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Fasting costs money, because it implies you still have a body. I save money by not having a body. Not only do I not have to feed it, I don't have to clothe it, house it, bathe it, or take it to the doctor. Cha-ching!
Yeah, but have you accounted for the monthly cost of cloud storage you're now paying after uploading your consciousness online? You may not be saving as much as you think!
Yeah, but have you accounted for the monthly cost of cloud storage you're now paying after uploading your consciousness online? You may not be saving as much as you think!
Damn, you're right. I'm going to have to figure out a hack for that. Any ideas?
Damn, you're right. I'm going to have to figure out a hack for that. Any ideas?
I'm sure you can find a solution if you spend a bit of time surfing the Dark Web. With no body for the police to chase, and with a mind that can now work 24/7/365 without any need for sleep, you're perfectly positioned to carry out untraceable identity theft!
When I fist read the title of this thread, I thought it was about saving (as in not spending part of one's income). I think I am OCD about it. I like to tweak and save more, and save more, and save more. Usually I just save whatever my annual salary increase is, minus 1%. So this year, if I get a 5% raise, I will save 4% more. I get a kick out of it somehow. I think it's what people must feel who are addicted to shopping, but for me it's saving. I sometimes wonder if I am reincarnated from someone who went though the Great Depression (lol).
I never thought of spending less on something that should cost more as saving anything. I am still spending money.
My own observation is entirely the opposite. It has been widely written, how a $5 daily luxury-latte adds up… or driving a car that gets 25 mpg instead of 30 mpg… or paying $50/month for a gym membership that one never uses. Indeed, large savings are composed of small constituent chunks, so that decades and decades of foregoing those $5 lattes can potentially add up… especially if well-invested.
But this discussion misses the fact, that it would take a very large amount of $5 lattes to overcome the increase in equity of a house bought in 1995 in the Midwest, vs. a comparable house bought in 1995 in Los Angeles. It misses the fact, that a dumb business-decision may result in law-suits, criminal charges, forfeiture and bankruptcy… potentially an 8-figure mistake. It misses the fact, that some life-decisions – such as having a child, or retiring 20 years earlier than “normal” – amounts to many tens of thousands of $5 lattes. It misses the fact, that a divorce – especially one late in life – costs inordinately more, than anything that one could have saved through coupons, bulk-purchases or do-it-yourself handiwork.
The more money that we accumulate, the more wise stewardship of the portfolio is paramount, and overwhelms the importance of frugality. Yes, cue the “Millionaire Next Door”. He/she didn’t become a millionaire through lax and profligate spending, or through wild speculation. But having become a millionaire (using the term loosely), daily fluctuations in today’s stock-market overwhelms a lifetime’s cost of lattes.
What’s more appropriate, I think, is to be proud of having been frugal when one was young, when income was tight and decades of stock-market exposure await one – meaning, that a dollar back then would have seen so much more future compounding. Later in life, this incremental saving on daily indulgences doesn’t amount to much.
HOWEVER – and this is a huge, capital-letter however – the thrill of cutting corners, of outsmarting one’s trade-rival and getting more than the usual thing – never grows old. It’s less about money, than about feeling good about oneself, in being clever and situationally-aware and enterprising. It isn’t the savings pe se, of which one’s proud – but of having found a deal, of sleuthing and noticing something that has escaped others. If only such small-time cleverness really mattered!
Saving money is not free—you are so right. In modern day USA, you pay for things with time, inconvenience, or money—or possibly all three.
.
Sometimes:
Like my $300 cashmere sweater I got at the thrift store for $ 6.
I had to go to the thrift store.
But sometimes it's just awareness.
There's a gas station I pass by when I go to the VA (often) which is typically ~$0.18 per gal cheaper.
I make sure I fill up there (same MPG, I've checked)
I have to fill up somewhere, Its not out of my way, although occasionally I do it when I don't feel like it (on 3\4 tank or whatever) but I save several dollars per tank this way, (I go often enough and drive little enough otherwise that I rarely fill up elsewhere.) and in a years time this is over $200 in savings.
I'm about to get 1\4 cow from my fire chief. I'll have to make one trip to pick it up from processing, but I won't be making lots of little ones... And I'll save money and know 'what my food ate' and how it was handled.
Not sure how much I'll save yet, but significant per pound
A couple things like that add up to enough to fund a IRA....
There's a gas station I pass by when I go to the VA (often) which is typically ~$0.18 per gal cheaper.
I make sure I fill up there (same MPG, I've checked)
Not that I do this, but if someone was so meticulous about saving on gas, they would buy 10 gallon barrels to fill whenever the gas price is down. And fill car from there.
Not sure how safe this is in large amounts, but I keep a 5 gallon jug for mower at home. Filled car with it from time to time if I'm lazy about stopping at gas station.
Saving money is not free—you are so right. In modern day USA, you pay for things with time, inconvenience, or money—or possibly all three.
^^^^ So much this. I have limits on how much time or inconvenience I'm willing to trade to save a few bucks. i.e. I absolutely refuse to participate in Black Friday shopping, standing in line and fighting crowds, or spending hours scouring the internet for an amazing deal.
Maybe this falls under "inconvenience", but I will also add the mental energy of being constantly obsessed with deals and bargain hunting. It's analogous to that adage about how holding a grudge is letting someone occupy your brain rent-free... how much brain space do you really want to devote to chasing a lower price, or being constantly vigilant (assuming you have the luxury not to be watching every penny). I want to spend (lol, see what I did there) my life actually living, not center it around purchasing decisions.
When I fist read the title of this thread, I thought it was about saving (as in not spending part of one's income). I think I am OCD about it. I like to tweak and save more, and save more, and save more. Usually I just save whatever my annual salary increase is, minus 1%. So this year, if I get a 5% raise, I will save 4% more. I get a kick out of it somehow. I think it's what people must feel who are addicted to shopping, but for me it's saving. I sometimes wonder if I am reincarnated from someone who went though the Great Depression (lol).
I never thought of spending less on something that should cost more as saving anything. I am still spending money.
Yes, this is how I think, too.
I actually enjoy saving more than spending. It took me a long time to realize most people aren't like me.
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