Comments on: Lifestyle Creep… Isn’t That Kind of the Point?

By: J. Money

J. Money — Mon, 14 Oct 2019 15:35:13 +0000

Nicely played!!

That’s gonna be a huge chunk back into the cash flow for you – way to pull it off in the end, that’s not easy!

By: spiffikins

spiffikins — Sun, 13 Oct 2019 03:28:41 +0000

When I went from renting a room in a condo, to buying my own house, that was the biggest impact to my spending – it’s been nearly 10 years of significantly higher housing costs – I went from $800/month to about $2700/month – including HOA and property taxes. It was a conscious decision, and it was done so that I could pay off my mortgage in 11 years, instead of 30.

In under a year, my housing cost will go back down to just under $750/month – HOA and property taxes – and I will have an asset that has more than doubled in value.

The trick will be to continue to use that mortgage money in productive ways – automatic investing – so that it doesn’t get frittered away each month!

By: Mrs. Finance

Mrs. Finance — Sat, 12 Oct 2019 17:58:07 +0000

I love that you invested in an e-bike. We both have normal hybrid bikes that are in working condition, so we’re not ready to make the leap yet. Eventually, we do want e-bikes, since that’ll make going up hills a lot easier and a less sweaty occasion. It’ll make us want to bike more too. TSA Pre-check and global entry are great too, especially if traveling often. Even when not traveling often, we’ve considered it since waiting in line sucks. Great post overall!

By: Katie @ Agape Investing

Katie @ Agape Investing — Sat, 12 Oct 2019 15:56:26 +0000

I really enjoy your list of things you optimize. It’s almost like asking yourself, what are the things that you value the most? And being intentional to not spend on the things that you don’t value. Something on my own personal optimized list would be camping equipment. My husband and I really value our time camping and we try to get out often. So we have some pretty good equipment, but we also know that it will last us a long time and we will get a lot of enjoyment out of it!

By: J. Money

J. Money — Fri, 11 Oct 2019 15:40:59 +0000

In reply to Money Mage. Well done man!! You must be stashing like crazy over there!

By: Money Mage

Money Mage — Fri, 11 Oct 2019 14:31:38 +0000

Great Article!

I haven’t allowed myself a ‘raise’ in forever – my cost of living is the same as it was when was paid 1/3 what I was today.

Most of my peers do the opposite, and they run around, buy silly expensive cars, rent massive houses, multiple huge holidays a year. They’re still not happy.

There is a lot to be said for finding contentment elsewhere and not getting on the consumerist bandwaggon.

The great thing about the UK is you can place most of your extra income in a pension for 0% tax at point of contribution. It’s really easy and tax efficient to just save that way – you can’t touch the money until you are 55 as well. I just plough raises into pension nowadays.

By: J. Money

J. Money — Wed, 09 Oct 2019 10:46:57 +0000

In reply to Katie. Smart move w/ the 401k increases!!! Investments go up without feeling any pain! ;)

By: Katie

Katie — Tue, 08 Oct 2019 16:10:22 +0000

I haven’t allowed myself a “raise” in 10 years… every year my 401k contribution goes up the same % as my raise.

This does kinda keep lifestyle creep in check. However, when one expense goes down or goes away, it seems I just use it to fund something else – that isn’t always an “optimization”.

Need to look into that more!

By: Nick Loper

Nick Loper — Thu, 03 Oct 2019 17:12:31 +0000

In reply to Chris @ Mindful Explorer. Thanks Chris! Definitely something we've become more conscious about, and even moreso after having kids.

By: Chris @ Mindful Explorer

Chris @ Mindful Explorer — Thu, 03 Oct 2019 15:38:03 +0000

Great article but near the end one item really jumped out at me. How cool is it that Nick could choose what power source he got his energy from. Renewable all the way ! Let’s have our money tell an important message and keep shifting to sustainable choices.