One woman shared her experience of not having a social life for five years, with the goal of saving about $200,000 by limiting all of these expenses.
American Gwen Merz went viral when she shared her story of how she managed to save about $200,000 during this process.
However, this woman admitted that it ultimately took a toll on her mental health after sacrificing her free time to achieve a challenging savings goal.
«I am 33 years old and on the way to financial independence. “I saved $200,000 in five years before I realized that I would be worthless if I didn’t learn to prioritize other aspects of my life like my health, safety and happiness,” he said on his blog.
Her quality of life began to deteriorate as she never attended an event or venue where she had to spend money for four years.
“I didn’t mind going to major league sporting events, going to concerts, or a lot of other things that you can spend a lot of money on. I invited my friends over to play board games, we had bonfires in the backyard, or we went out and played,” he told Business Insider.
The FIRE method you used to save
The woman explained that she went through this entire process between 2014 and 2018 after being part of a movement called FIRE (Finance, Independence, Early Retirement).
Gwen learned about this method during her studies and decided to use it when she started working.
She heard about people saving 70% and 80% of their income, so she wanted to follow them without really knowing how much they actually made.
“I started making $65,000. I saved a high percentage (at my peak it was pretty routinely around 75%), but after that there wasn’t much left. “It really affected my quality of life,” he said.
In fact, this lifestyle meant she couldn’t find a partner who was willing to understand her and share her savings strategy.
He sacrificed his quality of life to save
This young woman also lived in a small space after purchasing a house divided into a triplex. He rented the other two studios but had to pay the mortgage.
The space was so small that he had the kitchen and sink in the same room, which later began to make him question whether he wanted that.
“I made money from it, but I was miserable, unhappy and stressed the whole time,” she said.
This savings strategy didn’t leave her with much money for her personal life, but she decided to keep going until she reached her goal.
In this way he managed to save $200,000, but he discovered that he had lost five years of his life.
“I started thinking, ‘This isn’t worth it.’ This will never be worth it for me,” Gwen said, explaining that her savings account looks good, but her lifestyle is not sustainable.
She is 33 years old and says she has reduced her savings rate to 10%. His goal is to reach $400,000 and now he wants to live his life to the fullest.
Gwen says she doesn’t regret what she did because she believes it was all part of a process.
“I have no regrets. This process has allowed me to take more risks. I think it was the perfect time in my life to do and see what I liked and didn’t like. “In the long run, it definitely benefited me helped,” he concluded.
This woman continues her savings goal and initially hoped to retire in 2025 at the age of 35. But now she believes it is too early and will therefore continue to work to achieve this financial independence.
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