It amazes me how Warren Buffett was able to come up with 12 things poor people waste money on. I didn't see anything most poor people would be able to do, except maybe buying a 12-pack of beer off and on and a lottery ticket off and on to keep the hopes up!
I highly doubt that Warren Buffet "goes without" or limits his purchases to the bare necessities required to sustain his life and that of his family. Perhaps he should have lectured Nancy Pelosi about her own excesses when she showed off her two $10,000.00 refrigerators that she purchased solely for the purpose of stocking up on every kind of ice cream she loved so that she could indulge her fav treat while locking herself up during the pandemic. Why didn't we think of that?
I think we let ourselves get sucked in by what life is 'supposed' to look like and don't take the time to decide that for ourselves. That said, more cash could always help :)
At 74 and watching my resources shrink, "earn a dime, save a nickel" was good advice I didn't take. And learning to delay gratification, was another missed lesson.
Nobody in the working class should have to watch their access to our abundant resources shrink as they get older following a lifetime of service as a worker, as your commenter Greg Sanford reports. Nor should any young person start out their life as a worker that way. Clearly, the capitalist system is not working for us and there needs to come a reckoning and a fundamental shift in the economic global order.
You and your readers may be interested in this recent article of mine, where I explain why no worker should be experiencing "hard times" at a period of time when technology can produce an abundance for all:
Great advice!! Paying attention and thinking about what we value and how best to move forward doesn’t solve everything but it makes a good start. Great practical tips. And common sense is rare but we can all get the hang of it with practice. Thanks.
I have been dirt poor and middle class at different times in my life. I have had some major financial setbacks that I overcame. Now I pinch pennies when I have to, and save up for the big things. I cook a big meal one or twice a week (usually a casserole of some kind) and make it last nearly all week. I am not the best cook but I can make do. I always buy healthy choices as much as possible to make meals with. I may pay a little more for organic or healthier choices (it should be the other way around) but I know I will be all the healthier for it. Being a semi-recluse helps too. I can avoid catching Covid this way. Everyone has to make their own choices about lifestyles that they are comfortable with and live with their decisions. Just try not to involve others when you make a bad one.
The best way to save money is to avoid loss. That means emergency preparedness. My Substack has a bunch of tips on that. More forthcoming in the next few weeks now that the election is over.
Mortgage and life insurance are imperative. A friend's husband died suddenly .. they'd been married a few weeks short of 3o years and didn't have wills or mortgage insurance. She's therefore had to spend money to process the estate ... It's a mess!
Emergency preparedness is a great thing. I need to do better in that regard. My sister died quite young and unexpectedly in a car accident but had organized everything. I take this as a reminder I need to get my shit together.
I have GREAT checklists and inventories that make the process relatively easy. Once I get through my backlog of election related posts, I'll start sharing those tips.
I love what you’re writing and it’s important. We’ve done everything you’ve talked about here and it enabled us to retire and not struggle financially. Happiness does not come from spending. We are old now and lucky that we grew up when it was easier to make ends meet but our daughter lives an amazing life on much less money than most people need to be happy and I think she learned that skill from us.
I would love for you to go into more detail, if you’re willing. These stories are important. You don’t hear them often because the people advising us on money usually have only their own interests at heart — meaning they encourage us to spend more.
Love this! I started “Money Tips Money Hacks” exactly for the audience you’re referring to. I noticed there was a lack of information beyond investing when I was looking for books and podcasts to improve my personal finance. My experiences have been my best teachers, and I’m sharing them to empower others in the same boat.
The damn things basically cost a good $5K a year. I tried walking to the train (30m+20m on train) all winter, and cycling (40m) all summer. I got in better shape, did have to go to bed a little earlier and get up sooner, and saved about $4500, counting all bike purchase and maintenance.
If you live too far to do that, OK, but do consider it. You'd be amazed how much people use cars when they really don't have to.
In my case, it was going down from 2 cars to one and I admit, going down to zero cars in most cities are problematic.
Anyway, I put the money I was saving into an account, to buy a replacement car for the one we had. That car lasted a long time because I was also using the bike all I could all weekends. We still haven't replaced it, and spent the $50,000 I saved, over a decade, on the retirement place.
Trust me, my husband is Dutch and used a bike for his main transportation before he moved here, and I lived without a car for a while when I was an impoverished college student, but even then my parents would make the round trip to pick me up anytime I needed to return to my hometown.
Join a gang, say the local fire department or historical society. You need eyes and ears helping you trade time or skills. If you can trade computer skills for electrical skills, depending on a area, your making tax free $150 hour labor + free parts.
I had to get an MBA to get a working capital loan for partnership that had multi million dollar lines of credit from vendors. Bank said key management had no finance knowledge. Showed them 1st semester schedule & got working capital lone. 99.9% of financial planning & investing is bunk.
Wall Street is a myth. Also use credit unions. Oh, have MFA & MBA, cause I got MBA at not big name school, bought used texts & car pooled w fellow students.
Re small cars, owning a truck is actually quite helpful and can save you money on things like delivery fees, and even allow you to buy larger second hand items like furniture or appliances. I have somehow avoided killing any pedestrians.
It amazes me how Warren Buffett was able to come up with 12 things poor people waste money on. I didn't see anything most poor people would be able to do, except maybe buying a 12-pack of beer off and on and a lottery ticket off and on to keep the hopes up!
I just checked it out. That’s so offensive! He has no idea. Every rich person thinks poor people are stupid.
I highly doubt that Warren Buffet "goes without" or limits his purchases to the bare necessities required to sustain his life and that of his family. Perhaps he should have lectured Nancy Pelosi about her own excesses when she showed off her two $10,000.00 refrigerators that she purchased solely for the purpose of stocking up on every kind of ice cream she loved so that she could indulge her fav treat while locking herself up during the pandemic. Why didn't we think of that?
“A heated attic dressed in rags”: don’t forget that scenario comes with tuberculosis. At least it did in La Bohème.
If only I could sing, at least there’d be some upside to it!
Great article. I'm glad you re-posted it.
I think we let ourselves get sucked in by what life is 'supposed' to look like and don't take the time to decide that for ourselves. That said, more cash could always help :)
At 74 and watching my resources shrink, "earn a dime, save a nickel" was good advice I didn't take. And learning to delay gratification, was another missed lesson.
Lessons Hard Learned! Yep. Perhaps the only things we should ever hate are debt and evil.
Nobody in the working class should have to watch their access to our abundant resources shrink as they get older following a lifetime of service as a worker, as your commenter Greg Sanford reports. Nor should any young person start out their life as a worker that way. Clearly, the capitalist system is not working for us and there needs to come a reckoning and a fundamental shift in the economic global order.
You and your readers may be interested in this recent article of mine, where I explain why no worker should be experiencing "hard times" at a period of time when technology can produce an abundance for all:
https://lightningpress.substack.com/p/there-is-no-excuse-for-the-working
Great advice!! Paying attention and thinking about what we value and how best to move forward doesn’t solve everything but it makes a good start. Great practical tips. And common sense is rare but we can all get the hang of it with practice. Thanks.
Thank you for reading!
I have been dirt poor and middle class at different times in my life. I have had some major financial setbacks that I overcame. Now I pinch pennies when I have to, and save up for the big things. I cook a big meal one or twice a week (usually a casserole of some kind) and make it last nearly all week. I am not the best cook but I can make do. I always buy healthy choices as much as possible to make meals with. I may pay a little more for organic or healthier choices (it should be the other way around) but I know I will be all the healthier for it. Being a semi-recluse helps too. I can avoid catching Covid this way. Everyone has to make their own choices about lifestyles that they are comfortable with and live with their decisions. Just try not to involve others when you make a bad one.
The best way to save money is to avoid loss. That means emergency preparedness. My Substack has a bunch of tips on that. More forthcoming in the next few weeks now that the election is over.
Mortgage and life insurance are imperative. A friend's husband died suddenly .. they'd been married a few weeks short of 3o years and didn't have wills or mortgage insurance. She's therefore had to spend money to process the estate ... It's a mess!
Emergency preparedness is a great thing. I need to do better in that regard. My sister died quite young and unexpectedly in a car accident but had organized everything. I take this as a reminder I need to get my shit together.
I have GREAT checklists and inventories that make the process relatively easy. Once I get through my backlog of election related posts, I'll start sharing those tips.
This is good advice. Thank you.
I love what you’re writing and it’s important. We’ve done everything you’ve talked about here and it enabled us to retire and not struggle financially. Happiness does not come from spending. We are old now and lucky that we grew up when it was easier to make ends meet but our daughter lives an amazing life on much less money than most people need to be happy and I think she learned that skill from us.
I would love for you to go into more detail, if you’re willing. These stories are important. You don’t hear them often because the people advising us on money usually have only their own interests at heart — meaning they encourage us to spend more.
Love this! I started “Money Tips Money Hacks” exactly for the audience you’re referring to. I noticed there was a lack of information beyond investing when I was looking for books and podcasts to improve my personal finance. My experiences have been my best teachers, and I’m sharing them to empower others in the same boat.
Very sensible! I also enjoy Dana Miranda’s Substack about finances for regular people
Dana Miranda rocks!
Find her here: https://substack.com/@justdanamiranda
Good advice!
Possibly, you don't need a car, at all.
The damn things basically cost a good $5K a year. I tried walking to the train (30m+20m on train) all winter, and cycling (40m) all summer. I got in better shape, did have to go to bed a little earlier and get up sooner, and saved about $4500, counting all bike purchase and maintenance.
If you live too far to do that, OK, but do consider it. You'd be amazed how much people use cars when they really don't have to.
In my case, it was going down from 2 cars to one and I admit, going down to zero cars in most cities are problematic.
Anyway, I put the money I was saving into an account, to buy a replacement car for the one we had. That car lasted a long time because I was also using the bike all I could all weekends. We still haven't replaced it, and spent the $50,000 I saved, over a decade, on the retirement place.
Not possible. No trains or busses here!
Trust me, my husband is Dutch and used a bike for his main transportation before he moved here, and I lived without a car for a while when I was an impoverished college student, but even then my parents would make the round trip to pick me up anytime I needed to return to my hometown.
Join a gang, say the local fire department or historical society. You need eyes and ears helping you trade time or skills. If you can trade computer skills for electrical skills, depending on a area, your making tax free $150 hour labor + free parts.
I had to get an MBA to get a working capital loan for partnership that had multi million dollar lines of credit from vendors. Bank said key management had no finance knowledge. Showed them 1st semester schedule & got working capital lone. 99.9% of financial planning & investing is bunk.
Wall Street is a myth. Also use credit unions. Oh, have MFA & MBA, cause I got MBA at not big name school, bought used texts & car pooled w fellow students.
My skills are not worth anything. Basically, writing and editing. Cannot give them away. My other skills are worth even less!
Re small cars, owning a truck is actually quite helpful and can save you money on things like delivery fees, and even allow you to buy larger second hand items like furniture or appliances. I have somehow avoided killing any pedestrians.