Mo’ frugin thrifty dude

Say hello!!
Post Reply
Erkaudio
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Mar 23, 2021 10:14 pm

Mo’ frugin thrifty dude

Post by Erkaudio »

Sup y’all
Life long thrifter here.
Really enjoyed reading all the blogs and info here, although I don’t necessarily agree with it all.

All the general concepts yes, but there are many specific things that are just a bit silly or overly.... extreme.

He makes it sound like wd40 will cause you bike chain to implode. Sure tri flow is better but wd40 is perfectly fine.

His kitchen is excessively simple, you can find plenty of kitchen stuff on the side of the road, get yourself another pan or knife, it’s ok. And $300 for a pressure cooker??? Mine was $25! And it’s a presto, should last a lifetime.

$300 hand planes? Cmon, harbor freight tools are perfectly fine for hobbyists.

In his cash flow diagrams he’s anti-debt. Which totally makes sense, but sometimes you’ve got to take on debt to make more money. Warren buffet is known for borrowing way more money than he needs. As long as the money is cheap, he knows he can make more off it than he lays for it and it’s good to have cash on hand.

Anyways, kinda wanted a place to express my opinions on those things.

Ohhh and cutting out your address from old mail to use as a return address?!? Silly. Costs more in time and tape than just jotting it down by hand.

Me, I work a super flexible and enjoyable W2
I repair and sell bicycles from dumpsters for fun. I do all my own auto maintenance and never plan on having a car payment.

I’m working on a real estate portfolio, having a quadplex, duplex, two single family rentals and a vacation rental cabin.
Unfortunately my wife and I pay rent for our primary but in our location the mortgage would be twice as much cuz we get a killer deal.

My grocery shopping consists of dried navy beans and 15lbs bags of rice, my wife buys fancier stuff which is just fine as she makes twice as much as me with her regular job and can make her own decisions.

I remember in 3rd grade I wanted a Miami Dolphins Starter jacket. Instead I got a mighty ducks knock off because that’s what my parents could afford. That was a pivotal moment and led to my boarding financial freedom.

I was somehow able to pay off my $87k in student loans while make $14/ hour and recently filled out a financial disclosure form and was pleased to see my net worth at $500k!!

basuragomi
Posts: 419
Joined: Tue Oct 15, 2019 3:13 pm

Re: Mo’ frugin thrifty dude

Post by basuragomi »

Image

WD-40 is one of the worst options for chain lube. Paraffin or gear oil is among the best.

I personally would not use roadside kitchenware. No idea if that cast iron pan was used for melting down lead or exposed to other toxins.

Erkaudio
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Mar 23, 2021 10:14 pm

Re: Mo’ frugin thrifty dude

Post by Erkaudio »

Among the worst of acceptable chainlubes. Aka it’s fine! Especially for a rusty old chain Lol. I use tri flow on bicycles and a wax spray for motorcycles.

Your scared of used kitchenware?

I suppose for cast iron there’s a 1 in a million chance someone melted lead in there, any other item if perfectly fine with a thorough washing. Plus if you find it in a box of other kitchen items it’d be a pretty safe bet.

white belt
Posts: 1452
Joined: Sat May 21, 2011 12:15 am

Re: Mo’ frugin thrifty dude

Post by white belt »

Welcome! Have you read the ERE book? I would say your critiques of a few specific tactics are legitimate, but ERE is much more of a philosophy than a list of tips/tricks.

If we look at things from a systems perspective, utilizing waste streams (dumpster diving) is certainly a good strategy in areas where it is feasible. It is not universally applicable though because those who live in less populated or less affluent areas will not have the same waste streams available to them.

What are some of your long term goals? If you already have that many cash flowing properties and 500k net worth than I would think you may already be financially independent. Many folks on here have annual spending <$20k. The hardcore have annual spending <$10k.

Edit: Understand the blog is 10+ years old and that some of these specific ideas aren’t necessarily things Jacob still does.

Hristo Botev
Posts: 1733
Joined: Tue Jul 17, 2018 3:42 am

Re: Mo’ frugin thrifty dude

Post by Hristo Botev »

white belt wrote:
Wed Mar 24, 2021 12:13 pm
Edit: Understand the blog is 10+ years old and that some of these specific ideas aren’t necessarily things Jacob still does.
Also that the blog is on autopilot that just recirculates old blog posts randomly; I saw that the return address label post popped up a couple days ago.

User avatar
Alphaville
Posts: 3611
Joined: Thu Oct 03, 2019 10:50 am
Location: Quarantined

Re: Mo’ frugin thrifty dude

Post by Alphaville »

basuragomi wrote:
Wed Mar 24, 2021 8:20 am

WD-40 is one of the worst options for chain lube. Paraffin or gear oil is among the best.
ymmv, but gcn dude does wd for frequent washes in rainy weather

see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvzVRxlIUL0

im in a dusty desert that requires dry lube, so it's not for me, but for them--why not

eta: also he's dealing in trash bikes and the best paraffin would cut into profits. selling brand-new rivendell? diff story.

Erkaudio
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Mar 23, 2021 10:14 pm

Re: Mo’ frugin thrifty dude

Post by Erkaudio »

Hey all! Thanks for responding, makes me happy to see how active this community of frugalists is.

I totally agree with all his general systems and philosophy, and I’m in awe at how detailed he can get with his articulation of it all.
I have not read the book, but I plan to!!!

Yes, I live in Los Angeles and am a personal assistant for multi millionaire celebs so I basically live an excellent and luxurious life off their scraps. Everything from food to furniture. They are basically hoarders and I’m in charge of all their junk so I have endless amounts of whatever material stuff I want or need. And plus being their fixer guy I can buy whatever tools and materials I need too.

But even beyond that, our sectional sofa came from the curb a few houses down $5000 retail in great shape, the bicycles, books etc etc just from the curb or the alley in our fairly affluent neighborhood.

And going back to bicycles, it makes me kinda sick to see people spending $3k on a bicycle because it weighs 4lbs less, it’s much cheaper to loose 5 lbs from your love handles if you have the capacity.

My lawn mower came from the alley 5 years ago and works great to this day, though it has some quirks.

I’m getting to a point in my life however where I’m making a real effort to reduce the STUFF I have as my garage is getting overwhelmed so it’s a tough balance.

My annual living expenses are probably around $20k which ain’t bad for LA!
I guarantee Jacob isn’t living for $7k in San Francisco anymore, prices there are out of control! That is, unless he has a killer rent control situation.

Anyways I’m excited to be here and keep learning and maybe spread any knowledge I have regarding living a great frugal life while working towards financial freedom!

white belt
Posts: 1452
Joined: Sat May 21, 2011 12:15 am

Re: Mo’ frugin thrifty dude

Post by white belt »

Erkaudio wrote:
Thu Mar 25, 2021 6:43 pm
Yes, I live in Los Angeles and am a personal assistant for multi millionaire celebs so I basically live an excellent and luxurious life off their scraps. Everything from food to furniture. They are basically hoarders and I’m in charge of all their junk so I have endless amounts of whatever material stuff I want or need. And plus being their fixer guy I can buy whatever tools and materials I need too.

But even beyond that, our sectional sofa came from the curb a few houses down $5000 retail in great shape, the bicycles, books etc etc just from the curb or the alley in our fairly affluent neighborhood.
How did you get the personal assistant gig? I’m curious because the extent of my knowledge of LA multimillionaire personal assistants is what I saw in the Entourage TV show.

That is a nice perk that you can tap into the waste streams of the wealthy. I’m always amazed of the treasures that @Ego’s tenants leave behind and trash in San Diego.

Erkaudio
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Mar 23, 2021 10:14 pm

Re: Mo’ frugin thrifty dude

Post by Erkaudio »

It started with a Craigslist job. Christmas light installation for a guy I still occasionally work for and get higher end handy man jobs from. Did lights for all sorts of big names, Ashley and Jessica Simpson, Lisa kudrow, Cedric the entertainer, smokey Robinson, etc etc and my current bosses which I'll keep unnamed ;-)
I spent a few days there and one day the Xmas light boss left me there and went off to another job, said one of the "office girls" might give me a ride home, they did give me a ride home, we chatted, turns out they lost someone a few months earlier that wanted to travel with his band so they had a need for some muscle. The rest is history. It's been about 8 years now, there are several other assistants that deal with studio management, travel, finances, dry cleaning, food etc. I deal with the STUFF (10K sqft warehouse packed to the brim) plus 5 other properties (property management) plus some handyman / light electrical / repair work, take care of the vehicles and all sorts of weird things like taking stuffed monkeys to the taxidermist, playing harmonica at Western themed parties and spending 2 weeks at burning man setting up and maintaining a camp for my boss to fly into.

It's been a trip and they take good care of me, but truth told it's not forever and I'm starting to feel like it'll be time to move on in the not so distant future.

Post Reply