Posted on 03/09/2019 7:16:36 AM PST by CptnObvious
Money Observations: Living within Your Means. The movies and Television broadcast over and over to live on other-peoples-money and to live beyond your means. But in the "Everyday Millionaires" book by Chris Hogan and on the "Millionaire Theme Hour" with Dave Ramsey, millionaires say over and over again to live within your means and to get debt out of your lives.
Indeed, I did not. for the first 20 years of work, I dabbled in credit and did not have an emergency fund. Soon I found myself living paycheck to paycheck while having a decent salary. I saw something I wanted, I whipped out the credit card and bought it even though the money was not in the bank. I was definitely not Living within My Means.
Then on the way to work I heard "Attack Debt with a Vengeance", "Live within your means" on the radio with Dave Ramsey. I listened again and went and bought his book "The Total Money Makeover" and started applying it.
One thing is that we had an income that didn't fit within the months. The paychecks were every two weeks and all our bills fell within the first two weeks. We formed a budget and a "Preload Amount" that we had to have to make it through those first two weeks. After that we could look at having some cheap fun (walking the mall and some ice cream).
What we didn't know back then is that we were starting to live within our means. We did get out of debt totally and are far better off than we deserve. But one key to staying better off is to be a "Giver" and to stay within your means.
Now while investing over $3000 a month we still stay within our means. It is now part of our lives.
If you live within your means all your life, when you retire you should be quite well-off and be able to live very nicely. Living within your means does not mean being a cheap miser!
I decided to go the other route and grow my earnings out of my spending habits to start saving and that worked great for me. Fortunately I only modestly increased my spending every promotion and now sock away more every year than I made annually 7 years ago.
Ping
Parents lived thru depression. Brought us up to live below our means. Have followed their advice. No debt. Paid mtge off 15 years. Buy cars cash. First job 1.60 or 1.65 hr. Cashier part time in college. Got 5 cent raise when min went up. Took home 20 wk. When cashed ck put $5 in bank. No atms.
"Scrooge, the Sins of Man are Huge!"
Your absolutely right. Scrooge did not enjoy his money. Giving makes it all worthwhile and helps one to stay that way!
I'll bet that was something!
we’ve always lived below our means. Hubs got to retire early. He has a part time job now which he loves.
Wealth is nothing more than money that was saved or invested in assets.
People who spend every dime they can get their hands on on Escalades, bling and hoes will never have wealth no matter how much of other peoples’ money you give them.
I was born in 1949. My parents and grandparents went through the Depression. This was a difficult time for them and credit was nearly unheard of for average people but people with money used credit and it was their demise.
My grand mother told me one day as we drove through a neighborhood with very large expensive homes that “these people, most of them are only a paycheck away from ruin.
I appreciated her wisdom and lived like her until marriage when my wife believed you got ahead and were able to more enjoy life with credit. the credit card balances would get scary but she would counter with “ you only have to pay the interest”.
As I would cancel a card she would open new ones, when I would find out I would cancel the card and start paying off the balance, it was hell.
We were married for 25 years when I couldn’t stand it any more, after several marriage councilors who thought I was crazy by wanting to live within my means we finally split.
A couple years later I met another woman who liked to live within her means. After giving my ex over a quarter million we were actually saving money. We were able to pay off our home and buy several others as rental and a Florida vacation home besides.
The difference in stress and satisfaction, feelings of security etc. is impossible to describe. We have more and enjoy what we have. I have never made a lot of money but have always wanted a Corvette. All that interest I saved finally bought me one. I have always wanted a nice camera and lenses, all that saved interest and wasted money finally bought me one.
Get out of debt. When you have plenty of money in the bank life is just less stressful, you don’t worry about how you are going to make the next payment. I don’t owe anything to anybody, no interest. My biggest expense each year is taxes and I just write a check.
Do it to be happy, get out of debt.
My parents made many sacrifices. We lived in the nicest house on the block, went on a month long family vacation each year. They sent 2 kids to private college. Food was plentiful. They paid cash or used a credit card and never paid interest. Like that progressive commercial I became my parents.
“We lived in the nicest house on the block, went on a month long family vacation each year”
I would have considered you rich.
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My wife and I have practiced this our whole lives.
We both made a choice to go to state colleges and commute so we wouldn’t be saddled with debt. (I chose on the basis of what the GI Bill would best cover)
When we married, we bought, and still live in a small three bedroom one bath ranch.
We used old furniture until we had money saved, and then bought things we liked.
We have saved enough to use cash to buy a new car when we need one. We pay off our bills each month. We paid off our mortgage about ten years ago.
We have been able to save enough to care for ourselves, even if the danged country will go broke and make our savings meaningless, at least we took responsibility and tried. Can’t do more than that...
We made a conscious decision early on to save, buy bonds, etc. We were lucky. Not everyone can do that...and a lot of people do live from month to month on paychecks, and the first flat tire they get is a disaster...how to pay for it.
My wife and l lived modestly and have retired. It seems we have traded saving to be able to retire comfortably to saving to maximize the estate we’ll leave. Lifelong habits, both good and bad, are hard to break.
My parents were savers. So am I. And thou they sadly deprived themselves, I never have. But I wait until I can afford to buy something. Then pay cash or more likely use the credit card company money for a month until I pay the whole thing off.
I had to learn to live within my means when Mr. Redhead passed away in 2005. I have been on a fixed income ever since that has NEVER increased by more than a dollar or two (Social Security) until this year. Learning to live on half the income I was used to has taught me a lot of things. Self-discipline, frugality, the old World War II jingle of “Use it up, Wear it out. Make it DO, or do Without.” I made some wise investments at the time that have given me the confidence to go ahead with life. Not much, but enough. Living Within Your Means means just that.
I taught my kids that interest is an amplifier.
If you’re in debt, interest is a force that takes you further into debt.
If you save, compound interest is a miracle, dramatically increasing your wealth over time. So start saving now.
Quite simple, really.
All I heard about when I was young was the depression. What I learned from their experience is to have a skill.
In the early 2000’s my brother and I lost our jobs within weeks of each other. I had a skill as a sports photographer. I turned it into a great 14 year gig. He didn’t have a skill. He was out of work for a year and he is still recovering.
Dave Ramsey’s “Millionaire Theme Hour” is full of them.
The book “The Millionaire Next Door” had many, too. Not every millionaire played good offense with a big salary or invested in their business. A fair share simply saved 10-20% automatically, then lived off the rest.
What was interesting about “Everyday Millionaires” by Chris Hogan was that the share of millionaires who followed that advice became the majority. The tax advantaged 401Ks and IRAs meant that most millionaires were people who simply saved 10-20% to retirement and other accounts, then lived off the rest. In comparison, 25 years ago in “The Millionaire Next Door”, nearly 2/3 of millionaires were running their own (usually blue collar) business.
That means most millionaires today achieved that by living within their means.
Lived in a middle class sort of blue collar neighborhood. I do remember whenever anyone drove me home they would say oh wow that’s your house? My parents loved their home. My parents never went out except for work, church, visiting family. Going out cost money.any economic level can live below means
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