I'm reminded of http://www.theonion.com/article/man-brings-lunch-from-home-t...

>>This is the best way to get depressed. It's always significantly easier to negotiate a $1k raise than it is to reduce your spending on basic stuff by $1k.

Ideally. But in reality with bad habits you will spend that extra $1K you started earning.

>>Focus on earning more, not saving (on useless expenses).

Both. Without discipline its all useless. Why else do you think so many athletes or lottery winners lose those millions?

I like buying stuff as much as the next guy, but if not buying things you don't need would make you depressed, you probably have deeper issues that need addressing.

If you want to save money, do it on large purchases. Buying a $30k car? Negotiate aggressively so you can buy it for $23-25k. Anything above a few $100 is worth haggling over.

Do you know how many people pay the listing price of a car, yet cut coupons to save a few euros/dollars? A lot. It's ridiculous.

Some of the joys in life are simple things, such as drinking a $2-3 coffee or having a cocktail in a nice bar, etc.

Absolutely. I fully recognize my $2.50 americano every morning could be a couple of cups of free office coffee, but I look forward to it every single day. I also drive a 10-year-old but reliable car, so I don't have any huge monthly expenditures outside of rent and my $150 student loan payment. I'll take the $100 or so hit every month in exchange for me starting my mornings on a positive note. It's not going to positively change my life enough to not have that americano every morning.

Playing devils advocate here: you're spending $1200 a year on coffee. With that money you could not only buy a really nice coffee machine and make it yourself every morning, but also have a bunch of money leftover to put towards your loans, invest, put towards a nice vacation, etc.

The idea is that those small daily expenses tend to add up, and there may be a lot more of them than you realized.

Reminds me of the old joke:

"If you had stopped smoking 10 years ago you could afford to be driving around in a Ferrari right now."

"Do you smoke?"

"No."

"Then where's your Ferrari?"

Point is don't sweat the small things. Sure they add up, but you should dedicate a portion of your cash flow towards investments at the start of the pay cycle, not "what's left at the end." Then the rest can be spent on anything arbitrarily with a clear conscious.

Also, buy a coffee roaster and roast your own beans. There are lots of ways to get started on the cheap (popcorn air roaster), and unroasted coffee is around $5-$6 a pound. It's a very rewarding hobby. http://sweetmarias.com is a great place to get started.

Or both.

The MMM philosophy isn't to deprive yourself. It's to learn to find satisfaction without the high cost.

Personally, I hate eating out every day. Packing a tupperware with leftovers is much more my style. I save about a thousand a year because of this, but I don't feel deprived at all.

If you don't have any sort of budget, making more won't solve your problems.

For an average American with household income $50k, getting a $1k raise (after tax) is probably not trivial. For techies in SF, definitely spend time on building your career, negotiating compensation, and try to save on rent.