Cheap asses - at what equity position did you begin to relax?

Yes, you need help.

No one in their right mind goes on a holiday to Adelaide :D:cool:

I know, right? I only went there because the Australian men's volleyball team was playing the World League there this weekend. We lost both games btw in case you are wondering.

I found it funny that Coles and Woolies were closed at night (say 10pm), they were closed at about 7pm on a Saturday and Sunday mornings, all the stores are shut until 11am! The guy at the tourist info centre said they "were civilised", you know, everybody's in Church, I'd describe it as 20 years backwards....
 
Since the Sydney housing boom started I have decided to splurge out every second Friday on some KFC. That's $9.95 on a regular 2 piece meal. Expensive I know but what can I do as I'm not allowed within 100m of a soup kitchen

On other days I buy an .85c loaf of bread and approach delicatessens asking to sample some of their meats. A quick walk past some fruit and veg vendors and I top up on essential vitamins and minerals.

Watch the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves.

Datto
9 pieces for 9.95 every Tuesday at kfc :D
Get on it :p
 
We have only had a couple of short periods of virtually unchecked relaxation about spending -

First, when we were first married, I had my second Pro Shop business, wife was working full-time and no kids...good double income and no other outgoings other than PPoR and car each.

About a year or so after this we gave that all away to start our own B&B, and had to mortgage up to the hilt to get the property we wanted for the purpose.

Second time for a short while was just after the B&B property sold, bought the next PPoR with cash from B&B purchase, and still had no kids, but the incomes were not fabulous.

Then child no.1 came along, and the investing life began, and ever since the relaxation mode for spending has disappeared.

For us, even though our asset wealth steadily increased, the window of spending relaxation has been short, with mostly periods of always having to second-think spending decisions and always planning how to save money to maximise the cashflow...increasing wealth, but not increasing of incomes much above expenses.
 
I guess it happened when we became financially free.
Didn't retire but continue to grow wealth.
Got to start spending at that stage to have a hunger to make more.
 
If i wasnt doing reno's/building then we would save almost $1500 per week after all expenses with everything rented.

However with a $100k reno cost last year, a $70k reno project now, and a $80k reno project at the end of the year, my spending money reduces to $0 so I'm still a penny pincher.

When ive done all my renos and paid off half my ppor i think we will start being able to spend money on stuff we dont need.
 
My partner and I have always been ultra frugal and risk adverse when it comes to finances.

For instance...my first 3 IPs were funded using 20% deposits from savings!

Then we bought a very modest PPOR in a very dire state and have been slowly renoing it.

So for the vast majority of my investing journey, I've just been ultra saving and investing as much as I could comfortably afford to without a clear goal in mind other than a general sense of becoming wealthy (accumulating assets).

It was really only in the last year or so that I started to realise that real wealth is about having options, and options requires cashflow. So I've started to track my expenses and now have a clear goal in mind to replace my living expenses from investment income. Additionally, that the majority of that income will be from fully franked dividends as opposed to rental income. I now perceive resi IPs as an asset builder, not a cashflow generator.

I'm about 50% of the way there and have a mostly paid off PPOR.

Now that I have a clear goal in mind, the realisation that I'm pretty well progressed in reaching that goal, a decent sized portfolio that will likely continue to compound in the background, my partner and I have decided to take 6~12 months off work to travel the world.

Signing off,
Ex-cheap a$S
 
We spent over a decade of solid saving and buying properties at the same time as starting a family and it has only been the last five years that we are now relaxing.

We regularly take two weekly intra or interstate holidays, have had two os trips and the occasional dinner out.

What we have noticed is that friends and family on a similar social scale as us are questioning as to how we do it. However, our cars are 7 and 12 years old, we do not eat out 3-4 times a week, make our own lunches and the majority of meals are at home and we are not drinkers.

We have no gardeners and no cleaners.

Surprising though we do not mind our "frugal lifestyle".
 
I take a bit of offense to the notion that someone is a cheapskate when they are living within their means.

We've always kept our living expenses low. Being on a low income AND having very expensive sport costs, it was the only way to survive. Things started loosening up after the first child stopped skating, then my hip gave way meant I had to retire, then Lil left home, and finally Hubby quit.

We still don't spend a lot, but Holidays now, are real Holidays, not a week tagged onto the back of a Competition we had to go to. We eat out more often, go to shows (which we never did before) but I sometimes find myself checking the prices and mulling things over until I tell myself that "it's fine, you can afford it."
 
For the time being, I've got a six figure salary (just, but it counts!) and my partner is making okay money, plus we have a surplus of ~$10k from our IPs.

Yet I still always shop for what's on special and look at prices of everything I buy.
Could I afford $8.99/kg for capsicum? Certainly. But it's just not worth it to me when I can wait a few months and then get it for $2.99/kg.

I'm not feeling like I'm restricting myself, because I know that if I really wanted that capsicum, I could buy it.

So while I'm not as tight with my money now as I was when I didn't have a lot, I'll always be somewhat frugal with my money.
 
relax as in, geez im in a pretty good position right now, carry on

OR

geez, I can not work another day and live another 400 years on 2 minute noodles
 
We still don't spend a lot, but Holidays now, are real Holidays, not a week tagged onto the back of a Competition we had to go to. We eat out more often, go to shows (which we never did before) but I sometimes find myself checking the prices and mulling things over until I tell myself that "it's fine, you can afford it."

I still do the same.... can't change some habits.
The lesson of the value of money that has been taught and never forgotten.

I even go to the extent of writing things down mentally, calculating the price just to make sure we don't go overboard.... not because we can't afford it, its because i don't like waste and i like making efficient use of money.

Do some people think I am tight? Yes. Do i care? No - spend within my means and splurge when i want to without having to worry about paying back a debt. :D
 
Since the Sydney housing boom started I have decided to splurge out every second Friday on some KFC. That's $9.95 on a regular 2 piece meal. Expensive I know but what can I do as I'm not allowed within 100m of a soup kitchen
.
I'm with you Datto,was walking through the Brisbane valley last night with the dogs and one hotel had a sign 5bucks a pint with a 2 dollar taco walk in I was the only person in the place,irish lady behind the bar gives me the pint and a tray of ten tacos,all for seven bucks,even the dogs had a feed..
 
When one has used value for money as their foundation to achieve their riches, it is not really possible to 'relax' in the way suggested without compromising that. Similar to those who continue to work on once they achieve financial independence, it's hard to turn back on what got you there in the first place.
 
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