What is the best way to achieve it? So much advice out there about how to achieve it. What are actually proven ways to achieve it that has proven to be timeless and success. What has worked for you? What is actually not working? What traps should we be aware of? Please share your best advice to become financially independent and avoid being constantly dependent on making the right money decisions.
How can I achieve financial independence?
byu/Organic-Signal-9646 inFrugal
Posted by Organic-Signal-9646
7 Comments
Sell drugs
Read the book The Simple Path to Wealth by JL Collins. That’s a great place to start.
I’d post this in the r/personalfinance or r/FIRE subs.
Maximize your income. Minimize your expenses. Invest. Play the long game. These are proven ways to achieve FI.
Couple of things I can suggest.
First, differentiate between wants and needs. This can be hard, but try to figure out what you actually *need*, versus what you want (and whether or not you *really* want it). I’ve lived frugally for decades. Get thrifty, shop second-hand, swap with friends and family, dumpster dive (see r/dumpsterdiving for tips on that).
Get friendly with your bank manager — banks don’t always tell you what deals there are on loans and credit cards. When our mortgage was down to $40K, our manager suggested that we switch it to a line of credit. That’s tied to the bank rate (in Canada anyway) and not to mortgage rates, so it tends to be lower. Paid off ours, one month before I turned 40, and it only took 12 years.
I’d also suggest this book: The Art of Frugal Hedonism by Annie Raser-Rowlands and Adam Grubb. An excellent guide that will get you thinking about all aspects of your life.
Budget budget budget. Create a frugal budget and stick with it, tracking every day if needed. Don’t eat out, cook & freeze, use coupons when you can, store brands, wait for holiday sales to buy certain items (clothes, electronics, etc.), don’t leave money on the table (e.g., if your company matches your 401k? Jump on it. You spend $ on savings? Set it aside pre-tax to reduce yourself income as part of a transit FSA. Childcare? Same, dependent care FSA. Health? Set aside HSA/health FSA), get to know your stores (shampoo is better purchased on Amazon for me, meds is best on a box store, frozen food best on Walmart, fresh veggies and meat at Wegmans, etc.)
It’s about discipline. Work hard and don’t get discouraged when things get hard, when you’re rejected, when you hit a wall. I always tell myself, there is always a solution, only death is finite. It’s how I went from working 3 jobs at 17 to save for college (I went to community college), to earning about $170k/year. I got rejected from a 4 year college twice, eventually got in. I got rejected by the company I work for about twice as well. My first breakthrough role there? 7 interviews to get it.
Don’t. Give. Up.
Strong second to the book A Simple Path to Wealth.
Head over to r/personalfinance and make sure you’ve gone through the flowchart. (No point in worrying about independence if you’re carrying consumer debt, for example.)
Then head over to r/financialindependence and read the wiki. There’s a great daily thread there where you can ask *clarifying questions* for the stuff you didn’t understand. But make sure you read the wiki first. If you show up asking “how do financial independence?” they’re just going to point you to the wiki.