LateFrugal

Tonight we had the neighbors over for dinner.  I cooked up some ribs, and they brought a wonderful pasta salad.  We shared stories and heartache.   Good times.  I hope we get to meet with Eric and Cynthia again.   This highlights the frugal lifestyle.  We meat Eric when we fixed our mailboxes together.  Eric suggested we get together, we scheduled it for this week.  It was a great time and cost me two rack of ribs, and a bottle of tequila. It was good getting to know them. Much better than meeting at a restaurant or similar.  Much more intimate. We all have social needs and the desire to get to know others.  However this doesn't mean frugality needs to be set aside.  I make a mean rack of ribs. And Cynthia clearly makes a mean potato salad.  Clearly frugality and fellowship won the day! TheLateFrugal

 One of the biggest concepts on our way to financial independence (FI) was to prevent lifestyle inflation.  When we hit our 50s we hit our peak earning years, and the urge to by a vacation home, fancy new car, remodel the house, and take fancy vacations was overwhelming.  However, we knew the FI lifestyle did not lie with a vacation home.  We made it our goal to stay the course, and the raises went into 401k, IRA, etc. The stress free life style of being financially independent isn't worth anything fancy. Once we retire we can enjoy some of these things.  We strive to take a good vacation every year, and we like to camp in the woods locally with our 1998 camper trailer.  This seems like a good alternative to a vacation home, and you get to see other places. The RE (Retire Early) in FIRE is rather perplexing. I cant imagine sitting in a chair reading most of the day and chewing the fat with the neighbor.  I will probably work on this blog, maybe convert...

Tonight I looked at my refrigerator, and stove.  The General Electric symbol displays proudly.  To me I wonder why the General Electric label shows up so proudly.  Part of minimalism and frugality to me is to avoid luxury brands.  GE isn't a luxury brand.  It means blue collar but will work good.  Maybe Whirlpool and Highpoint mean similar.  It means half the price of stainless steel or fancy smart screens.  It means functionality.  Now cheapest isn't always frugal.  Glass shelves in the refrigerator help clean up messes.  A delicate cycle saves on the dry cleaning bill.  It is with battle scars we learn frugal isn't always cheap.  I bet you have a similar journey. There seems go be a cost point of basic brands with typical functionality.  The lure of luxury may not be the path to a reliable model and total cost of ownership. TheLateFrugal

A coworker told me that he heard I was a minimalist. Obviously he read this blog.  This caused a moment of reflection because I see so much in my home that probably could go.  I told him I was a minimalist back slider.  Perhaps many who strive for frugality and minimalism look in the mirror and wonder if they make the cut.  Yes we listened to minimalist pod casts, and we occasionally select a closest or room to minimalize.  However when does one arrive and can wear the minimal badge proudly? I immediately wanted to tell my coworker of my excess in the early 2000s that lead to my bankruptcy,  living off credit cards and living the American debt dream.  He explained he moved into a home with 500 less square feet.  I wanted to blow my horn of achieving financial independence though minimal living and frugality.  Then I realized as Solomon - it was all vanity.  I realized my greatest gift to him was to keep my mouth shut and intently listen ...