Spend Less & Live More – Why You Need To Consider The Money On FIRE Way

I already talked about why you should consider financial independence but I think I need to go deeper and talk about the Money On FIRE way.

It comes to down to this:

The less you spend, the less you need to work.

And the less you need to work the more freedom you have to do what will make you happy.

Instead of battling through the never-ending cycle of working more to pay off your credit card, which you used to buy a holiday because you were feeling stressed from work, the debt from which causes more stress so you need more treats and holidays and nights to keep you going which you pay for with your savings.

How about we say fuck that, hit the brakes, and get off the hamster wheel.

Let’s not look to more stuff to make us happy, let’s look for interesting work that we enjoy, more time to spend with friends and family, more time for hobbies and exploring the outdoors and getting fit and all the other good stuff which actually makes you happy.

Because even though buying some designer clothes (or any other unnecessary purchase) might feel good at the time, you get the burst of excitement from doing it but it fades and you get used it. Then you need to do it again to re-find that happiness. Doubly bad if you bought it on a credit card and then need to pay it off every month, that stress is definitely not worth it compared to the small amount of joy buying it brought you.

Let’s stick up our middle fingers everytime we see something that can be bought on finance, or someone boasting about spending all their money on a night out.

Screw all those people and create our own lives of joy and freedom away from the consumerism hamster wheel and on our own terms. And you’re going to do this by learning to be frugal, saving your money and maybe earning some more money along the way.

Bill Watterson, the author and creator of Calvin and Hobbes gave a commencement speech many years ago and talked about a lot of the same things we love here at Money On FIRE.

“Creating a life that reflects your values and satisfies your soul is a rare achievement. In a culture that relentlessly promotes avarice and excess as the good life, a person happy doing his own work is usually considered an eccentric, if not a subversive.

Ambition is only understood if it’s to rise to the top of some imaginary ladder of success. Someone who takes an undemanding job because it affords him the time to pursue other interests and activities is considered a flake. A person who abandons a career in order to stay home and raise children is considered not to be living up to his potential-as if a job title and salary are the sole measure of human worth.

You’ll be told in a hundred ways, some subtle and some not, to keep climbing, and never be satisfied with where you are, who you are, and what you’re doing. There are a million ways to sell yourself out, and I guarantee you’ll hear about them.

To invent your own life’s meaning is not easy, but it’s still allowed, and I think you’ll be happier for the trouble.”

Are you ready for the challenge?

– Flint