for me it's the elimination of the fixed costs that is key. my half of the rent is relatively low, and I have a car, but it's paid off. If my income were to drop dramatically next month (as it will... I just handed out north of $10K in service credits because of a huge network problem.) I can pretty instantly drop to a lifestyle that can be supported by four days of contracting a month. When things are good, sure, I buy luxuries. hell, I'll have someone clean my apartment for me- people will work for almost an order of magnitude less than I will, so when I have the money, it makes lots of sense.
The thing I've found is that getting small amounts of money is almost trivially easy... if hiring yourself out for short periods of time for $80-$150/hr is pretty easy (as it seems to be for me) optimizing things that only cost a few dollars a month doesn't make that much sense.
I think this is key to the 'living light' lifestyle. optimize the things where you get a big reward for not very much sacrifice. To me, driving a $30,000 car is nice... but a $3,000 car probably gives me 95% of the value I would get out of the more expensive car, so I drive an old beater, and I don't worry about scratches and dents. But, say, clipping coupons makes little sense, as I'm probably earning min. wage on the time spent.
I will often do my own auto repair. The person cleaning my house? $10-$15/hr. the mechanic? $75-$95/hr. And I enjoy working on my car, while I don't enjoy cleaning the kitchen.
The thing I've found is that getting small amounts of money is almost trivially easy... if hiring yourself out for short periods of time for $80-$150/hr is pretty easy (as it seems to be for me) optimizing things that only cost a few dollars a month doesn't make that much sense.
I think this is key to the 'living light' lifestyle. optimize the things where you get a big reward for not very much sacrifice. To me, driving a $30,000 car is nice... but a $3,000 car probably gives me 95% of the value I would get out of the more expensive car, so I drive an old beater, and I don't worry about scratches and dents. But, say, clipping coupons makes little sense, as I'm probably earning min. wage on the time spent.
I will often do my own auto repair. The person cleaning my house? $10-$15/hr. the mechanic? $75-$95/hr. And I enjoy working on my car, while I don't enjoy cleaning the kitchen.