Unclean, yeah he has been a good role model for me financially. I've taken his financial advice most my life and I've been debt free my whole life. Heck, I didn't even buy my car until I had the money saved up first. The only problem with living this life style is that moving out from my parent's house is taking longer than for most people. The reason is because I want to avoid renting. So, instead I'm trying to save up as much as I can for a down payment for a townhouse or house before I take that step out of the house. It sucks now because myself and my girlfriend of 7 years can't live together, but in the long run I think it'll be the better decision.
NOFX, You are correct that with larger risk comes larger reward. Unclean's idea of investing small over a long period of time is great, but it's not for everyone. That's the conservative way to do it. That's the way my dad did it. You seem, however, to want to live for today, etc. So, that method might not be best suited for you. If you want to live your life with the bare minimums in terms of possessions, that's perfectly fine. That might actually be a more rewarding life for you in the long run in terms of not being tied to your possessions. My only concern is that you hopefully don't neglect the essentials like a roof over your head. You mentioned paying rent over owning a property. I would be wiry of this decision only because you are basically paying your landlord's mortgage with the same money that you could be using toward paying off your own mortgage.