Some (More) Shockingly Simple Math

Use Future Value to Pave Your Way to Financial Independence.

The easiest way to make money is to not spend it. Have you ever asked yourself: What would the future value of the money I’ve spent be if I had invested it instead? If you knew the answer, would it cause you to re-evaluate your spending habits across the board?

This article deserves a shout out for its inspiration. I recently finished reading Grant Sabatier’s book: Financial Freedom. It is a fantastic read, cover to cover. If you’re looking for an in-depth take on how to build wealth and retire early, please check it out. Like many books I’ve read about Financial Independence and financial savviness, it left me with some new ideas to consider. One of my take-aways from his book was to look at the long-term impacts of my spending habits. 

By examining our spending habits, we can start to think creatively about how to increase our retirement savings. What I appreciated about Grant’s approach is the numerous ways he does this. He recommends using a future value calculator to help guide purchasing decisions. He also suggests finding ways to increase your savings by 1% increments, along with quantifiable dollar amounts. Making this a fairly regular, almost daily process can lead to some strong habits to help increase our wealth.

I really like Grant’s strategies. An example he gives is the impact of a regular day’s cup ($3) of coffee, purchased every day over the course of a  year. Such a purchase would amount to $1,095 in a year’s time. The comparable example that immediately comes to mind is the $60 new release video game. Combine this with the fact that software accounts for around 80% of the gaming industry’s sales. So, $60 seems like an amount we as gamers are comfortable paying on at least a semi-regular basis.

While working part-time jobs in high school, and later college, I often didn’t put much thought into this $60 before buying the newest games. For fear of missing out, playing with friends, or simply wanting to play it by myself. But what if, instead of buying one $60 game, I had invested that money? What could money I spend today be worth in ten, twenty, even thirty years from now? Let’s find out.

The math itself isn’t overly complicated. The power of compounding interest cannot be understated. To find future value, we can break down this equation: 

FV = I x (1 + R)^T

Where: I = Investment Amount, R = Interest Rate, and T = Number of Years Invested

(Investopedia – Future Value)

This equation is used as a base reference, but for the sake of this post, I’ve created this awesome chart for you by using a future value calculator graciously provided by millennialmoney.com (Grant Sabatier’s blog). Here are some assumptions:

1. The stock market has historically returned 10% on average, reduced to 7% after accounting for a 3% inflation rate.
2. $60 is currently the MSRP standard for a newly released video game.

If I bought one game today, at $60, here’s what that same $60 would be worth in one, five, ten, twenty, and thirty years from now.

Time	Value Over Time
Present Day	$60.00
1 Year From Now	$64.20
5 Years From Now	$84.15
10 Years From Now	$118.03
20 Years From Now	$232.18
30 Years From Now	$456.74

That same $60 doubled its value in just ten years, and is worth over seven times that thirty years from now. $456.74 is nothing to scoff at, especially if my goal is to retire as early as possible. If I were paid $20 an hour, that amounts to almost 23 hours of work. That equates to valuable time I’m able to reclaim. 

Here’s another scenario. What if instead of buying a game each month for an entire year ($720), I invested it instead, allowing that money to grow?

Time	Value Over Time
Present Day	$720.00
1 Year From Now	$770.40
5 Years From Now	$1,009.84
10 Years From Now	$1,416.35
20 Years From Now	$2,786.17
30 Years From Now	$5,480.82

Here’s where we can truly see the power of compounding. If instead of buying twelve $60 video games, I invested that $720 into a total stock market index fund, in thirty years I’d have $5,480.82. Truthfully, I’d much rather have that $5,480 years down the road when I could really use it, no matter how much enjoyment I gain from twelve video games.

Finally, say that I continue to buy video games, once a month at $60 each, over a thirty year period. This is of course assuming that a video game’s suggested retail price never exceeds $60. What would that same sum of money ($21,600, periodically invested monthly in $60 increments) be worth with the driving forces of the stock market behind it?

Time	Value Over Time
Present Day	$720.00
1 Year From Now	$742.82
5 Years From Now	$4,271.71
10 Years From Now	$10,263.10
20 Years From Now	$30,452.18
30 Years From Now	$70,167.16

Now, the idea of buying approximately 360 video games over a thirty year period may seem a bit exaggerated. But, let’s consider a different frame of reference. Ask yourself this question: Am I in a position to afford investing $60 more a month into my financial future? If you, you’re able to illustrate the meaning of the saying “pay yourself first.” Are there other areas where you can cut spending? If you’re able to invest $60 a month (or more) over a period of 30 years, say hello to an incredible boost to your wealth.

Personally, I recall two decades ago buying games for Gamecube, PS2, and Xbox at $50 each and not batting an eyelash. I’d say, on average, I added around six games to my collection a year. Using the formula above, say I continued those same spending habits. At present day, I could have $12,298 more to my name if I had invested it instead. By 2050, I would have $121,958. This is a prime example of letting your money work for you, and not the other way around. This $120,000 would be three years of an annual $40,000 salary. It might afford a sizable chunk of, if not cover, a child’s college education.

This article, of course, isn’t meant to be critical of video games. If they bring you joy, like they still do for me, that’s  awesome! What I am trying to highlight is the real opportunity cost to purchases we make on a day-to-day, month-to-month, yearly basis. There’s real benefit to objectively evaluating (and periodically re-evaluating) what we value. What we value determines how we spend our money. After all, we trade our precious life energy (our time) for money. 

Hindsight is 20:20. Coincidentally, it’s the year 2020, and I think I’d prefer that $12,000 in my possession today, not permanently gone. This number doesn’t even account for the money I’ve spent on consoles, controllers, online subscriptions, and more, which increases that amount considerably. 

Perhaps instead of buying games once a month, it turns into once every other month, or once every three or four months. Our future selves will quite likely thank us. Perhaps we’ll stop feeling encumbered by having too many options, and instead enjoy what we already have.

Finally, I purposely didn’t include the time I spent playing those games I purchased. It goes without saying: I don’t regret the time I spent playing games with friends and family by any means. As they say, “time enjoyed is not time wasted.” But holistically, the time we have on this planet is finite. While I do enjoy gaming as a pastime, it’s not what I want to solely define me. At the end of my life, I’d much rather say: “In my life, I feel I made a difference.” This sounds so much more purposeful than: “In my life, I was really entertained.”

So buy video games, collect video games, play video games, whatever you fancy! But in addition to doing that, take some time to consider your financial future. The reality is, video games are not an investment tool. Leave that to the low-cost, total stock and total bond index funds in your portfolio. Contribute as much money as you can, as often as you can, and enjoy the ride.Whatever you take from this article, I hope I’ve illustrated the point that our money can and does buy us the ability to take our time back into our hands. I would like to thank Mr. Grant Sabatier for the inspiration I received from Financial Freedom, along with Mr. Money Mustache’s classic article The Shockingly Simple Math Behind Early Retirement, where this article’s title comes from.

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Tightwad Gamer’s Favorite Resources

The purpose of this site is to help you play more and pay less. Additionally, if financial independence is something you’re interested in, I wanted to share some of our favorite resources.

I’m of the belief that financial independence is achievable with a determined mindset, in tandem with positive habits and a community filled with knowledge. I have been thrilled with how openly the FI community shares not only resources but personal stories.

I can’t outline the specific steps to help you achieve financial independence. Everyone’s circumstances and journey towards financial independence are different. I’m happy to share my experiences on our path to financial independence. I hope we can build community, share insights, and perhaps you’ll feel a bit inspired.

But, what if you’re eager and looking for more? Don’t want to Google Fu “top Financial Independence resources?” Look no further. Here’s a lot of our personal favorite blogs, books, and podcasts that cover the topic, along with a few others like minimalism. Each of these we’ve either found useful, were insightful, or were influential in guiding us along the way. Perhaps they’ll help catapult you along your own journey, wherever it takes you. 

Many of these blogs and books helped us see that financial independence is a realistic, achievable goal. A lot of people’s journeys are replicable. We’ve come to see that trying similar strategies are producing outcomes that are helping us achieve our financial goals. I hope you enjoy and adapt these in ways that work for you!

In no way is this list exhaustive, so keep perusing the interwebs if the curiosity bug has bitten you. Please share anything you find valuable with us, too! We continue to search for valuable sources of knowledge to soak up and glean wisdom. As I read things that I think are valuable or interesting, I’ll add them.

Blogs:

Mr. Money Mustache

Mad Fientist

Go Curry Cracker

JLCollinsNH

ModernFimily

FIRE Books:

Your Money or Your Life by Vicki Robin

Bogleheads Guide to Investing by Taylor Larimore, Barry Abrams et al.

The Simple Path to Wealth by JL Collins

Work Optional by Tanja Hester

Millionaire Next Door by Thomas Stanley

Financial Freedom by Grant Sabatier

Lifestyle Books:

Goodbye Things by Fumio Sasaki

Walden by Henry David Thoreau

Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo

The Nature Fix by Florence Williams

Essentialism by Greg McKeown

Podcasts:

Choose FI

Afford Anything

A New Decade of Aspirations.

Financial Independence, Minimalism, and Gaming in the 2020’s.

It’s one of my rare Saturdays off. I’m waiting to see the film 1917. My wife isn’t a fan of war movies, so I’m on my own for this one. It’s a real treat to be given this leisure time. After a tiresome week home with my toddler, who’s experiencing his first cold, it’s nice to have a break. So here I go to the cinema close to home, in the chance I needed to be home quickly, as we are not fully on the mend yet.

The theater is in one of the most affluent neighborhoods in Dallas, Highland Park. As I park my Subaru, I find I’m surrounded by BMW, Mercedes, Audi, Land Rover, and other luxury vehicles. I also spy a Lamborghini a little further down. The storefronts are strewn with names like Jimmy Choo, Cartier, Leggiado, and plenty of other designer brands that I’m unfamiliar with. I simply know that I cannot afford them. This is doubly reinforced by the doormen I see standing as security by the front doors. Out of curiosity, when I’m home, I check out a few websites for these stores. On their online storefront, I see that Leggiado has “cotton sweaters for sunny days”, and they’re only $295 – $450. Cartier has fine jewelry that ranges from a sizable down payment on a car to around 20% of a down payment on a house. Yowza!

Thanks, but I’ll pass Leggiado. You do you.

None of this really bothers me, but being here definitely puts me out of my comfort zone. This is definitely a world I have no experience in navigating, and I am content with leaving it that way. I could never justify spending $300 on a sweater; such a sum nearly feeds our family for an entire month. If you’ll pardon this long-winded introduction, I promise there’s a point. As I sit and people watch, I see all sorts of status symbols. Whether it be automobiles, clothing, handbags, and jewelry, people buy this stuff! There’s so much disposable income all around me. I have to consider the possibility that perhaps it’s not disposable income but voluntary consumer debt? These companies exist because people purchase their products.

Living My Values Into the 2020’s

During my brief visit to the shopping district in the Capitol from The Hunger Games, I’m provided a good reminder of why we’re pursuing Financial Independence. My wife and I are pleased with our values concerning money and how we choose to spend it. We strive to live into those values pursuant to our larger financial goals. What we value is spending time with our families, being healthy, and getting outside in nature as often as possible. A main aspect of this is avoiding unnecessary purchases that could delay us from achieving our retirement goals. We’ve realized most consumer purchases often don’t bring lasting happiness but a briefly satisfying shot of dopamine. Since we live away from our families for example, we tend to eat 99% of our meals at home, but save restaurant dining for when our families are here. After all, their visit is a special occasion and a few meals out helps us live our values and marks these moments with pleasant memories.

The Monk and the Minister

As far as simple living, I recall JL Collin’s mention of the famous parable of the monk and the minister, in his book Simple Path to Wealth:

‘“Two close boyhood friends grow up and go their separate ways. One becomes a humble monk, the other a rich and powerful minister to the king.

Years later they meet up again. 

As they catch up, the minister (in his fine robes) takes pity on the thin, shabby monk. Seeking to help, he says: “You know, if you could learn to cater to the king you wouldn’t have to live on rice and beans.”

To which the monk replies: “If you could learn to live on rice and beans you wouldn’t have to cater to the king!”’

JL Collins: A Simple Path to Wealth.

I love this parable. I interpret it partly as being beholden to a system of consumption, based on maintaining one’s image. So, my resolution for this next year decade is to be content with what I have, and to clearly distinguish my wants and needs. I’m not saying we have to subsist on rice and beans, but we’re also not going to go overboard. I don’t want to confuse my material wants as needs. I need clothing for warmth. I need healthy food and clean water to nourish my body. I need exercise to bring a sound body and mind. There’s probably a few other explicit needs that I’m not thinking of at the moment. But for the sake of simplicity, anything additional is a want, and not necessarily essential. Knowing that this is a state of mind I repeatedly find myself in, perhaps it’s time to check out some books about Zen Buddhism! Aside from this, this state of mind has also made me reflect about my goals around gaming for the 2020’s. I came up with these three main goals.

1. Avoid collecting
2. Play what I have. Buy Less.
3. Take a more minimalist approach.

That said, in this new decade I want to strive for simplicity, minimalism, and the essentials. A rare treat — like this matinee-showing of a film, complete with a coke and popcorn, is just that, a treat. I think in the span of our child’s life, I’ve been to the theater twice. It hardly reaches overindulgence. I’m really grateful for this opportunity to sit down and enjoy a film, without having the worry that I need to tend to a hungry, soiled, sick, or otherwise upset baby. We all need breaks. I for one am appreciating and pausing to reflect in gratitude, and tell you about it!

Goal: Avoid Collecting.

As it relates to gaming, I find it rare to play for a long, uninterrupted span of time nowadays. I feel like I’ve covered this topic well in my “Being a Parent and a Gamer series of articles.” Ever since this limitation of time has been a reality, I felt like my identity as a gamer is changing. To compensate for this, I have been feeling a pull to embrace the collector-side of the gaming world. It’s definitely appealing; a leisurely stroll down Instagram can open up a world of amazing game rooms and vast collections of rare games. They’re no doubt awesome and leaves most of us nerds salivating. 

However, a quote from Theodore Roosevelt holds true: “Comparison is the thief of joy.” Comparing my modest collection of games to other collections I find while browsing social media, brings forth feelings of desire and inadequacy. It can also drive impulsive buying urges. “I remember that game! I have to get it. Man that setup is amazing. I want one just like that!” Not only does it fuel impulsive thinking (and occasionally, your decision making), it can be really consumptive of your precious time.

This afternoon in Highland Park has helped me draw a conclusion about my consumption with gaming. Reconciling these thoughts and feelings, I know collecting would hinder me from reaching my goals and living my values. For that fact, I think collecting would leave me with guilt, disappointment, and regret. Though I don’t know the exact sums that are sunk into large collections, without a doubt they’re usually significant. I know that any spending on amassing a collection is money that’s not getting into our path for financial freedom. The opportunity cost is apparent: I can amass a collection, or that money can be invested and build wealth. Instead, for the past three years, I’ve not spent any of my own money on games I’ve wanted to play. I am still able to enjoy the games I’m excited for without incurring costs. This is a practice that I’m continuing into this next decade. 

Goal: Play What I Have. Buy Less.

I want to be clear in saying that if people really value and get joy from having a large collection, go for it. I’m not trying to “Yuck!” someone’s “Yum!” My goal isn’t to rob someone of the joy and satisfaction they get from collecting an entire NTSC Nintendo 64 set. However, when I look at game rooms with thousands of games stacked on shelves, the reality is my values aren’t aligned with collecting. If I had thousands of games in my collection, I’d argue that’s simply too many games that I can thoroughly enjoy in my lifetime. I don’t want this to come off as didactic. Collecting gaming and playing games are not diametrically opposed. It’s simply a matter of different choices, values, and goals, not opposing viewpoints. I just can’t personally enjoy collecting anymore.

I know if I purchased en-masse, a large collection of games, it often meant a large backlog. Deciding what to play would be hard. I’d simply be paralyzed from all the choices available to me. Say you’re eating out at a restaurant. When it’s time to order, you’ve been trying to narrow down from 100 different entrées on the menu. How would you handle that? For me, that is very overwhelming. I’ll likely fall back onto something pretty standard, or ask for a suggestion. That’s how I view a backlog, it becomes hard to narrow down exactly what it is I want to play. Perhaps I have esoteric interests and tastes, but I think there’s beauty in simplicity that comes with fewer choices. So, I purchase games only as often as I’m able to play through them. I end up saving money this way, as I don’t rush into most games on their initial day of release. I also end up being able to play down my backlog.

Goal: Take a More Minimalist Approach.

This blends into my other goal, that I have not directly named yet. I believe it goes hand in hand many ways with financial independence, that is the goal of minimalism. With tens of thousands of games out for the masses to enjoy today, if I have a “collection” at all, I want it to be curated with my favorite games on a system. I once had almost 200 of the 248 US-released Dreamcast games. The realization I came to was that within that library there were a number of excellent, good, and poor games. Some of them weren’t the money or time I put into acquiring and playing them. So, I cut out the poor, mediocre, and even some of the good games. I let go of the goal of having a complete Dreamcast set. 

A Dreamcast checklist. I once had 200 Dreamcast Games. I wanted all 248.

I conceded that while a complete Dreamcast library may look good on a shelf, it also takes up a lot of space. This is further compounded when I’ve got other systems, each with their own library of games to choose from, all occupying their own space in our home. Being in a somewhat temporary living situation (we’ll move again within the next 3-4 years to a more permanent location), I don’t want a collection taking up too much space in our abode. This comes with the added burden of having to lug across the country, in a few years time. It is what it is. I also have a little one that delights in innocently pulling these off the shelves, much like the books on his bookshelf. 

So now, I have around 70 Dreamcast games, with my favorites, the heavy hitters, and system defining games. I also have a number of other consoles that I was gifted, grew up with or purchased as time and life went on. At times I’ve felt like I have too much of a collection, and I’ve contemplated trimming down to the games and systems I truly love, left with the games and systems that consistently get played and replayed. I’ve also had the thought of shedding all of the physical software and becoming a gamer that plays games exclusively digitally, be it Steam or e-shops.

https://imgur.com/user/flizzzipper – A really sharp game room.

With this thought in mind, I’m swept into various minimalist Instagram accounts, admiring their small collections and sleek, clean setups. In the process I’m falling into the mental trap of comparison again. “That’s such a nice room, I have way too much stuff!” Then, I also realize that a lot of these video games I own come with the powerful nostalgia of my childhood. It becomes that much more difficult to part with them. I also don’t want to regret selling something, that later on, I’ll wish I had back. At an impasse, I write down on a notepad that this isn’t a decision that needs to be made now. I simply need to get the thought out of my head. For now, I can occasionally brainstorm a more refined idea of a collection or game room, at the next place we call home. For now, I’m fine with where things are at, and stop swirling about possibilities that simply aren’t feasible at this moment in time..

Bringing it home…

I know that I am a quirky person. Mrs. TWG can certainly attest to that. I’m but one of the billions of other people who have their own interests, values, behaviors, and personalities. On a species-wide basis, I find it interesting what we become our hobbies, past-times, or what we choose to spend our disposable income on, if we’re privileged to have it. I’m really trying to hone in on what will continue to be important to me in the future: my family, creating memories together, and planning responsibly so that we have “enough”.

Sure, games are great as a pastime, and I hope to be able to enjoy gaming as I grow older, but they’re hardly essential. Right now, if I had to choose between spending (on a semi-regular basis) $60 of my own money on a new game or dropping that same $60 into VTSAX, it’s not a difficult decision. That $60 will have more potential having time to grow in the market.

For now, I am aspiring to become more minimalist (both materially and mentally) and keep pursuing FI. I am also aspiring to keep these two goals intertwined into my gaming hobby, starting with 2020, and reflecting when I reach the next year. Thanks for reading my outpouring of thoughts, and I hope to hear what you’ve thought about it too!

Best,

Andrew (Tightwad Gamer)

PS: 1917 was awesome. As a lover of history, I thought it was a really cool tale of the First World War. If you haven’t seen it, you should! 

Pursuing Financial Independence as a Gamer.

The Intersection between Hobbies and Financial Freedom.

One of the biggest goals my wife and I have is to be financially independent. What I mean by this is having secured enough money to do whatever it is we want with our time. We’d no longer be dependent on any job solely to sustain our livelihood. Make no mistake, the career I’ve had the past ten years has been fulfilling, rewarding and engaging. However, I believe human beings can sometimes stumble into the pitfall of anchoring so much of our self-image and self-perception on what we do for a living. In turn, we ignore or mute other parts of our life that can be equally important in defining who we are. For me, even though I’ve been an educator, I’m also a husband, parent, gamer, and lover of the beautiful game of soccer. I also enjoy traveling, being outside and consider myself a lifelong learner. If I never had to work another day in my life, these things would be my main focus during the remaining time I have on Earth.

With that in mind, my wife and I began a journey a few years ago pursuing FIRE, which is Financial Independence / Retire Early. We wanted to get to a place where if we wanted to retire, we’d have the financial means to do so without being dependent on a job for our livelihoods. In turn, we can prioritize our time in the ways that we see fit. Whether that be spending time with family, exploring and traveling, volunteering, or pursuing hobbies, FIRE is something that we constantly have in the back of our minds. For the sake of this article, I’m going to write from the assumption that you’re aware of FIRE and its general principles. But for context, FIRE involves these very basic guidelines:

1. Avoid debt.
2. Set a budget and spend less than what you make.
3. Invest the remainder, preferably in low-cost index funds rather than mutual funds or individual stocks.
4. Stay the course and don’t let market fluctuations test your resolve.

Rather than prattle on about what I think FIRE is, I will refer you to some fantastic resources that are both entertaining and packed with tons of great learning materials. For an audio format, the Choose FI podcast is wonderful, perfect for commutes or road trips. Mr. Money Mustache is by far one of the most popular bloggers on the topic and has a great sense of humor. If you’re more of a socialite / forum user / redditor, I’d point you to the /r/financialindependence subreddit. If it’s a good old-fashioned book you’re after, Your Money or Your Life, The Simple Path to Wealth and The Bogleheads’ Guide to Investing are both great reads (not affiliate links!). These are all great ways to learn more about the FIRE movement. I hope you take the time to use some of these resources because they can be truly empowering in your own life. So, how does this all line up with my interest in gaming? 

Gaming and Its Meaning to Me.

From a very young age, video games have been a part of my life. I love the creativeness that games bring. I really enjoy a great story unfolding in front of me, delighting my senses. Exploring the imaginative world of an action game or an RPG is fun. The satisfaction of completing a gripping, suspenseful game is a great feeling. I love to support the smaller studios that bring new innovative gameplay and unique aesthetics to the field. I like the technological innovations that new systems bring. I love revisiting games from my childhood on older systems. If it hasn’t been stated enough, there’s just something wonderful about video games that I deeply appreciate. Some of my favorite series include: The Legend of Zelda, Sonic the Hedgehog, The original Halo trilogy, Animal Crossing, and the Team Ico games (Ico, Shadow of the Colossus, The Last Guardian). I think it’s a hobby that often brings people together, too. Game nights hanging out on the couch with friends is still a pastime that is important to me, though it happens less frequently as I get older.

Yet, I take issue with a few things in the current state of the gaming industry, several of which I think are counterproductive to the goals of FIRE. I’d say the current climate is focused on consumption. It vies for your precious hard-earned dollars. Be it systems, games, or the dreaded in-game purchases, you can drop a fortune on gaming without giving it much thought. There’s the nonsense about games needing day one patches to fix issues that should’ve been resolved before hitting the market. Practices like this make me feel the money I put in isn’t providing a comparative amount of value. I also think it’s horrible that some companies take advantage of their employees, forcing them to work extremely long hours during crunch time before a game’s scheduled release date. However, even with my minor gripes about the industry, I still show my love of video games by purposely not supporting studios and companies whose practices are abusing consumers’ trust. To that I say: vote with your wallet.

Personally, I used to frequently buy games on release day or shortly after, paying the full retail price for games. Sometimes carelessly and without much mindfulness, I could easily drop a few hundred dollars on games I was excited to play. When the new gaming systems came out, I’d eagerly pick one up, seldom waiting for a price drop or Black Friday deal. These were moments in my early twenties where living in the moment was my focus. Amassing a huge collection of games as quickly as possible seemed exciting. I allowed my spending to get the best of me, and setting a budget often wasn’t something in the back of my mind. Sometimes, I think I was operating from my own fear of missing out. There were times I’d lose my sense of time to the point of affecting my overall wellness. I learned I needed to set limits on how frequently I played. It took a while, but I needed to establish some healthier habits involving my time and money.

Financial Independence with a Gaming Approach.

Do we as gamers not seek to master the games we play? Of course we do — we look for secrets, tips, and tricks to gain an advantage against the AI or another player. We’re constantly seeking more efficient ways to solve problems or puzzles, or easier solutions to the boss we’ve been stuck on. We like those achievements and trophies that pop up along the way. We might also consult a guide or FAQ when we get stuck. Thinking about my finances as a video game, I considered some critical details about my financial life. I had five figures of student loan debt after graduating in 2008. Over a span of five years, I set a goal, timeline and budget to aggressively pay off my student loans and get out of debt. This is where Dave Ramsey’s Budgeting Forms and Debt Snowball was really influential. My key takeaways here were setting a budget, developing strong habits of self-discipline around spending, and keeping my goals in mind. By November 2013, just shy of five years after graduating from university, I became debt free. Shortly after, my wife and I had to buy a new car just before our wedding. We did take on a small car loan but didn’t incur debt for our wedding or honeymoon. We used the same approach as we did with my student loans to pay off our car quickly. In full transparency, we were each making around $30,000 a year in our mid to late twenties.

Soon after, still newlyweds and newly debt-free, we realized there was much to be learned about the world of retirement savings. It’s amazing we’re never given much of a personal finance education, especially considering how much of the investing world tends to be laden with jargon and confusing details. Dave Ramsey’s expertise, though excellent guidance for paying off student loan debt, wasn’t necessarily geared toward FIRE. I read a few introductory books like The Millionaire Next Door and The Richest Man in Babylon (both great for philosophy and principles), but the most influential and step-by-step resource book on retirement investing proved to be The Bogleheads’ Guide to Investing. This ignited our thirst for more knowledge and brought us to other resources like the ChooseFI podcast, Mr. Money Mustache, Paula Pant’s Afford Anything, Go Curry Cracker, and more. It really started to feel like there was a lot of knowledge here that we could apply and fine tune in our lives. From the many resources above and fellow people within the FI community pursuing the same goal, it felt like we were tapping into a strategy guide toward a financially independent future.

From the insights gained, we really honed our strategy over the next few years. We could have easily chosen to indulge more with our hobbies (me – gaming, my wife – photography), traveling, eating out, or purchasing other consumer goods. All of the money I had been throwing at loans for the past five years wasn’t allocated to anything now. This is where the FIRE journey truly began, and how I started to look at this like a video game. We scrutinized our budgets and cut a lot of the excess. We adopted an aggressive strategy towards our retirement savings. This entailed how much we wanted to invest each year and investing that money into low-cost index funds as opposed to actively managed mutual funds. In many ways, our pursuit of FIRE felt like taking a complex problem or puzzle, not unlike one you would find in a video game, and applying strategies to reach our goals. However, real life doesn’t necessarily mirror the speed of progression you find in a video game. Real life moves far more slowly, more incrementally. It can be hard to see your own progress and easy to lose sight of the big picture, so it’s important to find tools that help you keep track. Personally, I get a lot of enjoyment out of tracking performance and progress, usually through our budgets, spreadsheets, and graphs. With our goals clearly defined and practices in place to help us reach a financially independent future, I wanted to examine my gaming hobby and wondered if I could apply similar strategies.

Applying a Financial Independence mindset to Gaming.

Here’s how I’ve applied a FIRE mindset to gaming. I set specific goals for spending and firmly stick to my budget. The habits I’ve built around delayed gratification and avoiding impulse purchases have been key to my success. I have found I enjoy gaming more when I am selective about what I purchase. I usually skip release day; but if there’s a game or two I buy at full price, I do it through Gamer’s Club Unlocked (RIP, the program has since been discontinued by Best Buy), which offers a 20% discount. I frequently seek out and wait for deals, like the Summer Steam Sale or Black Friday, or I simply wait until I can find a game used where it will usually be heavily discounted. I’ve learned to refurbish and resell games and gain a reasonable profit to fund my purchases. I’ve become much more cognizant about how frequently I game and how long individual sessions last. I’ve learned to be much more efficient with the time I have and be intentional about what I want to play. I think all of these strategies have become even more important because of two key factors: I’m now a stay at home parent and we are currently a single income household. Both our financial resources and our time are a bit more limited.

While being a stay-at-home parent is definitely a full-time, demanding job, it’s undoubtedly changed how I view my time. It has felt like a sabbatical from the grind of a 9 to 5 job. Even further, this experience has felt like a glimpse at life when perhaps both my wife and I are FIRE’d. I’m getting to take care of a tiny little human dependent on me for his every need, but with that I’m also getting to enjoy lots of little moments: taking him to story time, going to the park, and watching him learn and play. That’s time in his life I otherwise would’ve missed out on had I been working full-time.

I’m also enjoying this amazing opportunity to spend time in between his needs doing what I want, even if gaming is obviously taking a backseat. We’re valuing our health, exercising regularly and I’m cooking healthy meals during the week. Likely when our son begins school, I’ll jump back into the workforce and we’ll have two incomes to use to better our financial future and achieve FIRE. My point is that for these past five months, I’ve had control over my time. I’ve been able to make choices that have led to a healthier, more balanced me. So, what has gaming looked like this year, you ask?

The past several months with limited time and money has made me more appreciative of the time I do spend gaming. I’m still getting the opportunity to enjoy video games from time to time (occasionally when kiddo is napping but mainly when he is put to bed for the evening), be it visiting my local arcade down the street or firing up my Switch for an hour or so to unwind a couple evenings a week. This has been a refreshing experience because I can actually look forward to sitting down and enjoying a game with some very real finite time limits in place. In the past, gaming was a mindless activity that occupied my time and (occasionally) teetered towards the unhealthy side. In some ways I think spending my own money on games meant feeling obligated to play them, even when my enjoyment started to fade. It was a vicious cycle I don’t care to repeat. I don’t see myself going back towards overindulging; I am appreciative of the balance I’ve found and want to stick with it.

Similarly, I’ve yet to spend a single dollar of my own money this year on gaming, which is a goal I set each year and helps keep FIRE front and center. I still enjoy the games I have. In fact, I’ve beaten 9 games this year already, and only purchased 3. I have ditched the collecting aspect that sometimes goes hand in hand with gaming, playing games that have been in my backlog instead. My point is, you can enjoy gaming immensely and it doesn’t need to be an expensive hobby. It can actually be a pretty affordable source of entertainment. So if you’re pursuing FIRE, are already financially independent and/or retired, or simply trying to reel in your gaming-related spending and stick to a budget, there are plenty of ways to enjoy gaming without impacting your budget, bank account, or retirement savings.

Closing: Gaming and our Financially Independent Future.

When we achieve FIRE some time in the future, I am hopeful I’ll still be interested in video games as a hobby. When that day arrives, I plan to continue keeping a budget and finding clever ways to help keep costs on gaming to a minimum. As long as the hobby is still affordable, gaming shouldn’t be an issue. I’m looking forward to the satisfaction of completing new games, revisiting past favorites, hosting game nights, playing games with my children, and discussing them online and in person. I’m trying to keep an open mind; I might not enjoy the hobby as much as I did when I was younger, and that’s okay. 

Still, it’s exciting to picture a life where a full-time job/career isn’t occupying the majority of my week. Instead, we can explore, travel, spend time with family, play games, play soccer (c’mon knees, stay healthy!) learn new things, whatever it is we want to do. Those prospects are really the driving force for the future we want to build. To accomplish our dream of FIRE, we’ve been making some deliberate and intentional choices now. To reiterate, those include saving an aggressive percentage of our income, being frugal and budget conscious (reducing our cost of living), and avoiding impulsive spending that could set us back from our goals. It’s a constant exercise in delaying gratification and being disciplined about how we spend our money. I’ve found a lot of enjoyment and challenge in my very own Tightwad Gaming side-quest. Exploring ways, tips, and tricks or hacks to make my gaming hobby affordable helps me keep FIRE in mind while also not feeling like I’m living a life of squalor or deprivation.

Overall, I have to say the path to FIRE has been a great adventure so far. I’m sure there will be lots of great lessons along the way and wonderful people we can learn from and swap stories with. I’ve shared a lot about our journey, but would love to hear your own thoughts. Are you pursuing FIRE? Are you also a gamer? Had a question to ask? I’d love to hear from you!