[GianFabien]

For me the biggest factor has been understanding how the hedonistic trap limited my options.

It works like this: you start a new job with a nice big bump in salary. You buy a new car, go to fancier restaurants, take dates to "in places", move into a nicer apartment. With each increment of income, expenses increase. Pretty soon you are trapped in an awful job but the pay is too good and you have no savings.

Getting off the hedonistic treadmill is very painful. But there's more to life than staring at computer screens and putting up with shitty bosses.

[brabel]

I've been living a comfortable life, but well below my means. I could have a bigger house, a bigger car, travel more. The reasons I don't do that are exactly that I do not want to be "forced" to continue working (even if I currently enjoy working, I know I won't forever) well into old age, and I have realistic hope that I will be able to retire within a few more years (I am in my early 40's now). I may continue "working" on something, as I do think I will continue to enjoy building things, but I want to do that on my own terms, from wherever I feel like.

With a motivation like that, I found it very easy to "jump off the hedonistic treadmill". But I was never one to give high importance to showing off wealth or status. Those things have very little importance to me as in my view, all they can give me are superficial "highs" of feeling superior, but then I immediately remember that the desire to feel superior itself needs to be suppressed as it is not just evil when taken to the extreme, but also is a never ending race where there's no winner and no real satisfaction.

[maerF0x0]

The grass is always greener.

The flip side of this is you save/invest a lot, thinking it will get you to passive income, and the overspending masses vote a new tax raise on the "rich" only for your delayed gratification to never come true.

Case in point, those who paid off their student debt are in the minority. Those who don't vote for student debt forgiveness. The minority did the "right thing" by paying it off and lose out on gratification.

Be careful overfitting as if the rules of the game can't be rewritten to your detriment at any given moment by the dumbest 51% of the population.

[theshrike79]

I actually managed to get off the treadmill during the Pandemic. During the slowdown of the initial forced WFH I found out that I don't actually need anything else.

Yes, a bigger house with a bigger yard, a better car etc. would be nice.

...but I have everything I need that costs under 10k€. There are a few bits I could upgrade, but I'd have to pay a 50-100% premium for under 10% quality improvement, so not really worth it in my book.

[Overpower0416]

I am 27 and I feel like I am at that stage of my life. Only recently I started becoming self aware of my hedonism way of living. I get that high from getting the next shiny thing and after a week, I start seeking the next material thing I want to get. I feel lost and unfulfilled

[eliasmacpherson]

A typo has misled you, hedonism and the hedonic treadmill are separate concepts: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedonic_treadmill

[Temporary_31337]

Another way to look at it is how much money can you set aside for any situation. Be it SV but living in a tiny apartment or elsewhere, make sure to save money no matter what so you can always have the freedom to move out of a bad situation

[robga]

Exactly. When I realised a $4 coffee is actually $14 dollars in todays money if I put it in a boring index tracker and leave it 30 years until I’d need to spend it, that was a massive mental switch in my head. I’m always aware of balancing hedonism/asceticism.

[meghan_rain]

Yeah I think balancing is importanr. You don't want to die at 60, the first day of your retirement, after living 100% ascetically your entire life. It would be too risky of an investment. I think something 20/80 (20 spending) is roughly a good idea.

[roland35]

While that is true, I think it's also important to focus on the $100k ticket items and not worry about the $4 things in life. Getting a promotion has impacted my life more than any amount of frugality has. Also investing in low cost indexing is a huge win!