Episode Summary
The first pillar of financial independence: spending less. Mike and Maggie philosophize about being happy with less and finding level of spending that’s sustainable, laying the framework for financial independence.
Episode Notes
The first pillar of FIRE (Financial Independence Retire Early) is spending less money so that you have more to save and invest. But spending less money doesn’t need to mean being less happy. The key to finding freedom is finding the level of spending that makes you happy and keeps you financially independent.
Maggie talks about the flowbee for a while, and Mike questions if people want to hear Maggie talk about flowbees.
We talk about identifying the categories of things that are important to you and avoiding lifestyle inflation.
Find the few things that you’re really passionate about and spending on those things. Identify the things that don’t add value to your life, and cut them out. Figure out the level of sustained happiness that can carry you for the rest of your life.
In order to spend less, it’s important to track your spending and truly understand where every penny goes. Only then can you improve. This is really critical. Track your expenses and get into the mindset that this is something you want to measure and improve. Maggie talks about getting a no-spending high when she’s tracking her expenses.
Over time and as you make more money, you’ll want to increase your spending. A bigger house, a nicer car, more luxurious travel; it will never end and you’ll always want more. Recognizing and avoiding lifestyle inflation is a key factor to retiring earlier in life.
Other topics we cover on this episode:
- You can be happy and spend less in your life.
- The inverse relationship between stress and spending money.
- The motivation behind why you want to save money.
- Whether money can buy happiness or not.
- Maggie cleaning her gutters herself.
- Maggie continues to make Mike lose his train of thought.
- Mike talks about Black Friday and how he capitalizes on a company’s need to meet their year end revenue goals.
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Show References
Playing with FIRE book