Comments on: Why this early retirement blog continuously talks about cycling and cooking?

By: Insurance Izzy

Insurance Izzy — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 18:06:09 +0000

Whoops! Posted under the wrong name!

By: Investment Izzy

Investment Izzy — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 18:04:48 +0000

I’m definitely not planning on having kids. They are one of the biggest drags on your expenses. Plus, studies have shown that marriage generally makes you happier, but kids do not. Just think of the medical bills you’re saving from the very beginning. And then think about feeding, clothing, and entertaining a kid for 18+ years. And it only gets worse if you have more than one!!! Plus, with world population on the rise, there’s no overwhelming need to procreate. The human race can survive very easily without my progeny, thanks very much!

By: Ralphy

Ralphy — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 06:45:25 +0000

Jacob – any ‘revelations’ on minimizing tax expenses in the 2+ years since this post was written?

By: LisaC

LisaC — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 19:22:49 +0000

The comments about children are interesting. Some of the queens of frugality such as Amy D. of Tightwad Gazette fame and Jonni McCoy of Miserly Moms were basically inspired by their desire to stay at home with their kids. It’s true what Jacob said that kids don’t really need that much, it’s the parents who overdo it.

By: ROAD

ROAD — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 15:16:58 +0000

Jacob,

First off I wanted to tell you I really enjoy your site and can’t wait for the book to come out. (After I read the book, I think it will be my gift to any kids graduating from high school) I have been reading your site for almost a year now but this is my first comment.

I keep seeing this debate about to have children or not. The one thing I have never seen brought up however are foster kids or adopting the kids the state can’t get rid of. These kids come with a monthly stipend. It is another form of income streams you always talk about. I figured it would be interesting to see a blog on this and the after expenses profit that could be made per kid. Most things I have read on the subject are people saying it is not profitable, but I believe with the frugal mindset it would.

I think it would be an answer for people who want to have kids but at the same time not have the impact that it would have on their path to financial independence.

By: 10YearsBefore

10YearsBefore — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 07:28:13 +0000

Having children, I know they are expensive, mainly because of housing. You need a big house at an attractive location, that does never come cheap (here in Belgium).
Having a car is not that expensive if you use it wisely.
Food offers best opportunity for me to save money.
Investing wisely is also very important, I use Harry Browne’s permanent portfolio for effortless wealth preservation.

By: Photoguy

Photoguy — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 05:23:12 +0000

Well I did a coop programing in university (engineering) and it was enough to pay for school (equivalent of state in the US). Basically, in the program you alternate between paid internships and school quarters. The internships are enough to cover your expenses and tuition/living for the next quarter if you are frugal. Besides being educational, it also allows students to graduate with minimal or no debt. However, it does take an extra year to finish. So there are at least some options.

By: Moneyedup

Moneyedup — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 02:59:37 +0000

@Photoguy While you may be able to save some money by not building up a college fund for your son or daughter, it also adds a lot of pressure. For a student who has to rely on a scholarship to pay for their tuition, they will enjoy school less because they will be so focused on marks and trying to make the cut for their scholarship to be renewed. Also, having a part time job while you are in college may seem like a good idea, but college should really be looked at as a full time job if you want to do it properly (by doing the readings, going to all classes and completing all assignments to the best of your potential). Picking up a few shifts a week shouldn’t hurt but a part time job won’t pay your tuition bills unless you are sacrificing time that could be spent on your studies.

By: Jacob

Jacob — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 00:04:04 +0000

@Photoguy – Use a pressure cooker for the brown rice.

By: Photoguy

Photoguy — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 23:59:36 +0000

@adam — have you tried whole grain products. Most grains are very cheap, tasty (in my opinion), and are very inexpensive. The main drawback is they take a long time to cook. I bought a 20lb bag of brown rice for $5 (which is actually much less than white rice at about $20).

Regarding children — I don’t have any now, but the biggest expense for my friends seems to be daycare which can easily run $1500 per month (or college tuition depending on their age). However, if one person is an early retiree, I don’t see why the costs should be that high.

Also, for college, it may be possible for a student to pay their own way through school with the right choice of majors, state college, scholarships, internships/coop programs, etc.

By: Zamatar

Zamatar — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 23:59:16 +0000

@Fatty
I am extreamly thin (BMI of about 18ish). That being said, here is my taky on heavier people.

(1) If you complain about not being able to lose weight I will get annoyed with you.

(2) If you have a weight-related disease (heart attack, diabetties, high chloresteral, etc – read the China Study for more info) and are having your medical bills subsidised by the government I will get extreamly annoyed with you.

(3) If neither (1) nor (2) apply to you then weight is not an issue (at least in my mind).

By: Jacob

Jacob — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 21:40:35 +0000

@deegee – Children aren’t necessarily a budget killer. It would seem to be human nature, though, to spend as much as one possibly can on the children. At least that happens a lot. Children don’t need a lot, but their parents almost always tend to _want_ a lot for their children. Unfortunately, the wants are taken for contemporary consumer society and thus it turns into toys and exotic experiences rather than time and interaction.

By: deegee

deegee — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 21:33:00 +0000

I am glad you listed children first, Jacob. As a childfree person, this enables me to live in a smaller place and keep my housing expenses low as well as other expenses.

I always get a chuckle whenever I read about how someone had kids and that somehow resulted in reducing one’s other expenses because that person could not longer go out as much and spend money in the careless way they did before. NEWS FLASH – even if you did not have kids, you were always capable of choosing that less expensive lifestyle. There was no such automatic offsetting expense reduction.

The only way kids could cause one’s family expense/revenue ratio not to expand would be if the kid was generating a lot of income, perhaps from acting in TV commercials as a child actor. Otherwise, the kid will always be a net drain on the family budget.

By: Jacob

Jacob — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 20:28:00 +0000

When the heat is on, cycling is cooler than walking because it generates it’s own wind (above 15mph). Also it’s more efficient so less effort is spent for the same distance. So if one can go 15mph+ without effort, it’s better to be on a bike when temperatures go up.

By: Maus

Maus — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 19:54:29 +0000

@Adrienne
I echo this sentiment. I did an internship one summer in Washington D.C. I had a short walk across the Catholic U. campus from my rental to my work. It took standing 10 minutes in front of the air conditioner to counteract the effects of the humidity first thing each morning. I couldn’t imagine biking several miles in that sort of climate.

By: Jacob

Jacob — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 19:19:52 +0000

@skunk1980 – Ha! I’ll leave that to the more popular personal finance blogs (I’m not going to mention any names :O) )

By: skunk1980

skunk1980 — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 19:16:46 +0000

Could you at least pretend to have kids just so you will write a few articles on diapers? hehe.

By: Q

Thu, 10 Jun 2010 04:05:32 +0000

Living fridge free…interesting – definitely something I’d like to talk about at the meet-up.

Don’t really know how I ended up on this post tho, but it gets my brain flowing.

By: Jacob

Jacob — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 20:57:31 +0000

@Adam – Do you cook from scratch? Have you considered going vegetarian? Meat and dairy is generally quite expensive compared to in season vegetables.

By: Adam

Adam — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 20:49:59 +0000

I also have an issue with the food budget. What about people with special diets? I have to follow a careful diet due to hereditary type 2 diabetes and meat is not cheap. Most cheap food staples are very high in carbs.