We bought a reel lawn mower last week. This should be a frugal purchase. The cost was just over $100. We were paying $60 a month for lawn service so this purchase will more than pay for itself in two months. The only maintenance the mower needs is occasional and from what I’ve read it will last a long time. In my experience with gas mowers they haven’t lasted that long.
The purchase is also green in that it doesn’t use any gas. It relies only on human power which is good because I can use the exercise. The mower is easy to push and does a good job of cutting the grass. If you are a perfectionist about your lawn you might not like it because it does seem to miss a few spots. It doesn’t bother me but in my opinion lawns are one of the top things that people waste their time and money on.
One of the greatest things to happen to me as a result of writing this blog is being contacted by Monique Tilford co-author of the revised edition of Your Money or Your Life. It was my pleasure to communicate with her via email and the result is the following interview especially for readers of Tight Fisted Miser.
What makes Your Money or Your Life different from most personal finance books? There are three big differences. First of all, most financial advice assumes that “more is always better” – more income, more status, and more stuff. Your Money or Your Life is different because it helps you instead to answer the question, “How much is enough?” This is a radical shift away from the more-is-better attitude so prevalent in our hyper-consumer culture.
Secondly, most financial advice is based on budgeting – setting fixed targets and spending at or below those targets. While budgeting is a good way for some people to get spending under control, we find this approach to be restrictive rather than empowering. Your Money or Your Life helps you instead discover what your own spending patterns are and then helps you evaluate your unique “enough point” for each spending category – that Goldilocks experience of not too much, not too little, but just right. Our approach is awareness-based, not budget-based.
Finally, most financial advice assumes that money is the only currency for getting your needs met. Our approach helps people discover what needs are best met through purchasing something, and what are best met by maintaining what you have, bartering with others, applying creativity rather than only cash to solve problems, and how to find psychological and spiritual approaches to satisfaction instead of just buying more stuff. We are complex social beings – and yet the dominant economic model monetizes all transactions, making the wealth that comes from a robust inner life and strong family and community connections invisible.
How would following the steps in YMOYL help someone cope with the current economic downturn? Your Money or Your Life could be an enormously helpful tool in helping people weather the current economic downturn. There are many practical suggestions in the book about how to maximize earnings and minimize spending. We have observed in fact that the average reader sees their spending decline by 20-25% within the first six months. But most importantly, the book allows practitioners to gain a sense of control over money again which is desperately needed right now. For many years, a lot of Americans stopped saving, ran up enormous credit card debt, and yet still thought they were secure because the value of their homes and stocks had skyrocketed. The current economic downturn has exposed the weakness of that strategy. Your Money or Your Life helps people instead recognize the importance of saving cash and provides detailed tips on how to invest it wisely so that it is exposed to minimal risk.
What would you reply to someone who claims that the YMOYL steps won’t work for them? No program is going to work for every person. But Your Money or Your Life is a New York Times’ bestselling book which was featured twice on Oprah and to date has sold more than one million copies worldwide. Before it was a bestselling book, it was a tape course and before that a seminar. So we actually have 30 years of anecdotal evidence proving that this nine-step program works. I’d ask people to follow the steps for one month and see what happens. Most people experience a profound transformation which allows them to save more money than they ever thought possible.
If I just do some of the steps will I still be better off financially? The Your Money or Your Life program consists of nine steps that were designed to work together. They don’t need to be done in a linear fashion (i.e. first step one, then step two …) but readers will only enjoy part of the benefits of the program if they only do part of the steps.
Which step do you feel is the most important? I personally feel that step four is the most important one. The reason I like step four so much is because it lies at the heart of the transformational aspect of the nine-step program. Step four encourages practitioners to ask themselves three simple questions: 1) “Did I receive fulfillment, satisfaction and value in proportion to life energy spent?”; 2) “Is this expenditure of life energy in alignment with my values and life purpose?” and 3) “How might this expenditure change if I didn’t have to work for a living?” But it’s important to note that step four doesn’t make much sense without the context of at least steps two and three as well.
How long does it usually take someone who diligently follow the steps to achieve FI? I should say first that we use the term “FI” interchangeably for financial intelligence, financial integrity and financial independence. By financial intelligence, we mean that the nine-step program outlined in Your Money or Your Life helps people stop just throwing money at problems and instead teaches them how to be more conscious and creative with their spending. By financial integrity, we mean that practitioners quickly learn how to ensure that the money they spend reflects their values. Financial independence means that those who are diligent in applying the steps will be able to live off their interest income eventually and never again have to work for money. Some people read the book, do the math, and realize that they can become financially independent immediately. Others take longer, of course. On average, we’ve observed that those who are truly inspired are able to become financially independent within seven to ten years.
Do you feel like you had to make a lot of sacrifices to achieve FI? No, I don’t feel that I had to make any sacrifices. That’s what I love about Your Money or Your Life – the program allows you to make the changes YOU want regarding how you earn, spend and save money. There are no budgets so there is no sense of deprivation.
As I’ve said many times before YMOYL is my favorite personal finance book and I highly recommend it. Another great resource to check out is the YMOYL website located at YourMoneyorYourLife.info.
I’ve mentioned before that living in a foreign country is something I’m considering as part of my plan to retire at 50. Based on my past experience of living for three months on $450 in Guatemala I know that living in a foreign country can be substantially cheaper than living in the United States.
I am also considering living in a foreign country before retirement. This is not just to save money but because I like living in a different culture. This could be done as a geoarbitrage type situation. I currently make $300-$400 a month online. Not enough to live on here in the U.S. but it would be enough to live modestly in Guatemala and a few other countries. If I did this the most likely scenario would be that I would work in the U.S for a few months to build up savings and then live in Guatemala or elsewhere the rest of the year. I wouldn’t build up savings during that part of the year but I wouldn’t be depleting my savings either.
Another thing I’m considering is joining the Peace Corps. Financially, it doesn’t make much sense but that wouldn’t be my motivation for joining. That would be 27 months that I most likely wouldn’t be saving any money. On the plus side I would be totally immersed in a foreign culture and get to help people. They do have programs that would allow me to put my student loans on hold while serving and the time would count towards the 10 years of public service for loan forgiveness also. This is something I have to study more in the future.
Living in a foreign country is more practical than many people think. If you live in Mexico or Central America a plane ride back to the U.S. is about the same as flying from one coast to another. I most likely won’t be living within driving distance of most of my family if I continue to live in the U.S. so I’d be taking a plane trip either way. As far as friends I’ve found that I meet more people and am far more social when living in a foreign country. There are other things to consider when living abroad but it isn’t nearly as difficult as many people think.
After reading a post at The Simple Dollar on quality of life and consumer spending it made me think of my own views regarding quality of life and frugality.
In the post Trent argues that consumer purchases do not increase your quality of life. I agree with that to a point. The examples in the post included going out for lunch and seeing a move. Both of these are things I regularly indulge in and I do believe they raise my quality of life.
That does not mean that my quality of life would go down if I didn’t do them though. When I go on my hike I won’t be eating out for lunch very often and will rarely be seeing a movie. I expect my quality of life will be even higher then than it is now.
The difference to me is that I will be choosing to give up those indulgences. I won’t be forced to give them up. This goes to my underlying philosophy of frugality which is that frugality is about choosing to do less expensive things not depriving yourself of things.
I found this article on how the recession affects frugal people interesting. It details how some frugal people are becoming even more frugal because of the recession while others are discovering frugality. It even had a mention of BeingFrugal.net which is a great blog on frugality.
I do object to them calling frugal people cheapskates and tightwads though. I suppose I don’t have much room to object given that I use the name Tight Fisted Miser. The name is meant to be tongue-in-cheek and I am not sure if the article intends their labels in the same way. One person in the article did refer to himself as a cheapskate. Overall though I think the headline equating tightwads and cheapskates with being frugal sends a negative message. I see frugality as a positive, not a negative, regardless of whether there is a recession.
