I think this thread has it completely wrong. My goal is always to feel as poor as possible so I cut the fat and save more.
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What is your goal?
Care to elaborate? How should I imagine that?
What’s your natural feeling, how do you elicit the feeling and what are the consequences?
Troll
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So harsh 
It’s a serious comment. I’m not interested in „feeling wealthy". By definition if I „feel wealthy" then I should be comfortable with spending money.
Just to remind the OP with the 7 figure savings rate but this forum is called „moustachian post". It’s not called „doubebag high earning expat post" (although I do identify as one myself). If you go read MMM I think my approach is totally consistent with the idea of that blog. We want to cut waste and increase savings rate (this is my goal btw)
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You totally misunderstand my post. Which makes the point that feeling wealthy/content has little or no correlation to actual NW. If you feeling deprived and poor makes you happy all the more power to you
i leave it at that
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If anyone else wants to feel poorer, here’s a BTC address you can send some coins to.
bc1qag54mn6qantuvgpa242avwy35466w5mgtkqk2d
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It’s also not a self help forum. I saw your (very impressive - congrats - I mean it) numbers dude, if you still feel poor I don’t think this c grade philosophy podcast shit is going to help you much.
I understood your point I just disagree.
The idea of fire is to accumulate enough capital to live on returns on capital rather than labour. What part of that isn’t hard?
The process necessitates the forgoing of current consumption. Perhaps we have different hobbies/interests, but if I say „I can spend a lot of money on only X" my saving rate will go down a lot.
Therefore my point was that it is more useful to play the game with myself where I seek to put money away into long term investments, get it out of my current account, so that I am less likely to spend it.
It was sarcastic and perhaps a bit dry but relevant to the discussion.
I think this is a key point. While saving money necessarily means you can’t spend the money, the question is how much have you ‘given up’?
I have savings equivalent to multiples of my monthly income.
I wouldn’t say I have ‘forgone’ any consumption if I don’t spend it all today, although technically I have.
If I spend what I’m going to spend anyway, and still have money left over to save, then for me, that is great. I’m still working towards my goal and don’t feel deprived.
There’s probably a line somewhere where you weight up marginal utility of spending. When that drops to zero, there’s no deprivation from not spending.
The question is where to draw the line which maximizes the utility (perhaps even applying some discount factor).
I just wondered because since I know the concept of FIRE, I feel kinda poor (not like poverty, but you know) because I’m not FI.
I mean even a million - not that I had one - equals to only 3.3k/month before taxes (at 4%! less at for ex 3.5%) OR a nice flat or tiny house in CH + 0 liquid NW which hardly seems rich.
Even 2mil hardly feels extravagant from that point of view.
Which is why I think the advice to use money wisely and not fall into an all-saving-no-spending trap while not FI is useful.
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RE is still RE at 64 and 11 months. I’m pretty sure I can reach it if I’m alive by then. I’m kind of an optimist.
Which is part of why Swiss people are more relaxed I think. They/you can pretty much retire on the three pillars any time after 60yo I guess? Just need enough to bridge the time to access them.
ETA: I’m not stressing about being RE, I’m stressed about not being FI.
1000%, never had so much money as I do now, never felt more worried about spending and money in general as I do now. In fact the more my balance grows the further I feel. And it makes sense. Having 5,000 liquid - the first 5,000 liquid - is a big deal. Then they become 50,000, 100,000 - big first milestone -, then 150,000…and the weight needed to get there has become very real. I know I will get to 500,000 simply doing what I’m doing given enough time. I also know I won’t get to 5,000,000 unless I win the lottery, and I don’t even play it so chances are kinda slim…
Probably mix of comparison with others, tunnel vision towards a goal (or a hole - rhymes).
Still talking liquid, pensions etc are pipe dreams which I have conditioned not to even think about and RE is shelter. Liquid and cashflow is all that matters (to me).
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Well put!
I think we do need to hear that message. To not only live in the future money wise. Of course we should save but not to the detriment of today. Continue to carefully inspect costs but also spend from time to time…
Turn numbers around and build new excel sheets to feel better about this*.
* better not guaranteed.
More seriously, we’re challenging happiness here. Money doesn’t buy…
Well it doesn’t, tell this to a really deprived person, for whom spending 10 euros is a big deal and see their face. I was humbled at my wedding (in Serbia) that someone, don’t know who, brought us a bar of Dove soap as a gift. Let that sink in, a CHF3.5 gift is all they could do, but they did it anyway.
In my opinion we here (in Switzerland, and in Swiss FIRE) are somewhat tied up in a bubble with little relation to the outside world. When I look at my own P/L I don’t see that I could buy a decent new car with it today, or that daily fluctuations surpass monthly salaries of most Greeks, and several months’/years’ salaries in other places, but how far I feel. That’s borderline hubris!
It doesn’t, but damn it solves sooo many problems…
Edit: for @finalcountdown to not consider me rude (I hope) - money doesn’t buy happiness, but lack of it drives unhappiness, I think we can all agree to that.
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Yeah I already have all the Excel sheets 
And I don’t care about living in Asia unfortunately…
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Problem 1:
I wish I had money.
Problem 2:
I wish I had more money.
Problem 3:
I don’t know what to do with my money.
Problem 4:
I don’t know what to do with my life.
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They should delete all the categories on the forum homepage and just use these
Edit: this thread would go in category 4.
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