[felixge]

I think there is another way to look at it -> Bootstrapping allows you to stay in control.

You get to decide how many financial sacrifices you take for your business. We do 3 days of contracting and spend another 3 days working on our product. Yes, this even includes one "free" day on a regular basis.

I don't even think it hurts our progress that much. Personally I couldn't focus on a business while not being able to pay my bills.

Being limited on time, but having a little extra cash has been a very good combination for us so far. We spend our time efficiently, and we can sometimes hire people to help us with stuff we're not good at.

Note: I live in a nice big place in Berlin paying most expenses for myself and my girlfriend (she is studying). Not fancy, but certainly not sacrificing anything either. (YMMV, especially in a more expensive city or with kids)