When you hear about financial independence you might think about all the sacrifices you need to make like not being able to spend on things, living minimally, working multiple jobs, creating side hustles, and living like a nomad. How much do you need to sacrifice? Do you have to give up the joys of life? Can you have YOLO (you only live once) attitude?

Like many responses in the financial world, it depends. And there’s many factors to consider. How fast do you want to reach financial independence; how much do you need to save up; do you want to live abroad; are you planning to have side hustles; are you willing to give up on certain luxuries?

One thing is for sure is that to reach financial independence, it takes sacrifice. If you want to reach financial independence early, it takes even more sacrifice. How much sacrifice is enough? Enough to reach your goal whether it’s to reach it with a certain amount of money, at a certain age, within a certain timeframe, or other goal.

If you have a family, it’s not an individual sacrifice. It’s a sacrifice the whole family will experience. Here are some of the sacrifices I made or are making to reach financial independence

• Cut cable TV
• Going with the lower internet speed
• Going with a lower cell phone plan
• Eating out once a week, maybe twice
• Cooking more at home
• Stopped buying coffee at the store, started brewing at home
• Pack lunch
• Bring my own water
• Only buying things that are on sale
• Price matching when shopping
• Doing more activities that are free like hiking, walking, biking, and picnicking
• Drive a 13 year old car
• Only buying things you need, not want
• Workout at home
• Washing my own car, even in the winter
• Cutting my own grass, even in 100 degrees
• Doing my own taxes
• Getting healthy
• Not spending more than you make
• Lots of DIY projects
• Other things to pay off debt

All of the sacrifices you make will be a sacrifice either on your time, money, or convenience. Once you live a certain lifestyle, you’ll adapt to it. You’ll also realize there are some benefits to the sacrifices you make, not just financially. My family doesn’t watch as much TV anymore since we cut cable and it gives us more quality time together. We are eating healthier now that we are cooking and packing our own lunches. I’m more aware of lawn care and gardening now that I’m taking care of it. We are drinking more water than juices and soda. We haven’t had a car payment since we paid off our cars plus older cars typically are cheaper on car insurance. Starbucks is now a treat instead of a daily necessity. Surprisingly, going with lower internet speeds hasn’t had much of an effect on our surfing.

When you realize there are things you can live without, it really doesn’t become a sacrifice anymore. It will feel like a sacrifice in the beginning because that’s the lifestyle you currently established. It’s time to establish a new financially friendly lifestyle. There are a number of things we can sacrifice and it’s a matter of us deciding what those are. If you are interested in following my journey, email subscribe to get alerts of latest posts or follow me on Facebook.