Let’s face it – being on the FIRE path can be very intense especially if you have a deadline and a constrained time frame. Late starters, anyone?
Every effort is made to save as much you can, not by societal standards or the general personal finance advice of 10%. No, you must save at least 50% of your income.
Compromises and sacrifices abound – spend $2 per meal only, cycle everywhere, no takeaway meals etc. And when you’ve reduced as many of your expenses as you can, it’s time for side hustles to increase your income.
I’m writing this tongue in cheek – because it is absolutely critical that we look at our spending and identify areas where we can save. And invest those savings. After all, it’s not fun to retire with no savings at all and rely on the mercy and generosity of the prevailing government.
However, I feel it is just as important to look at our expenses and identify which bring us joy or which we value and either not cut those out completely or think of ways to do them less expensively.
Yes, the trade off may be that it’ll take longer to arrive at FIRE, if we can’t free up much money to save and invest.
But the longer I’m on my FIRE journey, the more convinced I am that we need joy in our life NOW. We can’t just wait and defer joy to when we finally achieve FIRE. Ten to fifteen years is a long time to deprive oneself of the things that make us happy.
Of course, what makes us happy may not cost a lot of money. The whole point of FIRE is to discover what it is that fulfills us and make us happy and find the time and money to do those forever.
I don’t want to arrive at FIRE a shell of who I am and desperately in need of healing and a long rest because I’ve hustled so hard to get there.
I want to arrive at FIRE, raring to go, with lots of plans underway. I’m up for a short rest of course, doing absolutely nothing.
I also don’t want to arrive at FIRE, scared to spend my hard earned money, worried that my money will run out. It will be difficult as it is to switch from an accumulation mentality to spending the dividends or drawing down my shares portfolio.
I’m in a similar situation hoping to reach FIRE at the age of 58, which is about 6 years from now. I didn’t get serious about saving and investing until in my early 40s, but I am so grateful that I was able to get serious. Great post, glad I found your site!
Welcome, Jim! Yay, another late starter on the way to retiring early 🙂
For me I give myself a “cheat month” each year, which is usually my birthday month, where I could just spend without recording for each spending. Once it is a custom, I am totally guilt-free.
That’s a great idea! I may just adopt this one 🙂 🎂
is this global account that accommodates 5 currencies only available to Australians? This is the first I’ve heard of such a thing!
Maybe! I’m not sure what is available outside of Australia. It’s basically an every day transaction account for us so it’d be similar to a checking account in the US