Forget frugality... (market, sell, sale, best) - Page 6 - City-Data Forum

user_id · 05-01-2011, 07:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mistygrl092

Thanks to my "penny pinching" ways, my house is paid for and I will not be one of those statistics, yet another reason I support frugality (which one can control) over increasing revenue (which is subject to the whim of external factors constantly). Ok, 'nuff said.

What you're saying here doesn't make much sense, an income of $100k is subject to just as many "whims" as an income of $60k, yet the person with the former can both save more and have a higher standard of living than the second.

The question here is whether one gains more by penny-pinching or focusing on generating more revenue, yet you keep speaking as if only the penny-pincher is saving money.

mistygrl092 · 05-01-2011, 07:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by user_id

What you're saying here doesn't make much sense, an income of $100k is subject to just as many "whims" as an income of $60k, yet the person with the former can both save more and have a higher standard of living than the second.

The question here is whether one gains more by penny-pinching or focusing on generating more revenue, yet you keep speaking as if only the penny-pincher is saving money.

Look, you're the one who came into this forum saying you had an issue with frugality, not me. You want to just raise revenue? Be my guest. If you're smart, you'll do both.

And your reading comprehension is lacking, as I previously said if you can do both, do both (hint - that meant save more, be more frugal and make more money).

muochoir · 05-01-2011, 07:43 PM

Yeah, why not both?

user_id · 05-01-2011, 07:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mistygrl092

Look, you're the one who came into this forum saying you had an issue with frugality, not me. You want to just raise revenue? Be my guest. If you're smart, you'll do both.

I don't post much in this forum as I'm not interested in penny-pinching, but I largely agree with the article posted in the OP.

Anyhow, its a question of where you spend your time and effort, do you spend it trying to penny-pinch or do you spend it trying to increase revenue? The latter is more powerful and can result in far larger gains. In terms of doing both, there is only so much time in the day.

You can't penny-pinch yourself to riches....

mistygrl092 · 05-01-2011, 08:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by user_id

I don't post much in this forum as I'm not interested in penny-pinching, but I largely agree with the article posted in the OP.

Anyhow, its a question of where you spend your time and effort, do you spend it trying to penny-pinch or do you spend it trying to increase revenue? The latter is more powerful and can result in far larger gains. In terms of doing both, there is only so much time in the day.

You can't penny-pinch yourself to riches...

From "The Millionaire Next Door"...

Quote:

* We live well below our means. We wear inexpensive suits and drive American-made cars. Only a minority of us drive the current-model-year automobile. Only a minority ever lease our motor vehicles. * Most of our wives are planners and meticulous budgeters. In fact, only 18 percent of us disagreed with the statement "Charity begins at home." Most of us will tell you that our wives are a lot more conservative with money than we are.

http://www.nytimes.com/books/first/s...llionaire.html

Snort · 05-01-2011, 08:20 PM

Quote:

...drive American-made cars.

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Press on third one down.

muochoir · 05-01-2011, 08:44 PM

I believe being frugal is as powerful as trying to increase income. We have good savings because of both. How frugal can we be? I guess we can do better at it. How far can we increase our income? I'm sure there's a realistic limit. I hope we have not hit the ceiling.

user_id · 05-01-2011, 10:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mistygrl092

From "The Millionaire Next Door"...

Okay? And yet, you still can't penny-pinch yourself to riches. Part of the allure to books like "The Millionaire Next Door" is that the average Joe can become wealthy if he/she just saves and lives a frugal lifestyle. Of course, its complete rubbish, although its true that you're not going to build serious wealth if you're always spending your money the converse is not true, namely, its not the case that if you don't spend your money that you will build serious wealth.

One builds wealth by focusing on wealth building activities, not by focusing how you can save a buck by doing XYZ.

user_id · 05-01-2011, 10:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by muochoir

I believe being frugal is as powerful as trying to increase income.

Why? The median household income in the US is around $50k, hence even if the average family cuts spending its not going to result in much in terms of saving. On the other hand, anybody in this country can generate huge sums.

As far as I'm concerned the "frugality mentality" is far more of a fetter to financial success than a benefactor.

barney_rubble · 05-01-2011, 10:27 PM

Earning more money allows you to save more money given constant spending. I never could have figured that one out without such a helpful article. It's a good thing those brilliant souls who passed first grade math are willing to share their secrets with the rest of us.

On the other hand, I'm still not seeing how frugality and higher earnings are mutually exclusive. If "there are just two ways to improve your financial situation: earn more or cut costs," wouldn't it be wise to do both?