Forum Discussion
- A much better article - actually provides some information.
Although, is any of this really new? Aren't these just the current "hippies" of the era - those disillusioned of their lives (or those of people around them) and looking for a different way? - that is the same article i read on the New York Times website
- Not up to me, to judge, if that is how folks want to live, and they are happy, I say more power to them, and maybe they are smarter than the rest of us. ( would not argue that)
Where I run into trouble, is the heartbreaking, stories part. While I truly believe this can be the case. I also have been, in the people business for almost 40 years. And I would just say this, we all have self inflicted wounds, the key is, to keep them to knife wounds not shotgun blasts.
We all tell ourselves stories, to justify our actions. So when I hear these bleak stories. I want to reserve judgment. I think just listening to what someone says, can be a poor way to understand the total picture and how they ended up where they are. You would really have to know them and their history, before you could really make a judgment. Because, very few people will ever mention the self inflicted wound part. Just human nature we want to blame someone else for our troubles. Not always the case, but frequently is, from my experience - The author could only live in an RV for a week? Must be very spoiled and obviously never served in the armed forces where had to endure much tougher conditions. And in the article,it says the one couples savings were wiped out in 2008. What were they invested in? I took a 40% hit but it came back.Some people just don't save money for retirement. I have friends who took some expensive vacations and bought new cars every 3 years and saved nothing. One friend is 66 and still working because he admits they didn't save anything. But they bought a house,put and addition on, built a 3 car garage so they have a mortgage. And some bought houses during the boom that were way over priced, then one or both spouses lost a job and they got in a hole.It happens. I guess I was lucky because my mom instilled into me to save money. I built a small rancher and still live in it 40 years later. We don't live high off the hog or take expensive vacations. That's why we camp.We stay in state or federal parks which are cheaper and with the America the beautiful pass we have saved alot of money.I started saving money 30 years before I turned 65.And while I don't have a million,I did pretty well.I'm still working, but not 40 hours a week. I do that so I don't have to tap into my retirement just yet.But I would imagine that many people living the full time RV lifestyle do it because they want to,not have to. And some like me work so they don't have to tap into their nest egg.
- Some of you jaspers must have sore arms from patting yourselves on the back.
Adding contempt to misery is unseemly. irishtom29 wrote:
Some of you jaspers must have sore arms from patting yourselves on the back.
Adding contempt to misery is unseemly.
Nah, I'd be willing to bet that most of us planned ahead (see the common theme there...?) and stretched before we started patting. That should alleviate most of the pain.;)
This was written tongue in cheek, but the message is still there. Those that plan ahead tend to be better off when we eventually get to the "ahead" part. Not all will be successful, but most will be far better off.
Like I said, I drop $400 a paycheck into a retirement plan. That is on top of an IRA in which we put "extra money" at the end of the year. That extra $800 every month sure would be nice to spend. Heck, I could have afforded a NEW Ram instead of a used. My wife could afford a NEW car instead of her 10 year old car. We could live in a much larger house. We could eat out more. We could vacation more. We could do a LOT of stuff now... but we are choosing to plan for the future instead. I'm 37 and I've been putting away AT LEAST $300 a paycheck since I was 21 years old.
I should be much better off than the majority of my coworkers... you know the ones, those guys laughing at me for living frugally now. I might fail, I might lose all my money. But I also might do alright. I might learn to leave within my means, even when my means are far greater in 20 or 30 years.spoon059 wrote:
irishtom29 wrote:
Some of you jaspers must have sore arms from patting yourselves on the back.
Adding contempt to misery is unseemly.
Nah, I'd be willing to bet that most of us planned ahead (see the common theme there...?) and stretched before we started patting. That should alleviate most of the pain.;)
This was written tongue in cheek, but the message is still there. Those that plan ahead tend to be better off when we eventually get to the "ahead" part. Not all will be successful, but most will be far better off.
Like I said, I drop $400 a paycheck into a retirement plan. That is on top of an IRA in which we put "extra money" at the end of the year. That extra $800 every month sure would be nice to spend. Heck, I could have afforded a NEW Ram instead of a used. My wife could afford a NEW car instead of her 10 year old car. We could live in a much larger house. We could eat out more. We could vacation more. We could do a LOT of stuff now... but we are choosing to plan for the future instead. I'm 37 and I've been putting away AT LEAST $300 a paycheck since I was 21 years old.
I should be much better off than the majority of my coworkers... you know the ones, those guys laughing at me for living frugally now. I might fail, I might lose all my money. But I also might do alright. I might learn to leave within my means, even when my means are far greater in 20 or 30 years.
There's got to be a balance. There have been people who saved and pinched penny's all their life only to have their health fail by the time they retire and not get to enjoy life. I'm somewhere in the middle, my wife and I religiously put money away every month but we live in the now too. Tomorrow is never guaranteed and we are healthy and able bodied today. I don't want to save all the fun for when I'm old.
Danspoon059 wrote:
Nah, I'd be willing to bet that most of us planned ahead (see the common theme there...?) and stretched before we started patting. That should alleviate most of the pain.
This was written tongue in cheek, but the message is still there. Those that plan ahead tend to be better off when we eventually get to the "ahead" part. Not all will be successful, but most will be far better off.
Like I said, I drop $400 a paycheck into a retirement plan. That is on top of an IRA in which we put "extra money" at the end of the year. That extra $800 every month sure would be nice to spend. Heck, I could have afforded a NEW Ram instead of a used. My wife could afford a NEW car instead of her 10 year old car. We could live in a much larger house. We could eat out more. We could vacation more. We could do a LOT of stuff now... but we are choosing to plan for the future instead. I'm 37 and I've been putting away AT LEAST $300 a paycheck since I was 21 years old.
I should be much better off than the majority of my coworkers... you know the ones, those guys laughing at me for living frugally now. I might fail, I might lose all my money. But I also might do alright. I might learn to leave within my means, even when my means are far greater in 20 or 30 years.
Well stated ... and ... good for you!!
But IMHO you're still living a bit too High-On-The-Hog. ;)
i.e. We own three vehicles: The newest is our 2005 motorhome, the next newest is our 2002 daily driver sedan, and the oldest is our 1995 4X4 pickup that we use for carrying stuff and fishing. One of the Golden Rules for living might be Buy it Right and Buy It Once. :B- Wish I could have afforded to put $300+ away every month since I was 21. But some folks didn't/don't make enough to do so.
Some folks did and then had a major health crisis that wiped them out.
Some folks made bad choices - maybe they didn't have a parent who taught them about financial wisdom. Maybe they had to learn it by making mistakes along the way.
There are people I know who throw their money around with no cares. If I know them well enough, and know it was greed, then I have no sympathy for them. However, just because I know them doesn't mean everyone else acted the same. I also know people who struggle and work their butts off just to survive.
