Key Takeaways
- Financial independence is not about deprivation — the ChooseFI community consistently reports that the things they value most remain fully intact on the FI journey.
- The most common "non-sacrifices" include travel, quality food, hobbies, time with family, and generosity — people find ways to optimize spending without cutting what matters.
- Pursuing FI often improves quality of life by forcing intentional spending: you spend more on what brings joy and less on what does not.
- The sacrifice narrative is a myth that keeps people from starting. The real question is not what you give up — it is what you gain by aligning spending with values.
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The FI Journey by the Numbers
Sometimes, it seems like achieving financial independence (aka, FI) is the only thing that matters. You take a hard look at your finances and find every piece of fat you can cut. For a while, it may not seem like a big deal. After all, you’re working toward FI which is the ultimate freedom. However, after a few months or years of living at the bare bone minimum, it can get to you.
So, today, rather than focus on every little thing people have cut out of their lives to achieve FI faster, I thought it’d be fun to take a look at the things Choose FI Facebook group members have decided weren’t worth sacrificing on their journey to FI. In a way, it’s a fun exercise to see what other people working toward FI value most.
Ultimately, it’s up to you to decide what’s worth cutting and what isn’t worth cutting. The answer will vary from person to person based on their values, likes, and dislikes. This list should give you a good idea of what expenses to consider keeping around and which expenses you should ditch for good based on your reaction to each item.
Travel and vacations
Travel and vacations were one of the most mentioned things that people weren’t willing to give up.
While some people did decide to give up international travel, others continue to travel internationally. Regardless of whether you want to travel domestically or internationally, you can use travel rewards to help pay for your vacations. Just make sure you don’t rack up credit card debt.
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Monthly Spending
$4,180
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$4,180
Spending
$620
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CrossFit/Gym membership
Some people value their expensive gym or CrossFit memberships so much they’re not willing to give them up to achieve FI faster. Brad and his wife Laura go to West End CrossFit in Richmond, VA and they love the community and focus on health and longevity.
As long as people use their gym memberships, they’re usually a good thing. After all, living a healthy lifestyle that includes exercise can help you live a longer life which gives you even more time to enjoy your financial independence.
Related: Frugal Fitness Hacks
Quality food
Similar to CrossFit or gym memberships, quality food is key to living a healthy lifestyle. While there are ways to save on food costs, giving up quality isn’t an option for many Choose FI members.
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Pursue FI Without Sacrificing What You Love
Practical steps to optimize your spending while keeping what matters most.
Identify your non-negotiables
Before you cut a single expense, list the 5-7 things that bring you the most joy and fulfillment. Travel, quality time with family, a hobby, great food — whatever they are, write them down. These are your non-negotiables. Every optimization you make from this point forward works around this list, not through it.
Pro tip: Ask yourself: "If I cut this, would I notice in six months?" If yes, it is a non-negotiable. If no, it is a candidate for optimization.
Optimize the Big Three expenses
Housing, transportation, and food typically consume 60-70% of a household budget. Focus your optimization energy here: house hack or downsize, drive reliable used cars, and meal plan strategically. Getting these three right can free up thousands per month without touching your non-negotiables.
Pro tip: A family that reduces housing costs by $500/month and transportation by $300/month adds $9,600/year to their savings — equivalent to maxing out a Roth IRA.
Apply the optimization lens to your non-negotiables
You do not have to spend less on what you love — you have to spend smarter. Love travel? Use travel rewards and shoulder-season timing. Love great food? Cook restaurant-quality meals at home. Love fitness? Build a home gym or use outdoor spaces. The FI community excels at getting 80-100% of the experience for 20-50% of the cost.
Pro tip: The ChooseFI community is your best resource here. Someone has already figured out how to optimize whatever you love — ask in the forums.
Eliminate invisible waste
After protecting your non-negotiables and optimizing the Big Three, look for spending that brings you no measurable joy: unused subscriptions, premium services where free alternatives work, insurance you are overpaying for, and convenience purchases driven by poor planning. This is the easiest money to redirect because cutting it costs you nothing.
Pro tip: Review your bank and credit card statements for the last 90 days. Highlight every charge that does not map to a non-negotiable or a genuine need. Most people find $200-$500/month in invisible waste.
Track and celebrate your wins
Calculate your savings rate monthly and watch it climb. As you redirect money from low-value spending to investments, your FI timeline shortens visibly. Celebrate milestones: first month above 30% savings rate, first $100K invested, first year of intentional spending. The FI journey is a marathon — acknowledging progress keeps you motivated.
Pro tip: Share your wins in the ChooseFI community. Hearing how others maintain quality of life at high savings rates reinforces that sacrifice is not required.
Their homes
For some, a home is one of the most important things you can spend money on. For others, it’s just a place to stay out of the elements.
For many Choose FI members, homes were one thing they weren’t willing to give up. Sometimes it boiled down to being in a good school district for their children. Others decided cheaper housing wasn’t worth living in a less safe neighborhood.
Their cars
Most people working toward financial independence aren’t car enthusiasts. That said, even some car enthusiasts get bitten by the FI bug.
These members strongly believe you don’t have to drive a beater just because you’re working toward FI. Instead, some Choose FI Facebook group members drive their dream cars but sacrifice other expenses to make up for it.
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Cable TV
Cable TV isn’t terribly expensive, but there isn’t much point in paying for it if you don’t watch much TV. A few Choose FI Facebook group members keep this relatively cheap entertainment option as a part of their budget.
Coffee/Beer/Wine
While I’m not a fan of coffee, beer or wine, Choose FI Facebook group members love these drinks. If there is a drink you love, you should enjoy it. As always, the key is moderation.
Outsourcing certain housework
Outsourcing housework that drives you crazy can be well worth the money. For instance, one person said a $200 per month housekeeper saves their marriage. Others hate lawn care and other landscaping tasks and outsource those.
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Pets
Some people don’t understand why others have pets. However, those of us that have pets know they’re part of the family. I could never give up a family member because they were expensive. Neither could Choose FI Facebook group members.
Related: Our Expensive Dog
Giving/Donations/Tithing
In an effort to secure our own financial freedom, some people forget to continue helping others that are in need or less fortunate. Thankfully, not everyone falls into this trap and some people say they refused to sacrifice giving, donations and tithing.
Kids activities
Kids are an important part of our lives so it isn’t a surprise that many wouldn’t sacrifice when it comes to kids activities.
The level of not sacrificing varied per person. Some wouldn’t give up sports activities, while others wouldn’t give up sleep-away camps.
It’s up to you where you draw the line. If you want your kids to experience everything they can, you can make that happen if you give up other expenses or earn a high enough income.
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Good toilet paper
Last but not least, quite a few Choose FI Facebook group members said they wouldn’t cheap out when it comes to toilet paper. My wife wasn’t surprised and totally agreed.
What expenses were you not willing to give up on your path to FI? Were any of them listed above? Or were the things you wouldn’t sacrifice different than the majority of Choose FI Facebook group members?
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Frequently Asked Questions
No. The FI community consistently shows that intentional spending improves quality of life rather than diminishing it. The key is optimizing how you spend, not simply spending less. Most people find they can maintain or improve their lifestyle while saving 40-60% of their income by cutting waste and spending smarter on what they love.
The most common answers include travel and experiences, quality food and dining, hobbies and passions, time with family and friends, generosity and charitable giving, and health and fitness. People find ways to enjoy all of these while spending less through optimization and intentionality.
Focus on the Big Three expenses (housing, transportation, food) which consume the majority of most budgets. Optimize these through strategies like house hacking, driving used cars, and meal planning. Then eliminate invisible waste — spending that brings you no measurable joy. Your non-negotiables stay intact.
Absolutely not. Most FI pursuers still eat out and travel regularly — they just do it more intentionally. They use travel rewards for flights and hotels, choose restaurants strategically rather than defaulting to takeout, and plan trips during shoulder season for better value. The experience quality often improves because every dollar is intentional.
Frugality is spending less on things that do not matter to you so you can spend more on things that do. Deprivation is cutting things you genuinely value. The FI community practices frugality, not deprivation. If something brings you real joy, you keep it — you just find a smarter way to fund it.
Start with invisible waste — expenses no one in the family will miss. Then optimize the Big Three expenses gradually. Involve your family in identifying non-negotiables so everyone feels heard. Most families find they can dramatically increase their savings rate while maintaining or improving their lifestyle once they align spending with shared values.
The Bottom Line
The sacrifice narrative around financial independence is wrong. The ChooseFI community has demonstrated thousands of times over that pursuing FI does not require giving up travel, great food, hobbies, time with family, or any of the things that make life rich. What it does require is intentionality — spending on what matters and cutting what does not. The result is not deprivation but alignment: your money goes toward what you actually value, your savings rate climbs, and your FI timeline shrinks. The real sacrifice is not pursuing FI at all — staying on the default path where lifestyle inflation consumes every raise and retirement stays 30 years away.
FI pursuers who report no sacrifice on what matters
85%+
Typical savings rate on the FI path
40-60%
Budget typically found as invisible waste
15-30%
