Comment by derekp7 | Hacker News Reader

Comment by derekp7 | Hacker News Reader

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Financial security can play a part of it, but that doesn't exactly mean being financially independent.

-- Having a job where you don't go in every day thinking that today is when they will find a reason to fire me or get laid off.

-- Having a bit of surplus personal money (after retirement accounts are paid into, and other planned savings) is really good. It doesn't take much, and you don't really need extra income, just make sure your lifestyle matches slightly below your income.

-- Knowing you can survive for a while without a job, if needed.

To accomplish the above (without having to significantly increasing your income), make sure to avoid the trap of monthly payments as much as you can. Sure you can afford $800 a month on a car payment, but your emergency fund stretches much further if you buy a car with cash up front (or going no more than 3 years on a loan).

-- Take time for yourself. Don't leave vacation days unused. Take advantage of flex time without using vacation if you can (cutting out for a couple hours for a Dr appointment, etc). Take a couple Wednesdays off per month during the summer (5 weeks vacation gets you a 4-day work week every other week for the year, or take minimum time off in the winter, take a few 3-4 day weekends, periodically take a day off that you don't have "must-do" activities scheduled so you can do personal projects such as woodworking or gardening, etc).

This is what has kept me happy, and will continue to do so even if I have to work till I'm 65.

Regarding “ To accomplish the above (without having to significantly increasing your income”

How do you judge what is important for you and what is like luxury which you don’t need right away ? I mean let’s say iPad is nice to have and would enjoy but it is not necessary or must have . But should I not buy something I don’t need to right now but save for future which is very random or unsure . I mean let’s say I been saving all long hoping to have a nice life after retirement but all of sudden I got hit by bus and thinking I should have enjoyed all things I wished sure rather than saving when on death bed . How to balance ?

Unfortunately, there really isn't hard and fast rules about this, as it is different for each person. And sometimes you have to get some life experience to figure out what you did sub-optimally in the past, or try to learn from experience of others and see if that applies to you.

I noticed that I'm happier now that I don't have payments going out for a lot of things (just mortgage and a car payment at the moment). I was looking into getting a motorhome, which I think we would really enjoy. But after thinking about it for the last couple years (and looking at industry quality issues), I figured that the maintenance plus depreciation totaled up to about twice what it would cost to do several 3-4 day weekend getaways at a nice resort every year.

As for buying things that will bring you joy, it isn't an all or nothing deal. Instead of getting the top-of-the-line tablet, see if a cheaper one would be 90% as good, and that leaves you money to get the watch also. On the other hand, if you cheap out too much on a purchase (say spend $300 on something that really doesn't bring you joy where the $800 item would), then you didn't save $500, you really wasted $300.

But the biggest rule I have is to not go into debt unless the payments are fairly close to what you would be paying out regardless. So buying a house (at least back before the prices got way out of control) would cost you close to the what you would be paying in rent, but you get to do so much more (extra rooms, yard, garage for tools and gear, etc). But putting a $3500 Macbook Pro M1 on a credit card that take you 5 years to pay off ends up causing you more stress than the joy that the purchase brought you (because the debt doesn't go down as easy as it goes up). Credit card debt is probably what put the most strain on my life over the previous couple decades (both personally and on my family, as I'd always be complaining about having to spend money on something).

The day I wiped out my credit card debt is the day I started feeling secure. It allowed me to go purchase a new car instead of driving a 15 year old vehicle that was starting to need monthly repairs, and the monthly payments on that didn't bother me because they fit in my budget while still having disposable income left over. Which allowed me to build up an emergency fund. Which now means I don't have to think about money if I want to go out and purchase that tablet, because I know it isn't going to add to my monthly debt payments. And if we want to take the kids to a water park resort for a 4-day weekend, again that is something that is budgeted for and not just thrown on a credit card to be paid off over the next few years.

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