Mr. Money Mustache used a combination of strategic investments and creative frugality to save enough for early retirement. Together with his wife (also featured on this site), they live an affordable life that makes them both happy.
As nightfall approached, Adeney headed across town to meet up with fellow Mustachians at Wibby Brewing. Together they spent their evening discussing optimization strategies.
FIRE (Financial Independence Retire Early)
Most personal-finance advice centers on optimizing 401(k) contributions, paying down debt, and setting aside five or ten percent of each paycheck as savings goals. Mr. Money Mustache — real name Peter Adeney, a software engineer now living with his wife and 10-year-old son in Seattle — takes an unconventional approach by living frugally while investing most of his take-home pay to retire before his 30s!
Mustachianism has gained increasing traction within the FIRE community and continues to gain attention among followers worldwide. His blog currently boasts 23 million readers and an active Facebook group; fans from all over have visited his headquarters to meet him personally. Free events such as movie and music nights and classes covering weightlifting to computer gaming are hosted at his headquarters. He also rented out his old building as a co-working and event space he turned into co-working and event spaces for the events he organizes there. His approach to life optimization, described as “maximizing daily luxuries,” has inspired many.
Co-working and Event Space
Pete and his wife live a frugal-adventure lifestyle that allows them to work on projects, travel and enjoy a wonderful life – but this wasn’t easy and took some time and work to build. Now thanks to basic index investing and careful spending decisions, they are on their journey toward retirement at a relatively early age.
Adeney has gained worldwide acclaim for his irreverent approach to frugal living and unconventional wit, garnering him an avid following among readers worldwide. Fans organize meetups, road trips and visit his headquarters (although unannounced visits should be avoided).
His fans adore his ingenuity and unwavering belief. His advice evokes the deductive discipline of Mr. Spock, the DIY proficiency of MacGyver, and the sardonic humor of Ignatius J. Reilly; yet, they don’t mean anything exclusive – his philosophy instead seeks to make life more pleasant for those who choose it; this process he calls life optimization (goals include creating a life which matches up with one’s values without cost overrunning)
Life Optimization
When first beginning to optimize your finances, optimizing it might seem like depriving yourself of fun activities and lovely things – Jillian and Mr. Money Mustache may come off as living dull lives devoid of activities that bring joy, vacations, or lovely items – however, over time, these choices can add up to create a happier and less stressful lifestyle for both of them.
Personal-finance advice typically involves maximizing 401(k) contributions, clipping coupons, and sticking to a tight budget. But Mr. Money Mustache – with over 400,000 unique visitors each month on his blog – takes an alternative view.
He and his wife’s lives, a stay-at-home mom, have become financially independent since 2005 by following a simple plan: living a lifestyle 50% less costly than their peers and investing the savings into boring Vanguard index funds and rental properties – spending only $25,142 annually before living off those savings he calls “badassity.” This strategy has inspired an entire movement.
Community
Peter Adeney, commonly referred to online as Mr. Money Mustache is a retired software engineer who amassed wealth through thrifty living and investing his savings in Vanguard index funds with low costs. As one of the leaders of FIRE (Financial Independence Retire Early), Adeney became a key influencer within this community while helping others achieve financial freedom with his lifestyle and content business.
He lives in Colorado on a tight budget, preaching an ideology of prudent frugality and savings. He drives an inexpensive car, wears old clothing, and hikes regularly to stay active and in shape. Though open to purchasing a BMW in the future, he doesn’t feel it is necessary right now.
Joel McHale stars as Pierce Hawthorne, a 68-year-old millionaire on a late-life journey towards self-discovery; Jim Rash plays Dean Pelton, an administrator at Greendale with an affinity for foul language; Dan Harmon created and wrote every episode for seasons one through three; Liz Cackowski, Dino Stamatopoulos, Chris McKenna Josh Schwartz Michael Schur and Tristram Shapeero took over writing episodes from season four forward.