The Financial Independence Lifestyle

When we first heard of FIRE, we could barely contain our excitement.

Not HAVE to work ever again? Sounds blissful, no? How is this even possible? Everyone we know is drowning in debt. All we had ever known at this point was to work, work, work, and hopefully retire by 65.

We were curious how this would look, achieving this new and bold goal of ours, and we started to analyze our finances to see if it was attainable for us. Here is what we learned.

The idea of FIRE is enticing, more so if you dislike your job. It provides many people with a “light at the end of the tunnel”. Some find themselves thinking that if they can just hardcore save and invest their money for a set amount of years, once they’ve reached their golden financial independence number, life will be smooth sailing. What most DON’T consider, is that it’s not sustainable to deprive yourself this way in the long term.

When we first discussed financial independence, we tried to “math up” all of our finances and find out the absolute quickest path.

We found we could reach FI faster if Nic picked up all the overtime shifts available to her, or if we never went out to eat, or if we never spent money on events we might want to attend.  We could get there quicker if we never traveled, skipped visiting friends who live far away, or stopped going to Canada for Christmas. We thought, “What if we didn’t buy new clothes for the next 10 years?! We could save ALL that money!” We could elope and forget about having a wedding, which would save us thousands, even though we might feel like we missed out on celebrating our love with those we love.

It would be all in the name of freedom, which would be worth it, right? For us, this felt oh so wrong.

While it looked great on paper, it was an impossible task for us to cut out SO many things we valued immensely. We took a step back and discussed openly and honestly what we both truly value and what we want our lives to consist of.

Some of our more expensive must haves included: travel, spending time with family & friends, eating out occasionally as a treat (we like to prioritize these meals out to be those that we can’t easily make at home), skiing, and living in a rather expensive area due to its proximity to the mountains.

Nature is our therapist and we love spending time in the mountains. While living in Florida, we would spend as much of our time off work as we could away from Florida travelling to mountainous areas to enjoy (mostly free) activities such as hiking and camping. Even with travel hacking, all of that travel cost money, and more importantly, time.

We decided to make a leap across the continent to live in a more expensive area, but an area where traveling places we want to explore is a quick day trip drive rather than a long flight. We can sleep in our own house instead of hotels and cook meals at home to bring along with us instead of dining out for multiple days at a time.

The point is, financial independence is about BALANCE.

This journey is about creating a sustainable lifestyle for you (and your family), that doesn’t feel like deprivation. And everyone’s version of this looks different.  There’s no set time frame that you must reach FI by.  As long as you are enjoying the journey along the way, you’re doing it right.  It’s about figuring out the necessary mindset shift that the fancy house, cars, clothes etc may not be bringing you the happiness you once thought it would.

If you feel deprived, you will not make it for the long haul. The key is to spend some time to really figure out what in life truly brings you happiness. Focus your time and spending in those areas and slash out whatever does not bring you joy. Think of it as the full on Marie Kondo exercise of life – not just the contents of your home.

Try taking things slow, instead of jumping in and cutting out EVERYTHING all at once. Down grade that phone plan, don’t get rid of it. Try to cook most of your meals at home, if you don’t do so already, and go out to eat fewer nights each week. Slowly you can try to adjust that to only going out to eat 1-2 nights a month if you choose. Try taking a 30 day detox from your TV (you’ll likely find you have so much more time to yourself than you ever imagined!). Take a look at all your automatic subscriptions purchases and evaluate if they are giving you joy still or not. Figure out ways you can be resourceful and do things on your own rather than paying for external services to save some money.

While we are rather insistent on not spending spontaneous dollars, when we feel an urge to not cook and order in or dine out, we go for it. The biggest thing is that it’s very occasional, so when we do grab food from a restaurant it feels like a treat. And when it feels like a treat, it feels like it’s worth the money you spent. We don’t feel guilty about occasionally splurging on a big dinner out, because we know it isn’t something we do every day.  A big dinner out happens a few times a year for us.

We encourage you to look at your own lifestyle, your own choices. Think about the things that you feel truly add value to your life, write them down. If you’re part of a family, have each person in your family unit do this. Compare your notes, the simplicity and similarities might surprise you.

Let us know what part of this post really resonates with you in the comments below!

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We believe in stacking up life hacks to keep your enjoyment levels to the max without depleting your bank account.  Here are some ways to further educate yourself and save thousands of dollars over your lifetime by making some simple adjustments:

• Investing Newbies: Check out our free Investing 101 Series.
• How much are you paying for your phone plan?  Canadians, learn more about Public Mobile, and see how we are paying $3/mo for our cell phone plan.
• How much are you paying for internet?  Canadians, learn more about the various Independent Service Providers out there to see who services your area so you can lower your monthly bills.
• How much are you paying for home insurance?  We were able to reduce our rates by 25% by switching over to Square One Insurance.  If you live in BC, AB, SK, MB, and ON, check out Square One for your home insurance, landlord insurance, and/or tenant insurance.  Use this link to receive an extra $15 off your quote.  (Note that you must use this link to start the process to get the $15 off even if you prefer to pay over the phone.)
• How much are you paying for your monthly utility bills?  See how you can likely save on this monthly expense.

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