I dont’ get it…… who in the world cares about holes in your socks or your $10 pair of pants? who would ever pass comment on your dated cell phone or your towels not matching your curtains? and why should YOU care enough to write about it?

I guess I missed the point of your article….. it cannot be steretyping the person driving to work in a nice car, is it? like the schoolteacher going to work in a nice new Prius? (OK, I admit that I am envious, I would love a new car!)

Personally, I can’t understand how anyone could take this article as being smug, although obviously many people have. Perhaps the way we view this (and any other, for that matter) article says more about who we are than it does about the author.

To me, this article was spot on. Trent is giving great advice, in the form of examples from his own life. I do not read this as Trent telling me how I should live my life, or as him demonizing people who follow a different path. Perhaps my reaction to the post is colored by the fact that I have recently (within the past few years) come to the same conclusion as Trent, and have been trying to learn to prioritize in my life and cherish what is important without giving in to the societal pressures to value things over what is truly important. I would guess that many of the readers who disagree with the tone or content of this post are simply in a different place in their life, or have different views on the topic. There is nothing wrong with that, but there is also nothing wrong with Trent’s views on this topic.

I am glad that Trent is willing to post this sort of message. I can think of several people in my life who could benefit from hearing this. Many of them have not taken the time to really think about the things that are most important to them and prioritize accordingly. Others seem to think they can have it all, they want nice things, the latest gadgets, and restaurant meals, but they also want quality time with the kids and time for their own hobbies and passions. Unfortunately, they have found a way to have it all… going into debt. Its easy to see that they are miserable, as Trent describes, but either they don’t see the source of their misery, are unwilling to give up the material things that are causing that misery, or do not realize there are other options. Either way, I’m thankful for people like Trent who are trying to help.

My parents kept their cars alive and running to about 20 years old, and we never had rusty fenders. My dad would buy rust-eze or naval jelly or whatever and clean them with an old t-shirt. Helps the resale value not to let the fender rust to death.

I see a distinction between having threadbare, worn out, stained, things and having things that are perhaps unfashionable or outmoded but still serviceable. If I had a stain that wouldn’t come out of my couch, it would really bother me, because I would feel like my couch wasn’t clean – I would get someone in to clean it or even re-cover it/get slipcovers if steam-cleaning couldn’t get out the stain. That’s the main reason I went for IKEA couches which have washable and replaceable covers.

Having a CRT television, on the other hand, would be a matter of not replacing something that is adequate and wouldn’t bother me at all. (I don’t have a tv at all, so it’s kind of moot.)

However, I can see how it turned people off. My mom can be that way. We can’t even talk about getting anything new because she will tell us we could have gotten it at the flea market in a year or two for $1 or $2–instead of getting it new now. So, it sometimes makes for uncomfortable discussions.

I do not live in the states and thus do not have access to the great deals and sales that those who live there have. I also do not go shopping every day (except maybe for bread). In fact, it seems I mostly just go shopping for food and rarely anything else. Whereas my mom goes to the flea market Wed. and yard sales on Fridays and Saturdays. I’m grateful, however, because we had had a standing order if she finds a box of legos to buy them for us! They’are always a bargain.

We all just have to decide what is important. Often we will look at the choices others make and can’t understand it. We see their new tvs and cars and vacations and think that they have it all. They see our bigger vehicle, more kids and get-togethers involving food and think we have it all. It all has to do with priorities and choices.

My sister one time was listening to one of her employees be openly jealous of her nice vacation plans (Egypt, I think) and my sister told her kindly…”you’re sitting in your vacation” as she drove off in her brand new 60K pickup. My sister drives older cars and pays cash when she does buy one. It’s a matter of choice.

We should make our choices, live with them and not waste emotional energy on jealousy of other people’s stuff.

How’s your weight loss going? Did you drop 10 or 12 lbs yet of the 50 you need to lose?

Seriously, I’ve seen it done and it really looks amazing!

My cell phone doesn’t let me watch streaming internet video.
I don’t own a pair of pants that cost more than $40 – and most cost less than $10.
We don’t have a flat panel television – we’re still using my old CRT one from my college years.
The back bumper of my truck has rust on it.
I don’t throw out socks until they have holes in them.
We use old t-shirts for rags.
There’s a juice stain on our couch that won’t come out, but we’re not going to replace it any time soon.
I make my own laundry detergent because the store stuff is overpriced.

Some people might look down their noses at us for these things. I don’t mind.

I’ll wave to them as they leave for their high-stress job while I sit in my office in my pajamas and write.
I’ll think about them for a moment as I load up the kids for a day trip to the science center.
I’ll thoroughly enjoy the time I spend working – and when I don’t enjoy it, I’ll get up and do something else.
I’ll talk to my wife and tell her that if she wants to spend a few years being a stay-at-home parent, we can make it work.
I’ll spend the late afternoon playing soccer in the backyard with my son instead of de-stressing in front of the television.

Those are trades I’ll always make

He assumes that people look down on him. I have never been in trent’s shoes i have to admit – I am frugal – have always have been – my problem was spending money – lucky I did take my money out of the market before the big drop and decided to start spending some and enjoying life that most of my friends my age can’t do because of debt. I still save for retirement but don’t save everything – the way I look at it is that I have gotten a 40% discount on everything by taking my money out of the market.

To me Trent seems to make it seem he is looking down on the people who go to work – he can have his wife stay home – etc.

Well so can a lot of people that drive to work – anyway not really sure what I am trying to say except that since Trent’s move to full time writing his blog has changed considerably, but they great thing about America is we can either read or not read.

@#40 J, I’m with you 100%. It’s not up to me to judge others. I can control only my own actions and reactions. I prefer to say “I’m happy for you” rather than “Good for you” because I’ve heard that specific phrase used too often in sarcasm so it elicits a knee-jerk reaction in me, searching for hidden sarcasm when I hear it.

“It was a light bulb moment when I recognized that earning money doing less engaging work that supports your values is a different kind of joy, but a joy nonetheless.”

If I could spend my time 100% as I pleased, I wouldn’t work for myself. I’d just do things I liked to do that are pretty much of no value to anyone else, but that I really enjoy. Since that life won’t support me, I have a job.

I enjoy my job. Love is a strong word, and I’m not going to lie, if I could get paid the same to NOT go, I wouldn’t. But if I could get paid much much less to do something different… no thanks. (This is because I don’t have a passion that could make any money.)

But I really really love my life.