Spending less. Spending deliberately. Living more.
Building financial freedom doesn’t mean spending as little as possible.
For us, it’s about being intentional with our money – spending less on the things that don’t matter much to us, so we have more freedom to spend on the things that do.
We’ve spent years tracking our spending, questioning where our money goes and trying to find the balance between enjoying life today and building a more financially independent future.
This is where we share what we’ve learned along the way.
What does it actually cost us to live?
We’re not trying to achieve the lowest possible monthly spending figure.
Instead, we want to understand what our life actually costs and make conscious decisions about where our money goes.
Our circumstances have changed considerably over the years – we’ve moved countries, had children, changed jobs, travelled extensively and changed our priorities.
Our spending has changed with us.
Our current spending target
£2,500 per month
That’s the approximate level of spending we’re currently aiming to stay around.
It’s not a rigid budget or a rule we have to follow. Some months will be higher and some will be lower, particularly when we’re travelling or dealing with larger one-off expenses.
The important thing is understanding why we’re spending the money.
Our Monthly Spending
We’ve been tracking our spending for years, giving us a much better picture of how the cost of our lifestyle has changed over time.
Our monthly spending archive shows the reality behind the numbers – including the months when things don’t go according to plan.
You’ll find our monthly figures, comparisons with previous years and the story behind some of the bigger changes.
Where does our money go?
Rather than obsessing over every individual purchase, we look at the bigger picture.
Our spending broadly falls into areas such as:
- Home – mortgage/rent, bills and household costs
- Food – groceries and eating out
- Transport – cars, fuel and public transport
- Family – children, activities and family expenses
- Travel – holidays and longer adventures
- Everything else – the collection of smaller expenses that inevitably add up
The categories themselves aren’t the point.
What matters is whether our spending reflects the life we actually want to live.
Spending and FIRE
Spending is one half of our financial independence journey.
The less we spend, the less we need to earn and the less money we ultimately need to become financially independent.
But there’s an important limit to that idea.
We don’t want to spend the next 20 years making ourselves miserable in pursuit of a number that promises a better life somewhere in the future.
The point of financial independence, for us, is having more choices.
That means sometimes choosing to spend money on something because it’s genuinely valuable to our family – even when it isn’t the financially optimal decision.
And sometimes choosing not to spend because we’ve realised that something simply isn’t worth the money.
We’re trying to get better at telling the difference.
The big spending decisions
Some of our most interesting financial decisions aren’t about saving a few pounds on the weekly shop.
They’re the bigger choices that can have a much greater impact on our finances and our lives.
We’ve made decisions about:
- where we live
- whether to move abroad
- cars and transport
- housing
- travel
- having children
- education
- work and lifestyle
- how much is enough
These decisions often involve a trade-off between money, time, freedom and happiness.
That’s much more interesting to us than simply finding another way to cut £10 from the grocery bill.
Spending on experiences
Travel is a particularly good example of how our approach to spending has evolved.
We’re pursuing financial independence, but we’re also a family who loves exploring the world.
In January 2027, we’re taking our family to Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore for six weeks.
We could have decided to wait until we’re financially independent.
Instead, we’re choosing to spend the money now because we believe the experience will be valuable to our family.
We’ll be tracking what the trip actually costs – and whether we think it was worth it.
Because that’s ultimately what we’re trying to work out:
What is worth spending money on?
The goal isn’t to spend less
It’s to need less.
There’s a subtle difference.
We’re not interested in deprivation or being frugal for the sake of it.
We’re interested in creating a life where we don’t need to spend huge amounts of money to be happy.
The result is that we can save and invest a significant proportion of our income while still spending money on the people, experiences and things that matter to us.
That’s our version of A Way to Less.
Less stuff. Less unnecessary spending. Less dependence on work.
And, hopefully, more freedom.
Explore more
Monthly Spending
See what our life actually costs, month by month.
FIRE Journey
Follow our progress towards financial independence.
Travel
See how travel fits into our approach to money and lifestyle.
Our Story
Find out how we got here – and why we started questioning the conventional path.