This Texas bachelor is a frugalist and a ladies' man
Posted
Jul 22 2008, 05:53 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
It's a shame it took us so long to find the Frugal Bachelor. Such depth of thought. Such an eye for the ladies. He writes unlike anyone we've read in the personal-finance blogosphere.
In several posts, he mused about whether it's actually possible to be frugal in supersized America, and whether frugality and technology are mutually exclusive. In another, he considered where to eat based on the waitresses' qualities, and we're not talking about how often they refill his water glass.
In yet another, he decided that rum would be the thing to hoard if civilization were teetering on the brink. He said: "Some historians even credit alcohol (beer) as the motivation for establishment of human civilization. It's true; look it up."
"Frugal Bachelor" is an engineer in his early 30s based in Austin, Texas. He has also traveled to some remote parts of the globe. (Thus, after eating roasted insects in Thailand, he's wondering how to turn Texas-sized cockroaches into edible nuggets.)
His retirement plan is unorthodox (and not recommended). He plans to semi-retire in four years and totally quit work in 10, then "spend the last 15 years of my life (age 45-60) depleting my funds, living in various fun countries around the world, chasing bar girls, drinking beer, eating lots of exotic food, and waking up at noon. A life well lived."
After reminiscing about the shortage of electricity in Ethiopia, he decided to forgo electricity for a day at home. He described his experiment in a post called "Having no electricity sucks."
The day went something like this: Ran errands, drank warm beer, napped, went on a hike ("saw many hot girls"), couldn't fire up the gas stove so drove to Taco Bell. Ate Taco Bell at home in the dark.
He couldn't play on the computer, watch movies or listen to CDs. He couldn't even clean the dark bathroom, even though it really needed it.
He wants to try it again, but right now he thinks: "If paying $30 a month for electricity (more than the average Ethiopian earns in a month) makes me a supersized American, then give me a triple cheeseburger with bacon and sour cream."
