I’ve noticed sometimes that there’s some half-baked videos or blogs or whatever that purport this or that frugal trick, but if you look at the time or math, it’s not actually frugal for you.
What are some examples of that you’ve come across? The things that “aren’t worth it”?
For me it’s couponing. (Although I haven’t heard people talk about it recently–has it fallen out of “style”, or have businesses caught up to the loopholes folks used to exploit?)
The people who tell you that you are poor because you get coffee at a coffee shop every day. At best you would save ~$2000/year if you bought $5 cup everyday. $2000 saved would not be a significant amount of money to make in an investment either. Personal happiness isn’t worth trying to cut out things you like.
Sure it might not be a huge amount in one year until you notice that it’s not just a year, it’s the rest of your life. then 30 years later you have saved $60000 with interest.
It’s funny, the same people who told me the same thing spent their whole life saving money. 20 years later they are still saving money and haven’t once traveled the world, still live in the same general area, but still are still saving their money. For what? I don’t know. The most valuable commodity is your youth. Worth much more than $60k or $150k when your bones are withered.
You are on a frugal community dude, do you not get the whole point is convenient ways to save money. Making your own coffee or not drinking coffee at all is a very worthwhile endeavor. It takes about the same amount of time as drive to a coffee shop and get a drink. The only plausible thing I can think of is that you are being sarcastic. Otherwise just leave this community alone, some people actually need help and I don’t really think you would have any valuable insights.
It’s all about context though. $2000 is substantial to much of the people who live on this planet. You’re right about that amount in investment returns would be considered small, but the people who this amount is significant don’t usually have investments to rely on.
$2000 extra a year into a 401k over a lifetime of work is a substantial amount of money when you retire. This 401k calculator estimates it as $150k after 45 years. That sounds high to me but regardless $2k extra a year is a lot when you consider compound interest over decades.