Why do you live frugally? | Page 4 | General financial discussion | Discussion forum

Norman1 said

Loonie said

I don't think that's a good analogy. In the marshmallow test, the kid gets double the return for a 20 minute investment - which is not lost if he finds other rewarding things to do with that time.

In the vacation analogy, he gets the same value for his investment either way; but it is spread out differently in time and therefore the cost of waiting is much more significant. …

Price and value are not the same with vacations. 5X the price doesn't mean just 5X the impact to the vacationer. The experiences and memories one can have with a single $25,000 trip is not the same as the those one can have with five separate $5,000 trips.

I think early retiree Dianne Nahirny illustrated the point I'm trying to make using jewelry. I don't remember her exact example. But, the just was that to people who are into diamond rings, owning a single significant $25,000 diamond ring is more than owning five smaller insignificant $5,000 diamond rings.   

I don't agree with your point about value of different vacations. I imagine you are saying that the 25K one is more valuable because of the different experiences? Whichever it is, while it's true that the experiences are different, the values attached are also different, but they are not consistent from person to person. 5x5 vacations is not necessarily more or less "valuable" than 25K one. I'll restrain myself from giving examples! Also, from what I've read in the past, the "experts" seem to feel that a person needs a vacation every year, so that delaying could actually create a negative value.

Yes, I can see it with diamonds. A bigger, rarer, more beautiful one is exponentially more attractive than five regular ones, I'm sure. For people who are into diamonds, it might b worth waiting for. Personally, I couldn't care less about precious gems - something else to have to pay insurance on! and of little use!

In either case, it's what it's worth to YOU that matters, as with cars. Bought a mid-priced new one e last year. It was the one we wanted, and we couldn't see enough value in the more expensive ones, TO US, to justify spending more. We also rejected the cheaper ones because they didn't meet our criteria; same with used ones.
There are tons of things I don't spend money on because there is just no value for me. And, the older I get, the pickier I become! - or more discerning, depending on your perspective.

I do not think those study test delayed gratification not the one I have seen . they tell the subject you can have this now or wait and get something more valuable to him . The assumption here is that the subject believes . the person that says they will give you a bigger prize later do they TRUST THIS PERSON WORD .
like when your boss at sears tells you work hard and we will give you a good pension . should you have trusted that . is that not delayed gratification .
and if you had not trusted him told him you wanted a raise to day would you not have been better off those study are about trust not delayed gratification
trust but verify

Bill said
JustMe2016 says "poverty is a great teacher". I'd have to agree, as the sociologists tell us there is a cycle of poverty, that children born into families living on "social assistance" overwhelmingly tend to repeat the cycle, so it certainly seems that for many poverty teaches that it beats working.  

There are two variations of my thought on this subject, but I ended up truncating both and only leaving an incomplete way of expressing it. Therefore allowing the reader to come up with his/her own interpretation. But I will now clarify.

1) Poverty is a great teacher, not an enemy.

2) Poverty is a great teacher. But the question is, will you be a good student?

What I meant is that there are two ways to approach poverty. The first one being that it is something that will defeat you. It is your enemy. And the second way is to take it as something to learn from so you can do better later on. After all, nothing is ever learned thru what is easy.

If your life is crumbling, you should re-examine your foundation.

For some people, and this undoubtedly includes some lottery winners, spending money is what they've always done to make themselves feel better. So, when they get a huge pile of it, the logical thing for them to do in order to get the most "value" out of it, is to spend it lavishly. I guess.

However, we will have to agree to disagree on the vacations. I see no necessary connection between how much is spent and the value of the vacation. to the vacationer. It's all in how you spend it and how you perceive the experience, whatever it is. For what it's worth, the Concorde doesn't exist any more, but I would not sacrifice 4 additional vacations just to save a few hours on an overseas flight. Each to their own.

That lottery winner stopped spending when she still had $750K left and she probably had a heck of a nine year-run of fun and memories, maybe more than some people have in a lifetime of financial discipline and frugal living. Plus I bet she found out who were here real "friends" during that time along with other life lessons about the effect of wealth. Doesn't sound like a bad experience to me.

Well said, mmlt. Those are the folks who give "frugal" a bad name. Better known as "freeloaders".

Bill said
That lottery winner stopped spending when she still had $750K left and she probably had a heck of a nine year-run of fun and memories, maybe more than some people have in a lifetime of financial discipline and frugal living. Plus I bet she found out who were here real "friends" during that time along with other life lessons about the effect of wealth. Doesn't sound like a bad experience to me.  

I don't think she stopped spending at $750,000. I think she realize it was going to end soon as the money left dropped to $750,000.

Last I read, she and her husband lost the houses. Husband had crashed their Mustang and was convicted of impaired driving. Not sure what happened to their Hummer and their Dodge Charger. Their $200,000+ Cadillac, with dual record turntables, is in storage, needing work that she cannot afford.

Not clear that she was happy with the experience. She was quoted as saying something to the effect that money is the root of all evil.

Gratification thru materialism is a fruitless pursuit.

Top It Up said
Sorry to say, but that borders on being a killjoy.

I think gratification, whether instant or through longer term materialism, is the fruit of the labour.   

After a few years your smartphone turns to crap. After a few years your TV turns to crap. After a few years your car turns to crap. After a few decades your house turns to crap. No wonder people's life turns to crap...