It seems that you are the champion of the missed point. Since you seem to be all about money and riches, let me ask you a question by referencing millions. Would you rather make $1 Million trading for yourself, making your own hours, priorities and so on, or would you rather make, say, $2 Million working for someone else on their timetable, priorities and so on? Which choice is more about freedom? If you can make the larger amount trading, then that is a welcome bonus.
Money is freedom. Money will allow you to break the bondage of "Money". The lack of money, makes you a slave to money. Money is not the end, it is a means to the ultimate end....FREEDOM. One may be able to sit at home, make his/her own plans, be their own boss. But at the end of the day, if your not making enough money to, free yourself from the bondage of money, Your fooling yourself. You are no more "Free" than the 9 to 5 slave who is bounded by "Money". So, plenty of traders sit at home, making 50k or more, if that, all a while being their own boss. But are they truly free?
Truly free? That's a big question. But they are probably more free than the guy in the corporate cube farm making somewhat more. And, whether ever realized or not, where is there a potentially larger upside? Of course more money is better, all else being equal. But I think we are talking about lifestyle here, for the financial mortals among us. Your reference to financial absolutes is not that relevant to those of us who will not likely ever achieve fabulous riches anyway. In the meantime, we are living our lives of indeterminate duration. And so, against this background, the question remains: would you rather live your life on your own terms or on someone else's?
I think you have missed the whole point of this thread. It is all about choosing to live below your means - hence frugality. If these traders can live within those 50k, then yes, they are truly free. Remember, it is not he who owns the most who is richest, but he who needs the least.
I think many people have the perception that the more $$$ they have, the more toys they can buy, and thus, the happier they'll be. Many are sadly disappointed when the "newness" of the "stuff" wears off and they need a new "fix" (i.e spend more $$$ on something else) in their elusive pursuit of happiness. Happiness doesn't come from "stuff", rather it comes from within ones self. Those of us who chose to be frugal throughout our adult lives likely aren't among all those "keep up with the Jones" people who are in arrears on credit cards and auto loans, in trouble with their mortgages due to spending more than they made for a number of years. People who re-mortgaged at higher amounts ($200K mortgage up to $250K) so they could have access to more $$$ to spend have only themself to blame. I was amazed and perplexed as I watched as the US savings rate went negative. And back to happiness -- it's not always about "me", as some seem to think. I stated earlier I volunteer 2 afternoons/week tutoring after school in one of the poorest schools in the city. There's no financial gain in it for me, just the realization that I may be helping some kid, who may have very little hope in life, that they can succeed, if they work hard enough.
Congratulations on your volunteering. If you think about it, by giving away your free time and your resources through volunteering, not only you're making our world a better place, but by volunteering you prove to yourself that you have more than enough, in fact that you have so much that you can share with others. I used to do voluntary work myself and some of the volunteers were not mega rich, yet they seemed happy and honoring their life. On the other hand I came across people who are millionaires yet they don't have ten minutes for themselves to stop and ââ¬Ålive in the momentââ¬Â, yet alone to stop and help others. Like DHOHHI said; ââ¬Åhappiness comes from withinââ¬Â, and since this is a trading forum and the original topic was on ââ¬Åfrugalityââ¬Â, I might also add that those traders who don't give it a damn about money and realize that happiness doesn't come from money are suddenly free from the pressures to make ââ¬Åxââ¬Â number of dollars or to beat other traders, and all of the sudden the pressure comes off and they start putting on quality trades instead of chasing marginal trades from fear of missing out. In many traders the consequence is that they become better traders by giving up the ââ¬Åneedââ¬Â to satisfy their egos, because it is our ego that wants more than we need, and ego is always a bad trading partner. I think those who accept frugality actually to some extend surrender their egos and their trading can actually benefit. I think it was Ed Seykota who said we all get what we want from the markets. . . . . . I think he is right, for me it is quality of life and not some number in my bank account. Seriously, why do people give so much significance to a ââ¬Ånumberââ¬Â? We all need health, love and want happiness, yet these things cannot be bought. So why use trading as tool in a way which would create stress and be hindrance to our health? Why trade full time if we can spend more time with our loved ones? Why be so fixated on money if we can feel abundance any time we choose to? Our own individual beliefs will give us our own individual answers and subsequently will create our own individual "realities". Once again, as Ed Seykota said; "everyone gets what they want from the markets " .
Dear old Thunderdog lumbering along at the rear. You speak only from your limitations because you are a man who misses not just the point but has missed what life can offer. It offers abundance. It takes the same effort to stay aboard a 'trading for a living' or 'trading for peanuts' treadmill that it takes to use consistent success to propel yourself through accrued gains into being wealthy.
Meaning, I don't live in one building for more then 6 months I just move around, shift cities, signup to a new gym, pickup new women, new scenery. Doormen buildings usually only exist in the city, where its tightly packed, And of course......... The good buildings have little doormen standing by ------------- <b> Doormen building explanation </b> In NYC, we usually class people by if they live in doormen buildings or not, like if you have 2 doorguys in your building you'd belong in Class B which is a lot higher then Class A with only 1 doorguy, If your building has a part time doorman, Then its Class 1 Class C+ Is the very top class, like donald trumps building, it has like 14 doormen rotating within a 24 hour period on 3 men shifts. So from top to bottom it'd be like Class 1 - Part time Class 2 - No doormen Class 3 - Buzzer only Class A - 1 doorman Class B - 2 doorman Class C - 3 doorman Class C+ - 3doorman rotating + Its a very simple process , I just tend to oversimply it by calling them all doormen buildings. I tend to only make friends with people, espically on this board that are at least Class B (2 doormen level) Which class are you at countryboy? (probably only has a dog on watch)