The FIRE movement is full of anti-consumerism mantras that will supercharge your journey to the retirement finish line. Less is more. Frugality is badassity. Budgets are sexy.
Does this retire-before-your-neighbor rote work? Pinch enough pennies, and you’ll be rich enough to tell your boss to go f**k himself in no time, right?
Eh, maybe. But sometimes frugality just plain . . . sucks. Anyone who has ever bought generic Doritos, a dirt cheap tablet, or Carl Buddig lunch meat knows this. Cheaper aint always cheaper, and cheaper aint always worth it.
Sometimes, you have to buy quality. Sometimes because its a better value, and sometimes . . . just because you want to.
My mantra
No doubt, I am on the frugal side of the spectrum, but I splurge responsibly. When and how?
Well, my decision to reject frugality can be highly circumstantial, as I am sure it is for everybody. But at my core, my family has a shopping mantra that it rarely deviates from. This mantra led my wife and I from $100k in debt (inflation adjusted) to $2M in net worth in just over 15 years.
Our mantra is simple: buy cheap, use it till it breaks, and only buy quality when it counts.
The first two parts of this mantra are pretty easy to follow.
Buy cheap. Its work, but we all know how to do this: spend the majority of your budget on generic, bulk, and sale items. Buy flour, cereal, bread, milk, and bananas generic. Avoid single-serve or convenience items. Cook. Research to identity lower cost alternatives to buzzworthy gizmos you covet, or wait for a big ticket item like a camera to go on sale.
Use it till it breaks. This one’s not hard either. Eat leftovers; don’t pitch it. Drive your car until the wheels fall off. Fix your loud toilet; don’t replace it. If you want to be a frugal barbarian, squeeze the toothpaste until the tube is flat. Go crazy.
But how do you determine when to buy quality? And how do you determine when quality is the better value than cheap?
When I splurge on quality
For me personally, I buy quality on opposite ends of the spectrum: quality low cost pleasures like craft beer and well-researched big tickets purchases like electronics, where durability, longevity, and usability counts.
Below are the main things for which I have sworn off frugality and instead buy quality. This list is in no particular order, except for maybe Doritos in pole position. For Doritos, I’m like Ado Annie in Oklahoma! – “I’m just a girl who can’t say no.”
Without further ado, my splurges:
- Doritos: because “cheese flavored tortilla chips” are not Doritos. Honorable mention goes to Cheetos, which my wife holds in the same regard.
- Locally Roasted Coffee: because generic doesn’t make coffee; it makes dirty sock water.
- Craft Beer: because I prefer liquid bread, not piss water
- Jimmy Dean Sausage: because I only buy it 9 or 10 times a year and generic sucks
- Cheerios: because cereal shouldn’t taste like cardboard. Honorable mention to Trader O’s which are pretty close.
- Electronics/software: because there are always sales and because barrel bottom knockoffs aren’t worth it
- AAA video games: because Nintendo games never go on sale anyway and are worth it
- Guitar strings/gizmos: because I’m a grown-ass man who is still strumming away his teenage angst on a six string
- Health purchases (gym membership, protein powder, workout shoes, etc.): because like Count Rugen said In Princess Bride, “If you haven’t got your health, you haven’t got anything.”
All told, my non-frugal purchases consume a relatively small portion of my budget. For example, my monthly grocery bill rarely clocks in much over $400, and that includes the occasional bag of Doritos and good coffee, items that I stock up on when they are on sale.
As a matter of fact, I generally have a spare roll of Jimmy Dean sausage, a bag of Doritos, and a giant bag of medium roast coffee that will last until the next sale.
What about higher cost non-consumables? Things like a new TV, a good pair of walking shoes, phones for my teenagers, or a kitchen appliance like an air fryer?
For non-consumables, I am a big believer in careful research to make sure I get value for money. I research the desired item first amongst alternatives to select the best combination of utility and value. Sometimes, this does mean the premium brand/version, but other times a middle of the road option is the better value for money.
Next I research saving opportunities for the chosen item, and I consider everything from credit card points, gift card discounts, sales, used/refurbished options, or retailer promotions. I’ve used all of these, and have even went to the extreme length of funding an entire Disney vacation with discounted gift cards.
Sure, it can be an exhausting process, but there is a payoff. The purchase price of nearly anything can be reduced for those savvy enough. Sticker price is just what retailers in our money-hungry capitalistic society want you to pay. But it’s rarely the price you have to pay, if you are motivated enough.
The good life
I remain convinced that a secure, balanced, and happy life requires little in the way of the money beyond basic needs. Personal connection, family time, sharing good food, and transformative experiences take more time currency than money.
There is an infinite amount of money in the world, but each of us only has a finite amount of time. Every year you work is another year where half of your waking life is spent on something other than your personal interests and passions, and its another year you will never get back.
The sooner you achieve FIRE, the sooner you can stop trading time for money in the form of work and break the chains of work dependence.
Without a doubt, max frugality will buy you this freedom faster. But at some point, stretching frugality to the extreme has diminishing returns. Reusing paper plates like my immigrant grandfather won’t make you wealthy. Nor will avoiding an occasional bag of Doritos.
If your family is able to save and invest say $50K a year on a moderately frugal budget, what difference will an extra $1K make if you swear off all pleasures and live like a monk? The answer: it makes almost no difference on how fast you achieve FI.
My wife and I currently save about ~75% of our income. I’m not going to swear of a glorious bag of Doritos to push our savings rate up to 76%.
A pillowy chocolate donut from Grove Street Bakery filled with artery clogging custard? Count me in. How about an occasional samosa from the local Indian grocer, with a perfectly fried flaky shell and a delicious spicy filling? It’s delicious and it gives me a needed break from my usual lunch meat sandwich, which I eat 150 other days out of the year.
The journey to financial independence is not a straight line. Its not like you are a tightrope walker, where one trivial non-frugal purchase is going to send you careening into the financial abyss.
Its more like a cross-country car trip. Sure, you can get there faster if you push the frugal pedal to the floor. But if you want to slow down every now and again and take in a breathtaking mountain view or stretch your legs out, go ahead. You’ll still make it to your destination just about as fast.
So relax. Loosen up and find joy as you journey to financial independence. Take a detour from frugality from time to time. Buy that delicious bag of Doritos. Life is too short not to.