I’ve noticed sometimes that there’s some half-baked videos or blogs or whatever that purport this or that frugal trick, but if you look at the time or math, it’s not actually frugal for you.
What are some examples of that you’ve come across? The things that “aren’t worth it”?
For me it’s couponing. (Although I haven’t heard people talk about it recently–has it fallen out of “style”, or have businesses caught up to the loopholes folks used to exploit?)
you have to count inflation as well (although i believe us $ deprecates at a very less inflation rate) , but still the calculator you showed shows it can make 22% of total retirement fund
Plus I believe coffee is just a legal drug which is why its so prominent , and as such i shouldn’t use it
But who knows maybe i will drink coffee as well?
This is a good philosophy. I gained a caffeine addiction because I wasn’t aware that was a thing and now I don’t wake up in the morning until I’ve had something with a bit of caffeine. It’s not too bad, I just get a bad headache if I don’t get any caffeine, but I’d prefer if I’d known that caffeine addiction was a thing so I could make an informed decision when I started drinking coffee
Every model simplifies reality in some way. Inflation, fees, stock/bond mix, tax rates, risk tolerance, and the biggest one of all market performance are all variables that the calculator doesn’t seem to take into account to some degree.