Yesterday I was writing about how family affected my beliefs on money.1
There was another influence in my life that I also adopted so early on in my career, I never really thought to challenge it until recently.
FIRE
I came across the FIRE movement while I was still in college, from a Tim Ferriss podcast with Mr. Money Mustache.
It was exciting to see a lifestyle that aligned with my already-conservative money habits. It reinforced the idea that my existing habits were good for me in the long-run.
Speedrunning retirement was a tantalizing pitch, and I felt like I had a headstart since I was learning about it before I even had a job.
Despite that, I never set a specific FIRE number for myself. I figured if I was going to raise a family, there were too many variables to predict how much money I’d need.
However, I adopted the general mantra of rejecting consumerism and investing mostly in index funds.
Upsides
There were benefits to this approach, mainly in a “could be worse” sort of way.
I gave myself a financial education. IRAs and taxes didn’t scare me. I learned how to budget and stayed away from gambling in the stock market.
I patted myself on the back when I saw stats like “only 4 in 10 Americans have enough savings to cover an unplanned expense of $1,000”2 because I knew I had built myself a good buffer.
However, I think the combination of my upbringing and leaning into the FIRE movement led to some pretty unhealthy habits as well.
Downsides
I didn’t like to spend money on anything. Any money I spent today was money that couldn’t compound into the future.
Present-me suffered for the sake of future-me.
I left the heater off during winters in NYC.
In grocery stores, I would do unit price comparisons on my phone’s calculator, probably saving pennies at most.
I would stand for an hour with my luggage on the subway to JFK airport because I didn’t want to pay for an Uber (if I did pay, I’d take a Pool and inevitably waste another hour on detours for the sake of a few bucks).
More importantly, I missed out on memorable nights because I didn’t want to pay for events or cover charges.
It’s not like I never did anything with my money, but every single financial decision came with so much friction.
If I was going to change my relationship to money during my sabbatical, this was a load-bearing belief I’d have to tackle head-on.