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As i brought up previously the term live below your means is really meaningless. Means varies at different times.
The big three eventually gets ost of us. Divorce-illness-job loss all make means meaningless .
In fact what really matters most is the ratio between discretionary and non discretionary income .
You can be living below your means and have one of the big three strike and if most of the budget is needs and not wants you may have no where to cut back.
I mentioned the fact that we live below our budget in queens with a big discretionary spending budget so if a big expense hits we can easily cut back.
But we could have lived in manhattan for the same budget but that budget would be a lot more need and a whole less wants with no where near as much to cut back.
So while live below your means gets spewed all the time on forums it really means little because it does not tell you a thing about how to spend.
there is little information out there that really teaches us how to spend .
you just see the same meaningless mantra repeated, live below your means , but they never tell you what "means " is supposed to mean .
Last edited by mathjak107; 06-17-2017 at 01:32 PM..
As i brought up previously the term live below your means is really meaningless. Means varies at different times.
The big three eventually gets ost of us. Divorce-illness-job loss all make means meaningless .
In fact what really matters most is the ratio between discretionary and non discretionary income .
You can be living below your means and have one of the big three strike and if most of the budget is needs and not wants you may have no where to cut back.
I mentioned the fact that we live below our budget in queens with a big discretionary spending budget so if a big expense hits we can easily cut back.
But we could have lived in manhattan for the same budget but that budget would be a lot more need and a whole less wants with no where near as much to cut back.
So while live below your means gets spewed all the time on forums it really means little because it does not tell you a thing about how to spend.
there is little information out there that really teaches us how to spend .
you just see the same meaningless mantra repeated, live below your means , but they never tell you what "means " is supposed to mean .
It's really quite simple. Means is in the eyes of the beholder.
like i said , really meaningless . there is nothing that says the beholder has it even remotely close to correct .
it isn't a guessing game , it actually needs spending rules and calculations to it that give it high odds of surviving when done right , not by the seat of one's pants .
means needs to be really spoken in term of spending ratio not some amount and that is why 99% of those who use the term use it in a meaningless fashion .
While living below one's means does not guaranty prosperity, the converse -- living above one's means in the long run is a bad strategy for long run prosperity.
I've known people who lived below their means who are just simply life poor. Never married, never travelled, hardly ever ate out, rarely socialized. All the time spent alone either sitting in front of the computer or tv.
Now all that money will go to the nearest relative or charity. Not really living.
Once you figure out what means is. Means under one set of conditions is not the same under another . Nor may it remain constant year to year.
You may very well be living below your means and tomorrow a large unexpected expense alters things. If you have no where to cut back , now what?
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