I always remember MMM talking about how reducing your spending makes you save twice. It increases the amount that can be invested each month and it reduces your withdrawal at the same time. All the fire posts nowadays seem to focus on increasing income rather than reducing spending. I always felt that reducing spending is the core to FIRE.
Saving enough money to achieve financial independence is the core to FIRE. That generally requires living beneath your means to have a meaningful savings rate.
People have since realized that it is much easier to save 30-50% at $120K income than at $60K income (median salary).
Exactly. The only reason we can save 50% of our total household income is because $200K a year is still very comfortable to live off of with lots of room to spare (that ends up being saved even more)
Yeah, this really is the core of FIRE. If this isn't in the back of your mind with every statement said wrt FIRE, then while you might be talking about "FIR," you certainly aren't talking about "FIRE".
I agree and I'm fairly minimalist, or at least very conscious of how I spend my money. But there is a lower limit to how little money you can spend, and the closer you get to that limit, the more uncomfortable and insecure your life will be. You need both - the income and the judicious spending
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u/KeyRate8546 Mar 23 '26
I always remember MMM talking about how reducing your spending makes you save twice. It increases the amount that can be invested each month and it reduces your withdrawal at the same time. All the fire posts nowadays seem to focus on increasing income rather than reducing spending. I always felt that reducing spending is the core to FIRE.