Let's talk about the book: "Free by 40 in Switzerland"

Mustachian French of course.

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How much cash flow does Bitcoin generate each year? Because if it is not generating any cash flow it is not investing but speculating.

Good point. Invested is not the proper term here but that’s a bit off-topic.

:laughing:
That’s how you can tell whether you are a true frugalian or not (spoiler: I am not).

I guess he wanted to say that he could afford to lose 1000, had his experience gone terribly wrong. But I admit there is definitely some contrast.

Let us put aside weird grammar or informal writing style, have you found interesting ideas in this book?

I also think that 39 CHF is not exactly cheap for an EBook. For that price, I’d expect more than just a summarization of generic tips and common sense. I mean, If you don’t mind a bit of googling, the general guidelines for saving money have been extensively covered and freely accessible for years. Typical tips usually revolve around reducing your Internet/TV bills, avoiding over-insurance / luxury goods, buying ETFs and… riding a bicycle (if your routine allows it).

Does the book cover more than just the basic stuff?

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If anyone had asked me about my expectations for the book, I would have expected nothing more or less than this: a couple of years worth of blog posts compiled, enriched and nicely repackaged into a more accessible format. Certainly not the first buyable product and E-book originating from a blog, is it?

And it’s not as if there was anything wrong with that. As such though, I would hardly be surprised if the book is a bit lacking (or making compromies) in terms of coherent structure. Its author probably didn’t set out to create a book when he started blogging.

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That sounds like the popular (Swiss?) german ending of questions with “… oder was?” which should never ever translated like this to English. I read @thepoorswiss summary blogpost which was linked in the other thread and concluded that it’s not a book I will read.

I always thought it translated to English quite closely (though not literally):

“You’re a liar who advises doing what he says but not what he does, aren’t you?

Cambridge dictionary does indicate that “or what” is sometimes used for emphasis at the end of a phrase.

Why don’t you just think of it as a Swiss price? :wink:

Being (supposedly) Swiss-specific, the audience is limited. For French, for instance just about 2 million speakers in Switzerland. English speakers probably even less (that don’t prefer German and/or French, that is).

I read one of the chapters pre publication, never provided feedback though. Sorry MP.

Based on that chapter I concluded that I wasn’t the target audience. Basically the book provides nothing new to people who participate in this forum.

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What you describe is kind of what I wanted. Maybe my expectation were too high but what I had hoped for was simply the contents of the blog, reorganized, refined, expanded upon and finally edited and proof-read. The final product is definitely not this, for all the reasons listed in my original post.

I’m happy to support MP with some CHF in exchange for all the info I’ve gotten from the blog and forums. But I’m also saddened by the fact that when someone asks me about financial advice or points at this book on my bookshelf, I can’t recommend it.

I honestly don’t know, I couldn’t make it past the first chapter. The contents of the later chapters doesn’t really concern me since I can’t even get myself to read more than the first chapter. You can see the table of contents here: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3
It seems to be a lot of the same information as on this blog. Maybe it’s expanded upon. :man_shrugging:

I’d say it looks like a direct translation from the same French sentence. I’d expect more from a book release in English.

Maybe we can get an updated pdf version :wink:

This book is here to make profit. That’s what it is. Sorry do not take this as an attack.

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I think that we all know this, or at least I hope everyone who has purchased the book known it, especially if you’re taking the other expensive option :slight_smile:

It’s a book about Mustachianism done in a Mustachian way.

I do not blame people for earning money out of their work. At some point, I questioned myself if I shouldn’t buy the book as a way to “say thanks” for the interesting blog posts. I would have certainly done it if the price was lower (10-20 for an electronic copy isn’t a big effort).

Then, it has been mentioned that MP is making a nice sum out of his blog too (I read people talking about 5000/month). That took away a good half of my feeling of guilt.

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Why would you have feelings of guilt? MP shares his stories/advice in this format, which is free to follow, out of the idea he had that that’s how he wants it to be. He put together and gave free access to this forum in the same ways. I am grateful he did it that way and could throw a few bucks his way to thank him for it (I’ve thought about buying the book too) but that would be out of appreciation, not guilt and would certainly not be a hidden obligation I would have by using this forum.

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I agree and thought the same about the price. 10-20 for forum members would be a fair deal. Do not forget that, in marketing, if the product is free YOU are the product. Since this forum is free from access as well as post and share experiences, this remunerate the owner, who can write a book (for example). Again, this is not an attack.

While I agree on the basic principle, some things on the internet are not marketing. The internet is a great place to share ideas and many people are willing to pay the hosting costs of a website and/or donate (a ton) of time for a given project without hope that it’ll generate more cashflow than what’s required to cover its own expenses, if even that.

I may be naive but I’m putting FIRE blogs in that category. What the writers are offering (thanks MP!) is an entry door into a different way of seeing the world. One way to handle our relationship with it is to pay it forward: contribute meaningfully, direct people to this site or another, offer a FIRE book (why not MP’s) to people who could benefit from it…

Financial independence is all about that: financial independence. It is about being able to run a website about FIRE without charging for it if one wants to. Putting monetization at the core of the thinking behind every website in existence is taking away its very essence from the FIRE movement.

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The blog posts on mustachianpost and also the forum is for free.
Nobody needs to pay monthly to get into the “inner circle” aka forum or has to be a vip member to read the blog behind a paywall.

My reason to buy the book and gift it to a good friend was to support the guy behind mustachianpost.
We have a great community here – so buy the book or not :wink:

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I bought the book before it was officially released. It is a book about frugality, saving money and investing. The tips presented will definitely save you more than CHF39.

As long as you understood the book you should be happy. I certainly wasn’t expecting Shakespeare.

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