Posted on 08/16/2010 9:15:33 AM PDT by CSM
Have you considered satisfaction with less things throughout life?
Despite being the most affluent generation the world has ever seen, 54% of Americans have saved less than $25,000 for retirement. We're sacrificing our retirement to support our lavish lifestyles—big houses, cars, boats, flat screens, you name it.
Few people can embrace the idea of cutting back their lifestyle and settling for the basics. But, if you're going to "do what rich people do," as Dave says, forget about impressing your neighbors. Instead of seeking satisfaction in what you buy, why not consider gaining satisfaction from a simpler lifestyle?
Proof That Simpler Lifestyles Work For more than 30 years, Dr. Thomas J. Stanley has studied the habits of wealthy people, revealing his findings in several books, including Stop Acting Rich and The Millionaire Mind. His groundbreaking research has uncovered the truth about the lifestyles of the wealthiest Americans.
Dr. Stanley posted a letter from "Mrs. C.C." on his blog, thomasjstanley.com. Mrs. C.C. has a net worth of more than $1 million, but she has never made more than $60,000 a year. "I have accumulated most of my net worth by living below my means," she said. "I have everything I want, but I have learned not to want too much."
In another letter, "D. Termined," who, at age 55, has a net worth of $2.4 million, describes his family's lifestyle. "I think I paid $67 for a pair of shoes once, and my watch is a Timex," D. Termined said. "My wife has shopped at thrift stores for many years and uses coupons extensively."
There are no granite countertops in his $200,000 house, which was paid off more than 10 years ago. Money saved on the house payments went into savings.
Mrs. T, who is also financially independent, gives 10% of her income to charity, put four kids through college without debt, shops at T.J. Maxx, and drives a Ford Taurus. She told Dr. Stanley, "I am extremely happy with my life."
"Here is yet another case to support my strong contention that satisfaction in life does not come from what you can buy in a store, but rather from the values, beliefs and behaviors that most wealthy people possess," Dr. Stanley concluded.
Finding Balance
While it is important to save and invest for the future, it is also okay to enjoy nice things. Denying yourself the pleasure of new gadgets when you can truly afford them is no healthier than buying gadgets you can't afford.
Some people will be compelled by fear to save more than they need to. Instead of spending money to feel good, they save money to feel good. But the effect is the same—you can never save enough money to feel totally secure if fear is driving you.
Oh, yes, we are in a sales tax state - Wisconsin 5% state sales tax, 0.5% Dane County sales tax.
In the Seattle area the sales tax is roughly 9.5%.
:-|
we are ALL Prometheus taking back the fire from the looters of the government until the vultures die of starvation.
(oh and...”let me be clear, obama is a fool in charge of democrat fools”)
what is that?
How many of my motorcycles do I have to sell?
We’d have to pay an early termination fee to AT&T, unless anybody knows a way around that! Our contract is up in March and we will be switching to the $30/month Straight Talk plan at Walmart. We don’t have a home phone, so we will keep the cell phones.
“Work for cash and don’t report it.”
Don’t forget to apply for Government Aid!/s
For somebody that doesn't use a cell much, you can't beat a hundred bucks a year.
Where are estate sales typically advertised? Is the local craigslist the best bet?
My theory on used cars is that the best values are actually very old (like 15+ years) luxury models. These cars were bought for wives to drive to the grocery store or to the tennis lesson, and in between they were garaged and lived easy lives with routine dealer maintenance and all that. So they’re old enough to have massively depreciated but have the low mileage and overall condition of a much newer car, making them a great bargain for us cheapskates. On the other hand a 15+ year old Toyota Corolla or whatever will have had the wheels driven off of it and be about ready for the crusher.
You might want to try T-Mobile also. It’s not as cheap as Walmart, but if you don’t need to use your phone 24/7, it’s not a bad deal!
I got a couple of decent $150 Nokia/T-Mobile phones on sale for $99 each 4 years ago. I paid for two $100 cards to get “Gold” status on the minutes, plus it’s only 10 cents a minute if you buy $100 worth at one time.
After you put the intial $100 down, you don’t have to do a thing for a year. At the end of a year they’ll send you text messages reminding you that your year will be up on whatever date you charged up on.
All you have to do is buy $10 worth of minutes before your year is up, to keep ALL minutes you have for another year. So once you’ve purchased your phone, you’re basically paying $10 a year to have a cell phone (plus whatever calls you make at 10 cents a minute).
Between my wife and I, it’s cost us LESS than $50 for FOUR years of cell phone use!
We don’t use the phone for chatting though, get to the message and “See Ya!”! If you’re not a “chatter” this is the way to go IMO!
Going John Galt Do you ever wonder after dealing with all that is going on with the economy and the upcoming election if it's getting to be time to "go John Galt." For those of you who have never read Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged, the basic theme is that John Galt and his allies take actions that include withdrawing their talents, 'stopping the motor of the world', and leading the 'strikers' (those who refuse to be exploited) against the 'looters' (the exploiters, backed by the government).
Perhaps the partisian politics we are dealing with now is really just a struggle between those of us who believe in productivity, personal responsibility, and keeping government interference to a minimum, and those who believe in the socialistic policies of taking from others, using the government as a watchdog, and rewarding those who overspend, underwork, or are just plain unproductive.
Obama talks about taking from those who are productive and redistributing to those who are not -- or who are not as successful. If success and productivity is to be punished, why bother? Perhaps it is time for those of us who make the money and pay the taxes to take it easy, live on less and let the looters of the world find their own way.
My question to readers is, what are some ways to "go John Galt" (legally, of course)--that is, should productive people cut back on what they need, make less money, and take it easy so that the government is starved for funds, or is there some other way of making a statement?
Dave would remind you that when you left the dealers curb the value went down at about 20% and if you took a loan on the full price - you would be upside down (unable to pay off the loan by selling off the new car).
Dealers know this and try to sell you "Gap" insurance, but this is not to help you sell the car. It is to cover the Gap that would be on a full loan and what the value of the car would be after you drove it off the dealer's curb. Because with a totaled car, right off the curb, your insurance would not cover that Gap.
The third reason, I never buy a new car is Taxes. Our state, Georgia, charges a tax every year on the value of a car. New cars are taxed out the whazoo.
And the fourth reason is Insurance. For a new car, you have to have Comprehensive and Collision else you have no hope of covering your loan after a total loss. And, guess what, New cars cost a lot of insurance.
That's why I buy a low mileage used car usually from a private owner: No Gap insurance, Low Taxes, Low or no Comp or Collision and No Loan.
I’m with you on the old luxury cars. For me the problem is that my family is always about efficiency and that we are empty nesters. With our move to the kentucky farm, big means truck. For a “luxury car” we think “two seat convertible”.
>>Where are estate sales typically advertised? Is the local craigslist the best bet?<<
In Seattle, it’s all about Craigslist for me.
When the price of a new car is not much more than a used one (this only applies to a few models) it is usually best to just go new. If I had it to do over again with the Scion, I’d definitely do it. Some benefits are convenience, risk mitigation (risk of getting a lemon someone is trying to dump) and warranty.
Also, in my case it was extremely difficult to find a used one with a stick. Then there was the high trade-in on my “used up” 91 LeBaron Convertible.
My Scion is now four years old and looks and drives like it just came off the lot, but I’ve used it to get to a LOT of band gigs.
mark for later
I had no idea that I had missed over 50 replies to this thread. Normally I don’t post and run, but for some reason I am not getting the replies to this one.
A mid 80s Porsche 911 Targa or late 90s Porsche Boxter convertible could be found for ~$15k in great condition. Just a thought!
“luckily I was able to marry a woman who thinks the same way.”
Does your wife have a like minded sister?
Does anyone here think that maybe GREED is driving much of this and plays a huge roll in the economic problems of today? Greed not only for money, but for power, fame, and for being desired?
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