The Joy of Spending My Money Guilt-Free

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Frugality is hard habit — for some, it’s hard to learn, and for others, it’s hard to break. Frugality is a hard habit — for some, it’s hard to learn, and for others, it’s hard to break.t of sometimes unexpected emotional responses when opportunities arise to loosen the purse strings a bit.

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Late Starter FIRE argues in today’s post that the string-loosening moment doesn’t necessarily have to wait until you’ve reached financial independence. Done in moderation, and with thought and consideration, one can strike a balance between an avid pursuit of FIRE and the enjoyment of what life has to offer all along the way, as well.

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Before Finding FIRE

I was the typical happy-go-lucky person, very laid back about money in my 20s, 30s, and early 40s. My philosophy then was I earn it, I spend it and I save some of it … to spend later. As long as I had a job (and in fact I was in a stressful, demanding job) and I could pay my expenses including my mortgage and travel, I was good.

Fortunately, my parents drummed into me the importance of spending within my means. I will forever be grateful to them for this advice. And I’m grateful to Past Me for sticking to this advice.

Therefore, it comes as no surprise when one day in my late 40s, I woke up stressed about retiring. I had a lot of things going on in my head – mainly that work is too stressful and that I can’t handle it anymore. I had a suspicion that I hadn’t saved enough for retirement. I was right.

So I googled how much I needed to retire and stumbled onto the FIRE community. And was inspired by much younger people who implemented these strategies to retire at 30!

Well, that boat had well and truly sailed some time ago so the next best thing would be to retire earlier than the traditional age. Mind you, there is no “traditional” retirement age anymore. In Australia, it is illegal to ask anyone to retire – you can literally work until you die.

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