Discovering Extreme Saving

In many ways Fella Frugal and I are already more spartan that the average American couple, although admittedly I am the bigger spender out of the two of us. I enjoy clothes shopping, eating out, convenience items like coffee to go, lunch out at work, and delivery if I don't feel like making dinner. Nothing crazy in that list, it's not as if I've been spending thousands of dollars on designer handbags or something, and besides, these small tokens for myself are what make working worthwhile, right? That's what I thought too, until I found a group of radical thinkers who are counter-cultural, in the truest sense of the word.

I ran into the blog http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/ while trying to find information on investing in index funds. While I may not agree with every single opinion MMM holds, I do agree with most of it, and I highly recommend his website as a resource to anyone who is interested in saving money. I found, within the site, a group of people who proselytize saving* between 50-80 percent of your take home pay. My immediate thought was that I would have to stop eating if I did that, my second thought was, why not try? 

It always seems like the moment someone does something amazing, a bunch of naysayers come out of the woodwork and start shouting that it's impossible! I make much less money than Mr. Money Mustache, and so I was worried that saving half would be impossible, but it's not. I'll just lay it all out for you, I make $45,000 a year before taxes. That means that twice a month I get a check from $1,300, which means, to save half, I need to live on $1,300 a month, or $15,600 a year, which according to most people is impossible, especially in New York City. 

I recently read that the average American saves approximately 6% of their income. Six PERCENT. That's nothing! And you know what? Credit companies like it that way. They don't want you to save, they don't want you to become financially independent or self-sufficient, because if everybody did that, the entire industry would shrink, and the top 1% would be a little less wealthy than they are right now. For me, frugal living is activism. Frugal living is eventual freedom from the rat race, it means free time with the person I love, it means finding more meaning in life than acquiring, it means living for each moment, instead of each financial goal. 

I have been extreme saving for a little over a month now, and the most amazing things have started to happen. I'm genuinely happier and more at peace, I appreciate my life more, and I feel as if a huge weight has been lifted. I no longer agonize between purchases, because the only purchases I make are necessary. I feel no envy about material possessions, because doing this for even a short time has shown me how irrational I was before, happiness comes from a whole different place now. 

I think that most people think that being frugal is something you have to suffer through until you reach the goal of having money. I thought that way too. But now, after one short month, I can't imagine not living this way. I truly believe that consumerism is an addiction, but one that is broken very quickly and fairly easily (at least it was for me). I heard this in a documentary once (paraphrasing here), "if you put someone in a mansion, within two weeks they'll think they deserve it". Even though I was never an insane spender, or in possession of massive wealth, I was still so much more addicted to consumerism than I ever realized. I grew accustom to luxuries so quickly that I no longer considered them luxuries, they became standard. That's how it works, things that were once a treat become standard, and your personal standards for luxury continue to rise. But when you cut your budget so drastically, you begin to see what's truly important, and I'm looking forward to sharing all of that, with all of you! 

*Please note that when I use the word "saving", I don't mean in a savings account or under your mattress, I mean saving by using IRA's, index funds, 401(k)s, or whatever you use to get the best bang for your eventual buck, but more on these details later. 

(Preemptive Note: I am not a communist. I actually have no problem with capitalism. I have a massive problem with the type of capitalism we are currently using, and the way in which we are using it.)