Is anyone else seeing this?

The internet is full of FIRE (Financially Independent Retire Early) enthusiasts who beat the drum of living your best life by socking away a ton of your income with the promise of being able to live on your hoard and maintain a lifestyle free from the grind. So many preach varying degrees of frugality and living below your means.

Just a random walk down the intertubes today resulted in...

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-biggest-ways-people-waste-money-11560523181?st=ebhvcm1s5qdrqgg&mod=pkt_ff

Its all very Puritanical.

You're suffering for your sins of profligacy simply because you buy coffee at Starbucks each morning before you head into that soul crushing job. That same job with a salary that provides more than enough cushion if only you could control your spending and save more to invest your way to freedom.

You cant scrimp and save your way to freedom.

You still need a salary that provides for your future. One that will allow you to send your kids to college and free you from the fear of bankruptcy due to that hospital bill you really had no way of planning for.

We're all adults here so I get it - you need some agency with your money and spending it on red 17 at the casino 52 weekends of the year is probably gonna put you on the path to ruin. But telling me that making my own laundry detergent and skipping a little luxury in the form of Starbucks in the morning is not the path to financial security.

With that said - I finished reading, "The Rich Don't Always Win: The Forgotten Triumph over Plutocracy that Created the American Middle Class, 1900-1970" by Sam Pizzigati and all I can say is....

Run out and get this book and read it before you vote in the presidential election this year.