The more you research the FIRE movement, the more opinions you will begin to see. You will see people’s successes and their failures. There will be people who get it and people who are straying off the path of what this financial movement is suppose to be. This adventure needs to be enjoyed, it may not be smooth, but I guarantee it will be successful in the end.
The definition of deprivation according to Webster is “the state of being kept from possessing, enjoying, or using something.” This is not the intention of the FIRE movement. The journey is not met to deprive you of life and happiness. In my eyes it is there to help show you a different path. A path most Americans are not on. A path that will lead to more freedom and happiness. The FIRE movement takes savings to an extreme, but you still need to have a balanced life. Set your goals and work hard to achieve them, but remember you still have to live your life on your way to your freedom. I have read many blogs and their comments. I am always looking at the facebook comments and you see people are starting to become so obsessed with saving that they are not living today. They make comments on other people’s post like that is not very FIRE or I hate my job I just want to retire. Okay… If you hate your job, find another one. Sometimes it is worth a pay cut for happiness. There are different jobs out there, don’t suffer for 10 years just for money, it is not worth it. I am telling you its okay to take vacations, or even buy something nice occasionally. There is nothing wrong with that. Hell, I go on vacations all the time, I try to go to Europe once a year. For me it is worth it to travel because it is what I love to do. Just don’t do it all the time. Be smart, have the funds available and travel hack as much as possible. Don’t take out a massive loan for something you cannot afford. Understand the consequences of actions.
Right now, we have been killing it with our savings this year. Although, at times I have struggled with making financial decisions. I am trying to learn and better my financial understanding every day. I have found myself on multiple occasions searching for the line of good savings habits vs deprivation. The good part of this is the FIRE movement has taught me to be analytical about my spending decisions. This has created a habit and for the most part has been a good thing. At times I have become frustrated if I did not get to invest as much money as I intended. After a couple of months this happening in a row, I decided to take a step back. I needed to put this in perspective. I pulled out the expenditures and started analyzing. What did we overspend on that month. Okay, was it a need or a want, was it worth it, what are the consequences. As I ran the numbers, I realized something. Yeah we overspent that month, but we are on pace to save 70K this year. Then I just kind of stopped and said okay, we can make up for it later and if we don’t who the F cares, we are on pace to invest 70K this year. That is something to hang your hat on. Before we started this on the path to FIRE we were maybe saving 20k. That is a huge difference. I even said if we hit 70k this year and we hit another 70k in 2020, I am good with that. My hope is it will be even easier in 2020.
In January next year, I plan on sitting down with my wife and reviewing 2019. Looking at our expenditures from 2019 and deciding what was worth it and what was not. This is where people’s thinking can be different. Some things may be worth it to some people, but not to others. Some people may look at the amount we spent on vacations and think we are crazy. That is okay, our vacations have been worth it to us. One thing I promised myself, is I would not be miserable on this journey. I have really pushed us this year to hit the 70k mark, but I feel I have not sacrificed to accomplish our goal. The stuff we have cut out this year has not been a big deal. If you feel like you are being deprived of happiness on your journey, you need to analyze the situation. What do I mean by analyze? I want you to figure out what makes you happy. Everyone will be different and that is okay. There is no one single path to financial freedom. People have to figure out which path lets them achieve their financial goals and keeps them happy.
You do not have to deprive yourself of happiness to achieve financial independence at an early age. You do have to make decisions and understand the pros and cons of that decision. If you are making yourself miserable on your financial independence journey, you are missing the point. Make sure you push yourself to achieve your financial goals, but don’t let it takeaway your happiness. Remember have fun with the journey!