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When Mrs. Groovy and I lived on Long Island, we would have dinner at the Valley Stream White Castle on Valentine’s Day.
At first, we did our frugal Valentine’s Day out of necessity. For the first couple of years of our relationship, we were very mediocre at earning and managing money.
But as our incomes and financial acumen grew, we still decided to be frugal on Valentine’s Day. Why? Simply put, flouting conventionality was fun. Telling “society” to shove its greeting cards, roses, chocolates, and fixed-menu dinning at respectable restaurants made us feel like naughty little rabble-rousers. Besides, we only had White Castle belly-bombs once a year, and because our White Castle was right next to a train station, we could always count on a bounty of stealthy entertainment from a very eclectic clientele.
Fast forward to the great geoarbitrage gambit of 2006 and a dire problem soon emerged. There were (and are) no freakin’ White Castles in North Carolina. How was our tradition of giving a big giant FU to conventionality on Valentine’s Day going to continue?
No worries. North Carolina has plenty of eateries that feature cheap tasty comfort food.
For our first couple of years in Charlotte, we flouted conventionality at South 21—an eatery so renowned for cheap tasty comfort food, it merited a visit from the Godfather of Grease, Guy Fieri.
But then in 2008, we moved out to the country and South 21 was no longer a viable option. Fortunately, a Sonic was nearby to fill the void, and that chain has been our go-to eatery whenever we’ve had the desire to flout society’s dining expectations. Here’s our bill from this year’s Valentine’s Day celebration.
Simple Joys and Financial Independence
Mrs. Groovy and I never really considered ourselves special for achieving financial independence. For us, the only thing that separated us from that glorious condition was ignorance. Once we discovered the FIRE movement and digested its core teachings, applying its core teachings and building wealth was easy.
“You mean to tell us,” we chortled in disbelief, “that all we have to do to get rich is automate savings, give up Starbucks, and drive a crappy car? Count us in.”
We were easily seduced by the FIRE movement because we never needed much to make us happy. Consider the following:
- Having a mini Blizzard at Dairy Queen.
- Watching the cows and their calves grazing in our neighbor’s pasture.
- Going over to Jim and Theresa’s for card night.
- Making homemade art out of scrap metal or pallet wood.
- Lounging on the couch and watching Dark Shadows or Patty Duke on Tubi tv.
These are just some of the things that make us extremely happy—and all of them are extremely affordable.
But what if life’s simple joys didn’t bring us fulfillment? What if we needed refined experiences and look-at-me purchases to feel good about ourselves? Would we have found the FIRE movement so appealing?
I doubt it. But here’s an even bigger question. Can an appreciation for life’s simple joys be cultivated? And if it can’t—and most human beings are hardwired to lust after refined experiences and look-at-me purchases—does this then mean that the FIRE movement is destined to be little more than a freakish cult?
I shudder at the answer and weep for my fellow man.
Final Thoughts
Okay, groovy freedomist, that’s all I got. What say you? I say appreciating life’s simple joys is a superpower that is not easily cultivated. Either you’re satisfied with life’s simple joys or you’re not. And if you ain’t satisfied with life’s simple joys, financial independence isn’t likely to be something you’ll ever experience. Let me know what you think when you get a chance. Peace.
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