<prompt> Human: It seems to me that the most basic understanding of personal finance comes down to balancing todays wantsneeds budget with plans to be free FIRE. Over the past year and change, this sub has encouraged me to get rid of credit card debt, grow an e-fund, create a budget and throw extra money at student loan debt instead of splurging on other things. Its just an interesting way to look at things. On one hand, my wife and I are pretty young so we do want to within reason spend money to have fun and enjoy life. On the other hand, we both dislike working for the man and love the idea of early retirement. Do others on this sub have a similar outlook? I dont really have a point, just wanted to share my thoughts and see what people think.Edit: Thanks for the discussion all, was interesting to see everyones perspective!  <response>: I sacrifice now for the future. Why? Because my SO and I are incredibly healthy and as he pulls up on forty, hes showing no signs of slowing down. We dont smoke anything, we barely drink, we calorie count and spend at least an hour a day being physically active, not including our full time active jobs. If we die before 80, itll be because of a freak accident.So that means one big thing: its worth sacrificing now because we have so much later left to use. At our current rate, we could have more than fifty years left to enjoy and were still traveling plenty, convention hopping and living in a house we own in the meantime. Fitness is a core tenet of my personal finances. 