[tgcordell]

Doing 'whatever the fuck you want' costs money too, and its something you'll have avoided due to the frugal life style. So, at the point you retire early, either your frugal habits have become ingrained, or you quickly learn that 'fun' comes at a price. Its an interesting conundrum to say the least.

[aestra]

>Doing 'whatever the fuck you want' costs money too, and its something you'll have avoided due to the frugal life style.

Hrm?

Going without a fancy car and electronics isn't the same thing as "doing whatever the fuck I want."

For me, I consider myself frugal in a sense. I don't have hardly any material wants and I try hard not to buy much of anything. I don't want a fancy car, I went for a cheap efficient one. I basically don't have any wish to keep buying "stuff." I don't care what anyone thinks of me because I don't have good "stuff." I drove a beat up car FOREVER even when everyone made fun of me for it.

What I do is I spend my money on fun. Taking weekend trips at least once a month for example as something that costs money or going out with my friends. I'm not frugal in that sense, but it is what I choose to spend my money on. I try to do things cheap as possible. I have plenty of money and way more than I need even with these expenditures because I don't acquire "stuff" or want or need a big house for all my "stuff."

In all honesty from what I noticed just from the people I know that the "I'm so busy" people are the same people who are running on the hedonistic treadmill faster and faster.

[zecho]

Realign the things you want to the free things in the world and your perspective may change a bit. I have a habit of sometimes vanishing from work on particularly nice days, for no reason other than to lay in the grass at the park. I live way up north, so there are only so many nice days a year here. I figure a few hundred truly perfect days over the rest of my life.

I also enjoy fishing, which really only has startup costs for a rod/reel combo and some accessories (or a found stick and a hook on a line). After that, I can find bait in the garden, to my wife's dismay.

Anyway, the point is fun is really what you make of it. As they say, some of the best things in life are free.

[pyrrhotech]

I'm a firm believer in the diminishing marginal returns of happiness that levels of consumption provide. I have no delusions that I wouldn't be happier if I were a billionaire than a 1-2 millionaire early retiree. But how much happier?

I don't believe in any type of extreme frugality, though I do plan on increasing my spending to the 100k/year range by retirement at 35. I'm saving more now because each additional dollar saved now means a lot more than money saved later, plus since I work, I honestly just don't have time to enjoy large expenditures right now, but I will in retirement.