How to Buy Freedom Without Being Rich
A roadmap to living on your own terms. Trust fund = optional.
You’ve probably heard of “f-you money”. Having enough cash to walk away from anything, anytime, without consequences.
But what if you don’t need that much to feel free? And more importantly, how?
Frick You Money
“F-you money” means you never have to work again. “Frick-you money” means you don’t have to work for a long time
Think of it like F-You money-lite.
The amount of money to be frick you money depends on a lot of factors. It all comes down to your cash runway: how long your liquid assets will last based on your monthly expenses.
The longer your cash runway, the more risk you can take to live the life you want:
Take more career risk, with high potential upside.
Go full-time with the side hustle you have conviction in.
Take a sabbatical to travel for a year.
The reason why you should even have frick you money is because it allows you to live the life you want. If you want that to be climbing the corporate ladder, taking career risks, and doing fulfilling work, you can. If you want to work (or not work) for a year internationally, you can.
“Instead of wondering when your next vacation is, maybe you should set up a life you don’t need to escape from.” — Seth Godin
Your Financial Runway
Imagine you’re a pilot with two different runways you can take off from.
Runway 1: Shortest runway in the world. Odds of you being able to take off are slim.
Runway 2: Super long. Even a penguin could fly with a runway this long.
Either of these runways could be you in your financial situation, depending on how much you save up.
Let’s say you take home $6,250/month.
Scenario 1:
All-inclusive cruises, luxury apartment, and Chipotle with double meat and guac five nights a week because you forgot cavemen invented fire 800,000 years ago. At the end of the month you have zero dollars left.
When a round of tech layoffs hit, you're sweating.
Scenario 2:
Same income. But you live in a solid, modest townhome. You plan trips in advance, crush Sam’s Club rotisserie chickens, and treat Chipotle like a reward. You bank $10K a year. Five years later, you’ve got $50K in the tank.
When layoffs hit, you’re cool as a cucumber. When a risky career opportunity risk shows up you’ve got the runway to pull the trigger.
Why Does This Matter?
I think there’s a misconception today that you can only really be happy and chase your passions when quit your 9-5 and work for yourself.
I think that a day job done right can be a great way to pursue something creative, focus on quality, and generally feel satisfaction in what you’re doing.
I’m not planning on quitting my 9-5, but I think there’s a better roadmap to living better, with respect to work and life.
The Roadmap To Frick You Money
Maximize Income: Get enough income to be middle class. This depends on life style, where you live, etc, but a general rule of thumb: you should be able to save at least 10% of your money and invest 15% with relative ease. If you’re not there, you either need get your income up. Or figure out what’s necessary expenses-wise.
Minimize Expenses: Keep your expenses low, or get them down. Once you’re making enough money—whatever that means to you—focus on getting your expenses down. Getting your expenses down is actually a double edged sword. The less you spend, the more you can save + the longer your cash runway for if your primary source of income runs dry.
Invest The Rest: Save + invest the rest. Investing is a story for another day. I wouldn’t count tax advantaged investments towards your runway, especially if you’re young, since you can’t use that money without a penalty, except for specific exceptions. But liquid savings, like cash or money market funds let you deploy that money when needed.
“Rule No. 1: Never Lose Money. Rule No. 2: Never Forget Rule No. 1.” — Warren Buffett
Create Secondary Income Streams
I know what you’re probably thinking. “But I want to say frick off to my boss, and travel the world. Is that part of the roadmap??”
It can be. But when you cut off your primary source of income (assuming you work a 9-5 like me), you either need
Cash Runway: A long cash runway to last as long as you want to be overseas.1
Secondary Income Streams: If you’ve built income outside your main job, that’s a great option for getting started.
Flexible Remote Work: The best option is most likely a flexible remote knowledge worker job in tech. Probably only possible at a startup (some corporate laptops won’t let you connect to international WiFi networks, which throws a wrench in the travel plan).
Living overseas can be a great way to get your expenses down. Whether through hostel hopping, remote work, or a bit of currency arbitrage.2
Does More Money = More Happiness?
If money equals freedom, does that mean more money equals more happiness? Not quite.
In fact, there’s research showing that once your basic needs are met, more money doesn’t do much. That’s the thesis of the Easterlin Paradox.
Easterlin Paradox
In 1974, a smart dude named Richard Easterlin became the first economist to seriously study the link between income and happiness. He found that while wealthier countries are generally happier at any given time, happiness doesn’t necessarily rise as everyone’s income grows. (link)
Why? Because we compare ourselves to others. When your income increases, it feels great—until you realize everyone else got richer too. Then the boost fades.
One explanation? We compare our income to what we think is the average standard of living. When our income goes up, we feel good until we realize everyone else got richer too. Then the happiness boost fades.
Put simply: having enough money to cover your needs does improve happiness up to a point. But once your basic needs are met, what matters most isn’t how much money you have… it’s who you compare yourself to.
If you’re making $60K and live in a homeless camp, you’re gonna feel like big man on campus. But if all your friends are investment bankers, that same $60K suddenly feels like chump change even if it’s more than enough to live a good life.
Build Your Own Baseline
Easterlin’s takeaway? It’s a testament to the adaptability of man to their present situation.
Humans are like water. We can adapt to the good and the bad.
So don’t obsess over getting richer. The goal isn’t to beat the people around you. It’s to have the flexibility to live the way you want. That’s what frick-you money gives you. You might not need as much as you think.
“Not wanting something is as good as having it.” — A Guy Who Owns Nothing And Still Somehow Has Everything
The best way I’ve found to figure that out? Start with the necessities: shelter, food, insurance, WiFi, and build up from there. You’d be surprised how little you actually need to feel happy and fulfilled.
Because the truth is that money raises your lifestyle. But it also raises the bar for what you think you need to be happy.
Don’t keep up with the Joneses. Build wealth at your own pace. Don’t get wrapped up in what people on YouTube or Reddit say they’ve made or saved. Just do you, boo.
Frick You Money Is About Freedom
Frick-you money isn’t about being rich. It’s about freedom.
When I had my first big boy job at Oracle I remember the feeling when I was living paycheck to paycheck. I also remember when I cut back on my expenses and got a sizable runway.
I felt 10 feet tall and strong as an ox. That financial cushion gave me the guts to take career risk and negotiate the life I actually wanted.
Talking about frick-you money probably won’t get me subscribers on Substack. But it’ll give you something better: inner peace.
So toss some pennies in your piggy bank. And remember: you don’t need f-you money to live well. Frick-you money will do just fine.
— Grant Varner
I have a buddy who used to be in sales at MongoDB, who saved up the cash to living abroad for 12 months. He’s kicking it in Japan right now.
My wife and I are in the early stages of figuring out how we can pull this off to temporarily live near her extended family in Cairo, Egypt.