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9 comments
Too bad they didn't teach him not to put annoying "Someone has just viewed <article>" pop-ups you cannot disable on his website.
The core point of the article is sound -- you should strive to get the most out of every dollar. But there's a danger in spending too much time optimizing expenses in ways that ultimately don't provide much return.
You might spend an extra 15 mins a week looking for coupons that'll trim $0.25 off a package of toilet paper. But over the course of a year, you've only managed to save $13 -- at the real cost of 13 hours. That's not a good optimization if you believe an hour of your time is worth more than $1.
It's like changing all the double-quoted strings in your PHP script to single-quoted strings because you think it'll save a few cycles during parsing, when you really should be spending that time optimizing your I/0 calls.
You might spend an extra 15 mins a week looking for coupons that'll trim $0.25 off a package of toilet paper. But over the course of a year, you've only managed to save $13 -- at the real cost of 13 hours. That's not a good optimization if you believe an hour of your time is worth more than $1.
It's like changing all the double-quoted strings in your PHP script to single-quoted strings because you think it'll save a few cycles during parsing, when you really should be spending that time optimizing your I/0 calls.
The sad (but very real) part of this is that there are a lot of people that wouldn't do anything constructive with those 13 hours anyway. Not to mention, there are a lot of times during the average person's day where they could cut out coupons while they are doing something else like watching TV.
He could have started with the main line. This would have made the article better.
There is saying: "Cheapness is the mother of misery"
There is saying: "Cheapness is the mother of misery"
I get tired just thinking about ways to save money. I'm not a big spender by any means, and my road to frugality begins and ends with one question "Do I REALLY need it and will it help me be happier or more productive?" (ok, that's really 3 related questions). I'd rather spend my limited brainpower in other ways. I also don't want to look back on my life and point to being cheap as a primary driver.
Perhaps yes, but it is must remember that you can be cheap and spend money when needed. The problem comes when you are always cheap and never not so.
I am cheap but I will spend money on things that matter. I will not buy something so cheap it must be replaced when more expensive would last longer.
Being cheap is not always buying as little as you need, but buying the things that truly matter and not frivolous.
I am cheap but I will spend money on things that matter. I will not buy something so cheap it must be replaced when more expensive would last longer.
Being cheap is not always buying as little as you need, but buying the things that truly matter and not frivolous.
So cheap that I convinced a lot of my friends to sponsor my new home; this way I wouldn’t have to pay for any of the furniture.
Sounds like I'd want to be his friend. I live pretty cheap, but I'm not afraid to buy my friend a beer or a burrito. Social capitol is not about money, but about having friends to help you out with things.
And it seems that in business, being frugal at the beginning is important to keep your expenses in check, but eventually you have to spend money to make money.
My Dad lives pretty frugally, but he spends like $5K every year on a great trip somewhere (Turkey, Nepal, Africa, Europe, etc.) He could just save all that money up, but then he wouldn't have been all those great places. He could also do all the trip planning himself and probably save a couple grand, but doing it through a company makes the trip much smoother, and in the end, better.
I think a better mantra is to be as cheap as you need to be on the basics (ie don't waste money unnecessarily), but spend real money on things you really care about. If you love biking, save up for a great bike that you really want.
Sounds like I'd want to be his friend. I live pretty cheap, but I'm not afraid to buy my friend a beer or a burrito. Social capitol is not about money, but about having friends to help you out with things.
And it seems that in business, being frugal at the beginning is important to keep your expenses in check, but eventually you have to spend money to make money.
My Dad lives pretty frugally, but he spends like $5K every year on a great trip somewhere (Turkey, Nepal, Africa, Europe, etc.) He could just save all that money up, but then he wouldn't have been all those great places. He could also do all the trip planning himself and probably save a couple grand, but doing it through a company makes the trip much smoother, and in the end, better.
I think a better mantra is to be as cheap as you need to be on the basics (ie don't waste money unnecessarily), but spend real money on things you really care about. If you love biking, save up for a great bike that you really want.
It's good that you want to be his friend, since he's looking for someone to buy his new HDTV and his other friends are all tapped out!
My Dad lives pretty frugally, but he spends like $5K every year on a great trip somewhere
There's research indicating that experiences produce more lasting happiness than possessions: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090207150518.ht...
This seems plausible to me.
There's research indicating that experiences produce more lasting happiness than possessions: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090207150518.ht...
This seems plausible to me.
"So cheap that I convinced a lot of my friends to sponsor my new home"
What?
Maybe it's because I'm in the UK, but I don't understand this at all - why would friends sponsor your new home? And what does it mean? Do they just buy all your stuff for you?
What?
Maybe it's because I'm in the UK, but I don't understand this at all - why would friends sponsor your new home? And what does it mean? Do they just buy all your stuff for you?
It is easy to be cheap when your friends are buying you a $2,000 bed frame.
$2,000 can get you a nice vacation for two or a lot of food.
$2,000 can get you a nice vacation for two or a lot of food.
I convinced a lot of my friends to sponsor my new home
$2000 bed frame
WTF?
$2000 bed frame
WTF?
This guy sounds like a douchebag. Is hoarding money en vogue now? It's one thing to be frugal, but it's another thing to be a greedy miser. If everyone did this, it would choke the financial markets and drive the world into stagflation. The free exchange of money is vital to the economy and health of the world. With any luck, he'll leave a bunch of money to his kids who will promptly spend it on booze, hookers, and blow.
"Sometimes you can't afford the cheapest thing."
I've found plenty of times that the time and effort involved in saving that extra buck isn't worth a dollar.
I've found plenty of times that the time and effort involved in saving that extra buck isn't worth a dollar.
Seriously. Cheap can be stressful. Looking around for a deal, never knowing if you got the best deal, never knowing if you're getting a quality product (you probably aren't if you're really cheap). Of course, wasting money isn't going to help you either, but that's why, as with everything else, you should take a moderate position. Don't buy a Maserati (unless you're just so insanely rich that you don't even need to be thinking about money at all), but don't buy a $50 car that barely runs either. Neither one is a sensible financial decision.
They should have taught him to use a bearable font on his blog..
And is that Comic Sans in his unsuccessfully comical starting picture?
And is that Comic Sans in his unsuccessfully comical starting picture?