Mr. Money Mustache in the New Yorker

[PhysicianOnFIRE]

The blogosphere is abuzz with the New Yorker's article on Pete Adeney, a.k.a. Mr. Money Mustache.

WCI and I weighed in on the Bogleheads forum.  MMM himself gave us his thoughts on the article and some explanations behind the somewhat unflattering portrayal of his persona and way of life in the MMM forum (Reply #82).  There's a lively Reddit thread as well.

Personally, I enjoy his blog and many of the ideas set forth, or at least the principles behind them.  He has a highly analytical mind and espouses concepts like living below your means, staying fit, and environmental stewardship, while poking fun at the "American way" of debt spending, consumerism, and wastefulness.  His style is off-the-wall and sometimes profane, and some of his ideas are impractical for the vast majority of us, but he gets you to look at your own life and habits from a different angle.

WCI has met him and featured him in a post last summer, so we know how he feels about the man and his alter ego's ideas.  What are your feelings.  Besides... Who???

 

 

[BCBiker]

Thanks for sharing! Read it all the way through. I credit Pete with many things and always like to see more things from him. The internet is a crazy place!

[The White Coat Investor]

Yes, I'm a big fan of Pete and what he's doing. I've learned a lot from him and his philosophy- mostly about how to analyze my spending for how much happiness it is likely to bring me.

[The White Coat Investor]

Just read the article- not particularly flattering. The author certainly makes Pete come across as weirder than I found him, but then again, I only spent a meal with him and the author sounds like he spent several days with him. I'd totally give a New Yorker reporter a couple days though, you can't buy publicity like that.

I was surprised Pete is only getting 750K page views a month. That's barely more than what I'm seeing here counting the forum. I bet he isn't counting his forum.

[chrisCD]

I read the article and some of the comments.  I will admit being slanted a certain way until I read his response.  We did homeschool our kids for a time, for some it suited them better.  Ultimately, we did decide to private school them through junior high and then found a smaller charter school for them to go to in high school.  My wife slept outside of the school for two days.

Parents do make judgement calls based on their values.  We try to instill our values into our kids.  Ultimately they reach an age where they have to decide whether they want to follow our values or their own and we have to give them the freedom to do so.

I have heard his name mentioned, but never read his blog.  I am not a fan of foul language so if he uses that quite a bit, I probably wouldn't be a big fan.

As someone else mentioned, regardless of how slanted the article may seem, to be feature in the New Yorker is a pretty big deal.

cd :O)

[Megalops]

It's interesting how polarizing this guy can be. Seems to me that people get so caught up nitpicking whether he's retired or not, if he really lives on 24K a year. Blah, blah, blah. His overall message is great, focusing on true, lasting happiness and self-improvement. I have no desire to match his frugality or efficiency but I definitely find myself asking some pretty tough questions every time I read his blog.

[Hatton]

I too enjoy his blog but have never read the forum.  I think his points on consumerism are insightful.  I will never be bicycling around town and I admit to driving a SUV.  I think he is a very good writer.  I don't care if he lives on 24k or 32.  I think we should all appreciate the focus on letting your money work like little soldiers and decrease consumption where possible.

[Joseph]

`I don't mingle with the foul language. It is a complete turn-off and so I spend my time elsewhere.

[AlexxT]

I have looked at his website on occasion. This post prompted me to do so again.  He currently has a post recommending that people stop doing their own taxes and use an accountant.  He links to his accountant and his accountant's recommended software.  So, this is a guy who says that I should do my own plumbing and my own electrical work, but not do my own taxes.  Maybe because he gets a commission on the latter but not the former?  Calling him inconsistent would be too kind.

The message of frugality is conveyed in more applicable fashion by "The Millionaire Next Door".  But MMM is making lots of money, so good for him.

[AR]

AlexxT wrote:

I have looked at his website on occasion. This post prompted me to do so again.  He currently has a post recommending that people stop doing their own taxes and use an accountant.  He links to his accountant and his accountant’s recommended software.  So, this is a guy who says that I should do my own plumbing and my own electrical work, but not do my own taxes.  Maybe because he gets a commission on the latter but not the former?  Calling him inconsistent would be too kind.

The message of frugality is conveyed in more applicable fashion by “The Millionaire Next Door”.  But MMM is making lots of money, so good for him.

Click to expand...

I'm not a huge MMM fan, but I don't think you're characterizing his advice accurately.  For the vast majority, he recommends doing it oneself with Turbo Tax or the like.  Here's the relevant part from his post

 

 

The average person has a single job, lives in a single house or apartment, and does not own a side business. In this situation, taxes are extremely simple and it is hard to get it wrong – especially if you use automated tax software like TurboTax, TaxAct, or Keith’s preference1040.com. Canadians might check out SimpleTax or StudioTax. If you are mathematically inclined** and enjoy the process, I think filing your own tax return is a beneficial and empowering do-it-yourself activity.