired to make mustachian choices?
« Reply #13 on: December 17, 2015, 07:52:27 AM »
I convinced a buddy who doesn't make a lot of money, but was frugal enough to pay down his student debt, to start investing in his 401k up to the match and open an IRA rather than growing his emergency fund aimelssly because he 'didn't know what else to do with extra money'.

Allison

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Re: Who have you inspired to make mustachian choices?
« Reply #14 on: December 17, 2015, 08:27:41 AM »
My parents and my sister and her husband have both cancelled cable and satellite services in the past couple of months.  They saw how I was managing okay without it and took the plunge.  True they still have Netflix, OTA, Hulu and Amazon but now they don't have cable and satellite on top.

dude

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Re: Who have you inspired to make mustachian choices?
« Reply #15 on: December 17, 2015, 08:33:32 AM »
Certainly SS alone would not be enough.

                                                                             Miss Prim

Actually, it probably is for most people.  Many are doing it now.  Provided they don't have a mortgage, two people pulling down the average ($14k/yr) would be $28k -- more than MMM and his family lives on.  Factor in senior discounts, senior meal programs, etc. and it's doable.  EBRI projects that 75% of Americans will indeed be living on nothing more than their SS in retirement.  Sure, they won't be traveling or dining out and such, but they won't be starving, either, and most will probably be doing what the vast majority seems to do every day anyway -- sitting on the couch watching TV.

2ndTimer

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Re: Who have you inspired to make mustachian choices?
« Reply #16 on: December 17, 2015, 11:28:10 AM »
My neighbors to the extent that three of them now offer me a chance at whatever they are throwing away before they donate or toss it. 

Fishindude

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Re: Who have you inspired to make mustachian choices?
« Reply #17 on: December 17, 2015, 11:47:10 AM »
Pretty proud of my kids conservative, affordable choices for home purchases, automobiles,  and cash and carry attitudes in general.
They have very affordable stuff for the most part paid for, while their cousins are neck deep in debt with fancy homes, credit cards, toys, vacations and new automobiles.

Kitsunegari

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Re: Who have you inspired to make mustachian choices?
« Reply #18 on: December 17, 2015, 11:55:00 AM »
Do baby steps count?
My ex roommate was the kind of person that buys what she wants when she wants it, with complete disregard for price/offers etc. Once she came back from the supermarket and told me "Today I totally pull out a Kitsunegary move! There was a 1$ discuont on the blueberries and I bought TWO! Because I'm eating them anyway, why not buy more when there is a special! That's what you do all the time!"
I guess it's something...

Auldtriangle8

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Re: Who have you inspired to make mustachian choices?
« Reply #19 on: December 17, 2015, 12:15:17 PM »
My wife and I have always been frugal, even before MMM, but even more so now. I have helped several coworkers start contributing to their 401k and helped others to increase their contributions such that they now max their 401k. Convinced a coworker to sell his car since he and his wife both ride to work together most days. Helped a coworker start an IRA using his extra money that he was saving to purchase a new car (he and I ride our bikes to work everyday, and he has a car already). He just never even thought of doing something different since everyone in our office drives new cars (except him and me).

Since my DW and I have never had cable (use free OTA antenna, HTPC for DVR capability, and Netflix), we inspired my dad and mom to cut their cable and use an antenna and Netflix, so small victory there.

Got a friend to look into refinancing her massive student loan amount (~$100k) using SOFI. She's thinking about doing it but isn't sure. She thinks it may be a scam.... sigh.

But mostly I just answer friend's questions about finance and investing. Got a friend to invest in VTI. Most of my friends don't believe it's possible to FIRE before 55 at the earliest. I have shown them Excel spreadsheets, firecalc, etc. but they think I'm crazy. Oh well, I'll just keep stashing away :-)

shadowmoss

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Re: Who have you inspired to make mustachian choices?
« Reply #20 on: December 17, 2015, 12:30:33 PM »
A young soldier was eating lunch with some of us older contractors when I was in Honduras.  He was asking about buying a house and renting it out while deployed when he got back.  I pretty much discouraged this as I had one of those at the time I was trying to unload.  He looked at me like I was the first person to say buying a house was not always the best move to make.  I gave him this site and told him to ask here.  As he was checking out of post he started to say something to me about this site, but I was busy and didn't really realize what was going on.  I sometimes wonder if he is still on here.

PhrugalPhan

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Re: Who have you inspired to make mustachian choices?
« Reply #21 on: December 17, 2015, 01:57:01 PM »
My GF was pretty frugal before I met her, but I have gotten her to take a more proactive approach to her retirement funds (I helped her double them over the last 4 years).  Plus I keep giving her back of the envelope numbers showing she can retire with plenty of money when her pension is available (end 2018).  She was going to keep working extra years because... well more money is always better, right?  She probably has enough saved right now, and would be so much happier not working, but I know I couldn't convince of that, so I'm just letting her go for now.  But at least she understands she can quit as soon as the pension comes online (its a small victory).

Kitsune

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Re: Who have you inspired to make mustachian choices?
« Reply #22 on: December 17, 2015, 02:12:43 PM »
My husband. When I started dating him, his credit was so bad that he couldn't get a CELL PHONE (you guys, I didn't know that was possible). Now he's got a credit score in the high 700s, savings, and we have a house and kid. Our incomes have improved over the years, but not dramatically enough to account for the change.

Also my colleagues, especially one (mom of 3 kids under 5, including twins) who was continually complaining about having no money. If you spend money on household help from 3 different people, OF COURSE you have no money!!

Kris

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Re: Who have you inspired to make mustachian choices?
« Reply #23 on: December 17, 2015, 02:16:38 PM »
A friend and work colleague. I don't know all that much about her finances, but I got her hooked on reading the MMM blog, and she did say to me that she got into high gear on paying off her credit card debt and focusing on retirement saving because of it/me.  Of course, my telling her that I would be retiring at 51 didn't hurt.

Conjou

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Re: Who have you inspired to make mustachian choices?
« Reply #24 on: December 18, 2015, 04:33:36 PM »
I teach at a college and I share my story and the mmm website with every class, hoping they can see how to saw early and design a life oriented around freedom from debt, choices, etc. A few students have taken it to heart and talked with me about it after. Who knows long term what happens, but at least they get another option set in front of them.

saving_dutchman

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Re: Who have you inspired to make mustachian choices?
« Reply #25 on: December 19, 2015, 01:13:10 AM »
I teach at a college and I share my story and the mmm website with every class, hoping they can see how to saw early and design a life oriented around freedom from debt, choices, etc. A few students have taken it to heart and talked with me about it after. Who knows long term what happens, but at least they get another option set in front of them.

That's really amazing. Do receive questions about this subject after your lecture?
I imagine for many of them the MMM idea is new.

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!