Crap! Jacob Over at Early Retirement Extreme Stole My Thunder

Jul 7, 2017

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in Behavioral Economics, Financial Freedom, Frugality, Rants, Talking Trash

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Oh, crap!

I went to Rockstar Finance the other day and saw a featured post called, “Man Saves Thousands of Dollars Just By Thinking.” The post was written by Jacob over at Early Retirement Extreme, and it’s a gem. Here, for example, is an excerpt from one of his post’s fledgling thinkers describing how transformative thinking can be.

“You know, I used to buy my breakfast everyday, $5.99 for an egg and a muffin, and it was costing me tons of money, but then I started thinking. When you think about it, frying an egg is really not that hard. So now I just do that and I’m saving more than $2000 each year.”

Wow! I can’t emphasize enough how brilliant this post is. In less than 800 words, Jacob identifies the primary reason why so many Americans are struggling financially: they refuse to think. That’s right. The only thing that separates the typical American from financial success is a willingness to take that mass of neurons sitting in his or her skull and use it to solve two problems—how to earn more and how to spend less.

So kudos to Jacob. Great post. Why, then, did I start this post off with the sentence, “Oh, crap!”? What’s the problem?

Problem is that I had a similar post in the hopper, only I didn’t describe the antidote to financial struggle as “thinking.” No, my antidote was much more pompous. I called it Functional Brain Engagement (FBE). And I had numerous examples of how FBE can increase your earnings and decrease your expenses. I also had a chart showing how much money can be generated in the long run by various FBE-created gaps between earnings and expenses. For instance, if your FBE managed to increase your monthly net earnings by $250 and decrease your monthly expenses by $250, and you invested that extra $500 a month for 30 years, your nest egg would be $673,699 larger. How groovy is that?

But all my FBE on how to present an astute financial insight in an interesting way was for naught. Jacob from Early Retirement Extreme swooped in and stole my freakin’ thunder! Thank you, Jacob.

Talking Trash with Mr. Groovy

Okay, I didn’t have a stellar week. The weather in Charlotte was annoyingly humid. My two-story porch, upon further review, does have some rotted joists and will probably require a few thousand dollars in repairs. And a rockstar blogger totally crapped all over my ego—I’m not the only one in the financial blogosphere who comes up with remarkably keen insights. Sigh.

But at least I put together another terrific episode of Talking Trash, right? Well, yes and no. My topics for this week are the Shaytards and Quonset huts. And even though the production quality of my video is as flawless as ever, things still manage to go a little south. You’ll see. No one ever said vlogging was going to be easy. Have a great weekend, groovy freedomists. Peace.

early retirement extreme FIRE functional brain engagement thinking

Comments

42 responses to “Crap! Jacob Over at Early Retirement Extreme Stole My Thunder”

SB@OCAAT
July 16, 2017
Its truly important to plan your savings in advance but imo budget allocation is often about getting the entire financial picture right in front of you. While addressing your financial obligations, you can’t be wrong if you’ve idenyified your financial goals based on the strengths areas.
Reply
1. Mr. Groovy
  July 16, 2017
  Very wise, SB. I like the cut of your jib. Thanks for stopping by, my friend.
  Reply
Brian
July 12, 2017
They say great minds think alike. I am confident you have another 100 ideas or so rattling around in your brain. And you turned that topic into this post, so victory ! Kudos!
-Brian
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1. Mr. Groovy
  July 16, 2017
  Hey, Brian. Thank you for your very kind words. And thank you for your keen analysis. I did steal victory from the jaws of defeat, so to speak. And talking about ideas, I just came up with a doozy. I can’t release the details now, but if you’re a Star Trek fan, think of the Evil Captain Kirk. It should definitely rattle the cage a bit.
  Reply
  1. BRIAN
    July 20, 2017
    count me in, I will be watching for it!
    Reply
    1. Mr. Groovy
      July 21, 2017
      Thanks, Brian. I just hope the evil Mr. Groovy doesn’t offend too many people.
      Reply
Mystery Money Man
July 12, 2017
Ok, so I’m sitting on my couch tonight, transfixed upon my first ever “Talking Trash with Mr. Groovy” Episode, and my 16 year old son walks in the living room and sees me chuckling to myself.
Curious, he sits down, and looks over my shoulder at the screen with a slightly confused look on his face.
After about 15 or 20 seconds he says, “Why are you watching a video of Ray Romano picking up garbage?”
Not sure how he made that connection, but I laughed out loud.
Loved the video, this is the kind of stuff that sets your blog apart, Mr. G!
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1. Mr. Groovy
  July 16, 2017
  LOL! Everybody loves Mr. Groovy. You know, your son is on to something. I sound like Ray and Mrs. Groovy is a lot like Debra–in the sense that she doesn’t suffer my foolishness gladly. Thank you for your very kind words, MMM. You made my weekend.
  Reply
Brother Groovy
July 10, 2017
Leave it there and the jerk will get it! That’s my motto!
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1. Mr. Groovy
  July 11, 2017
  LOL! We learned from the best. Thanks for stopping by Brother Groovy.
  Reply
CCRCLifeCast
July 10, 2017
We pay a high cost for convenience. Deferred gratification is a tough master that by definition requires thinking and patience. Time value of money requires two things to even have a chance to work in our favor. Money and time. Rates of return and fees don’t matter without money and time. We have to see convenience now (someone else doing easy cooking) as sacrificing some other “good thing” like a retirement with fewer worries.
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1. Mr. Groovy
  July 11, 2017
  Excellent points, CCRCLifeCast. Master deferred gratification and you master all.
  Reply
Chris @ Keep Thrifty
July 9, 2017
I’ve gotten discouraged before when I find that another blogger has covered a topic in the same way I was hoping to. That said, I got done great encouragement from Miss Mazuma, Miss Montana and J. Money that I’ll pay forward:
While the are a ton of articles about topic XYZ, there’s only one Mr. Groovy. I’d love to see a full article on FBE by you because I don’t just enjoy the topics you pick – I enjoy your take and the way you approach them.
Jacob’s take sounds great but the Mr. Groovy version it’s bound to have it’s own brand of awesome!
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1. Mr. Groovy
  July 11, 2017
  Thank you, Chris. Your words really mean a lot. And they also make a lot of sense. Jacob beat me to the punch, but doesn’t mean I have to bury the Groovy take on FBE.
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LeisureFreak Tommy
July 9, 2017
I think that you should have released your original post anyway. When someone is interested in a subject they tend to look at multiple articles about it. Your perspective may have been different enough to truly resonate with the reader even though about similar content. I just think sharing our unique perspectives about experiences counts for something.
I think as another commented to your post here that a lot of what there is to talk about in PF/Retirement is common. What is uncommon is how we uniquely experience and see it.
I’m reminded of this lyric
“Nothing you can know that isn’t known.
Nothing you can see that isn’t shown.”
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1. Mr. Groovy
  July 10, 2017
  Thank you, LFT. Mrs. Groovy was saying the same thing. Yes, Jacob beat me to the punch. But my take on the subject might add some needed nuance. So FBE lives! Perhaps I’ll publish it this month.
  Reply
ChooseBetterLife
July 9, 2017
Love your posts! I get a little Blair Witch vertigo when I try to watch the videos, so if you have any super insights, please share the highlights in text too.
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1. Mr. Groovy
  July 10, 2017
  Haha! Thank you, Julie. And point well taken. I definitely have to do a better top with the camera. I got to stop with the “uhs” and I got to avoid quick movements. Hopefully, six months from now things will be better.
  Reply
SJ
July 7, 2017
I haven’t started a blog in part because I don’t want to get that feeling you just experienced and given that there seem to be a bazillion new FIRE/PF bloggers each month I imagine the probability of thunder-stealing grief is bound to increase. On the other hand… I also believe that there really isn’t anything new under the sun and all that anybody in the personal finance community can say has already been said by someone, somewhere, in some other moment. You can also take the argument that as long as this world keeps churning more people there will always be someone new to come around and have that “ah ha!” moment. So there needs to be a continuation of the movement. I think there is more than enough room for all who really wish to participate. Some bloggers focus purely on the mechanics of getting to FI. Others are verbose in idolizing the frugal lifestyle. I personally tend to gravitate towards those pontificating about the ills of wasteful, idiotic and consumeristic institutions and individuals. Those that get deeply analytical and meaty… something that lets you chew long after the first bite. I would still like to read a post about FBE… 🙂
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1. Mr. Groovy
  July 8, 2017
  Thank you, SJ. Your comment really hit home. It is sobering to know that there’s nothing new under the sun and everything you write about has already been written about many times over. But as you said, there’s “needs to be a continuation of the movement.” And as long as there are ample FI bloggers plugging away, some financially screwed up person will stumble upon one small corner of our collective scribblings and have that “ah ha” moment. And that certainly makes all the my-thunder-was-stolen angst worth it. Thanks for stopping by, SJ. You never fail to write something very profound. Sure you don’t want to blog?
  Reply
Gary @ Super Saving Tips
July 7, 2017
Sorry your week is has been rough, but hopefully things will turn around for the weekend. With the number of PF blogs out there, it’s a challenge to write something totally unique, but we all have our own perspective. I say run it anyway. And I have to say, you did a great job with the trash this time. You showed us the overall picture at the first location with the trash; I would have loved to see the big picture by the time you were done.
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1. Mr. Groovy
  July 7, 2017
  Gary, you got a beautiful mind. Mrs. G kept on telling me that I needed to establish the “mise en scène.” She tells me that that’s a French word that filmmakers use to describe how they set the scene, how they get movie goers to understand the background and circumstances. Anyway, as usual, Mrs. G makes sense, so I tried to establish the scene in my previous video with Fritz and this one. Thanks for noticing. I’ll definitely do better “setting the scene” going forward. Have a great weekend, my friend. Talk to you soon.
  Reply
  1. Mrs. Groovy
    July 7, 2017
    Yes, my dearest. You set the scene beautifully. Oh but you do twist things around.
    Gary, Mr. G just LOVES the phrase “mise en scène” But he was using it incorrectly repeatedly, and insisted it referred to a camera shot. I told him he was thinking of a “tracking shot” which helps establish the mise en scène, but the camera shot itself is NOT the mise en scène. Only when we looked at stories about the making of Goodfellas and its famous tracking shot, did he believe me.
    “The idiot” strikes again. He doesn’t believe me yet I’m always (mostly) right.
    Reply
Dave
July 7, 2017
Well, some weeks are better than others. The funny thing about thinking is that many people don’t want to do it. At first, I was going to say “don’t know how to do it”, but I think it has more to do with being lazy. If we put some time into reviewing where we spend money or even our energy in an inefficient way we would be more motivated to find better solutions. It can be as easy as how much eggs or coffee cost at a restaurant vs making your own at home.
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1. Mr. Groovy
  July 7, 2017
  Nailed it, Dave. Habits–our brains on autopilot–are the culprit. They shutdown thinking. And you are so right about thinking about the cost of eggs or coffee is to a restaurant. At Aldi’s, Mrs. G is buying a dozen eggs for $0.49. That’s 4 cents an egg. Frying two of them up will cost about $0.15 if you add in the cost of butter and electricity. But for so many years, especially when I was younger, I thought nothing of spending $4 or $5 on breakfast. Thanks for stopping by, my friend. Have a great weekend.
  Reply
Lily He-Prudhomme
July 7, 2017
‘Functional Brain Engagement’ pfffttt bawahahaha!! I always thought PF was common sense too. I grew up thinking most Americans had tons of money and rarely had car loans or mortgages – talk about naive… I would still like to read FBE.
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1. Mr. Groovy
  July 7, 2017
  LOL! I was very naive as well. When I was younger, I couldn’t wrap my brain around the concept of a mortgage. I remember one time arguing with a friend that both our respective parents owned their respective homes. And he keep on insisting that the banks really owned our parents homes. I thought he was nuts. But in the end, he had a far deeper grasp of personal finance than I did. Thanks for stopping by, Lily. It’s always a pleasure. Have a great weekend.
  Reply
Amy @ LifeZemplified
July 7, 2017
Functional Brain Engagement has such a nice ring to it. Darn that guy, Jacob. 🙂
Sorry, your week didn’t go as planned Mr. G, but things will be looking North again in no time. Probably right after you read all these wonderful comments.
Maybe mom needs to see all the beautiful Quonset homes people are creating. I have to admit I was impressed when I Googled the images. I hope the porch repairs don’t cause you too much grief.
Thanks for cleaning up the World in more ways than one Mr. G!
P.S. I bet we’d all really still love to see that post of yours!
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1. Mr. Groovy
  July 7, 2017
  Yeah, I was very surprised by Mother Groovy’s reaction. I thought she would definitely have a little more love for the much maligned Quonset hut. Hey, with a little FBE, a Quonset hut home can be a very fun place to live. After all, such ingenuity has made the tiny home the shipping container home very fashionable. Perhaps my destiny is to spearhead a revival of the Quonset hut home. Thanks for stopping by, Amy. Your comment, as usual, pushed me a little farther North. Cheers.
  Reply
Brian
July 7, 2017
You’re starting you trash talking early. Personal finance is pretty much 99% common sense, that most of us overlook.
I have heard of the Shaytards before. I may or may not have watched a few of their videos. Wow, what an update on the Shaytards.
I hope by watching your video my week doesn’t go south. 🙂 Hope your weekend turns around Mr. G.
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1. Mr. Groovy
  July 7, 2017
  Thanks, Brian. You are so right about personal finance being 99% common sense. Prior to my 40th birthday a exhibited a lot of common sense and my finances showed it. But as soon as I embraced common sense, things miraculously changed for the better. Nothing could stop my quest for financial independence–not the thieves on Wall Street, not the scamming corporations, not the corrupt politicians, and not even the evil one-percent. Oh, the power of common sense. Thanks for stopping by, Brian. You definitely helped end my week moving North. Have a great weekend, my friend.
  Reply
Fritz @ TheRetirementManifesto
July 7, 2017
Ah, but “FBE” is so much more descriptive than simply “Thinking”. FBE, after all, requires Functional Engagement Of The Brain!! Thinking can be less intense, but “Functional Engagement” infers Deep Thought.
ERE’s got nothing on you, Mr. G. And, he certainly doesn’t go out pre-dawn to pick up trash!! You’ Da Man! Watching it now….
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1. Vicki@MakeSmarterDecisions
  July 7, 2017
  I agree with Fritz about the FBE over just thinking too! I had to look up Quonset huts and some of them look really cool. Maybe you’d change Groovy Mom’s mind someday 🙂 And good luck finding a contractor for the porch. Yikes… we keep being told late fall/winter is a better time when they aren’t as busy or picky. We’ll see… I almost got Mr. 1500 to come do some work for us!
  Reply
  1. Mr. Groovy
    July 7, 2017
    THANK YOU, Vicki. I’ve seen some great Quonset huts in Houzz and in Google Images. They’ve come a long way from the spartan one erected by the Army in the Pacific during WWII. And what I love best about Quonset hut homes is that they don’t require asphalt shingles for the roof and elaborate flooring. I can just use the concrete slab that the Quonset hut sits on as the flooring. No need for a subfloor and tile or engineered wood. Just throw down some area rugs and you’re good. So we’ll see. If the cost makes sense, and the zoning laws don’t frown upon their construction, Mrs. G and I will build one. And I’m sure Mother Groovy will eventually come around.
    Reply
2. Mr. Groovy
  July 7, 2017
  Haha! Today’s Talking Trash episode was almost like a covert mission. And I love the way your mind works, Fritz. Mrs. Groovy was saying the same thing about FBE. It’s so much better than just “thinking.” And your distinction between casual thought and deep thought makes a lot of sense. I never considered that. Do you mind if I steal it?
  Reply
  1. Fritz @ TheRetirementManifesto
    July 9, 2017
    Steal away. We’re “trash brothers”, after all!
    Reply
Mrs. Picky Pincher
July 7, 2017
Bah! There’s only so much we FIRE bloggers can cover. I say release the blog as a followup to Jacob. 🙂 But it’s so freakin’ true! So many times we go through our day, looking for the easiest way out of doing things. That means paying for meals, paying for coffee, taking our huge cars everywhere, buying new clothes, etc.
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1. Mr. Groovy
  July 7, 2017
  Thanks, Mrs. PP. I think I’ll eventually release the Groovy take on “thinking.” Yes, it’s been covered before, but we all have our different takes FI principles and there’s some value in sharing those takes. Thanks for stopping by. And have a great weekend.
  Reply
Miss Mazuma
July 7, 2017
“That jerk with the cell phone attached to his chest”. 😂 You crack me up!! Seriously though, you are doing an awesome thing for your community and hopefully other will see you and it will catch on. Either they won’t throw trash on the ground or they will start picking up like you do. Can’t go wrong either way!
As for Jacob…bummer man. I have 40+ posts in the hopper and come across the same problem. I have started deleting all my old posts and only saving the chunks I really like. Isn’t it fascinating though that there are so many combinations of words that will result in a post completely different from someone else’s. Amazing!! Sometimes I worry I will run out of something to say or someone else will have already said it but then I realize perspective is everything and there are no two alike. 😉
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1. Mr. Groovy
  July 7, 2017
  Thanks, Miss. M. I think “the jerk” could be my new moniker. And I hear ya about other bloggers happening upon a clever concept before you do. I guess that’s the risk of being a blogger. There are so many great bloggers out there, and you’re bound to come across several who articulate one of your “brilliant” ideas in a more succinct and entertaining way. The good news is that the vast majority of financial bloggers are a very understanding lot and don’t mind if someone “copies” their ideas.
  Reply
Lance @ My Strategic Dollar
July 7, 2017
Loved the article you mentioned above by Early Retirement Extreme. And it’s so true, if people would take the time to analyze their choices and think through the consequences, they’d quickly realize their errors and make some adjustments!
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1. Mr. Groovy
  July 7, 2017
  That’s it, Lance. You nailed it. You analyze your choices and options and you try something. If it fails, you adjust. If it succeeds keep doing it. All the world’s an experiment and all men and women are merely lab technicians. Thanks for stopping by, my friend. Have a great weekend.
  Reply

Crap! Jacob Over at Early Retirement Extreme Stole My Thunder

Talking Trash with Mr. Groovy

Comments

42 responses to “Crap! Jacob Over at Early Retirement Extreme Stole My Thunder”

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