Three things that have helped shape your financial independence

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3. I never got into cars/trucks

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I don't own a home so I can't comment on the first 2, but I totally agree with this. I still drive a 2004 mazda 3 I got in high school. No note. And plan on driving it for a few more years. Despite making a good salary I refuse to see the need to buy a new vehicle since I'm in it for maybe 30 minutes a day. You wouldn't believe how much this blows my friends and families minds. They just don't get it. It gets brought up nearly every time I see them in some kind of joke about me driving an old car.

Agreed. Driving a 2005 F150. With me working offshore, i just cant justify paying a note on a new truck that will spend half the year sitting in a dusty parking lot.

Definitely agree with 1. I see so many people go 30 years on a note that leaves them eating cereal for supper everynight. To each their own I guess

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1. I bought significantly less house than I qualified for/could afford.

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Agree 100%. Did the same.

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2. I bought said home in a great school district.

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Agree, but not close to #1 in relative impact for me, and probably depends on where you live. I live in a good school district, but I still see a large value in a Catholic education. It's not an elitist ideal here, because there are many more prestigious private schools than the local Catholic school.

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3. I never got into cars/trucks.

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There are plenty of expensive hobbies, but I don't think that was your point. A great rule of thumb is 10 years or 200k miles out of each vehicle. We've followed that and its served us well enough to positions us to purchase with cash.

1. No student debt (thanks to great parents)
2. Busted my arse and got into the right profession
3. Not living beyond my means

This board is full of people who will say "drive that truck until it dies!!! Who cares that the AC is out and it pulls to the left on the interstate".

Overall, I disagree with that sentiment. We work hard so that we can create security and provide for ourselves and our families at a certain standard of living. There is nothing wrong with spending money (which is what an outsider to the MTB would perceive).

Financial independence is all about spending money within your means. If you love to travel, a nice house, cars, boats, whatever it is...good for you. Prioritize those enjoyments and do not overextend yourself.

If early retirement is your #1 goal, then that is great. Invest and push to retire at 35.

The typical problem that emerges in these threads is the group think around owning anything nice or enjoying the fruits of labor. I am not pointing fingers but it happens in every single one of these threads.

For example, I drive a very nice car because it was a dream of mine from the time I was a little kid. I always wanted to own a luxury car when I got older, but only if I could afford it. If I got in a financial bind, the car is the first thing to go (I am not attached to it, but I do like it). I travel a lot and have no problem eating at restaurants. I live in a nice apartment and save around 30-40% of my take home pay each month. I could bump that savings rate up a decent bit if I got a beater car and lived in a cheaper apartment, but I see that as unnecessary.

I did all three of the OPs things as well as not having any student loan debt. I also went back and got my Masters in a Finance related field which has helped tremendously. Here are my 6 things:

1. My wife and I bought a 1650 square foot house in Franklin, TN when we were 24 years old. We stayed in it 6 years, through the market crash. It never really depreciated it was in such a good school district and was an all brick home. We did some cosmetic stuff to it and generally just cleaned it up from the previous owners. We sold it for $70k more than we paid for it in 2004. This allowed us to buy a much bigger house in a better school district that had come down a little after the housing crash by putting a good chunk down.

2. We have both always saved roughly 10% of into our 401ks since we started working.

3. We buy reasonable cars, pay them off in 4 years, and drive them for 11-12 years before getting new ones.

4. Generally have zero credit card debt

5. Recently bought pretty decent condos that are renting out for $450 each more than what the note is on them. And they have appreciated since I bought them last year. I can sell these at any time for a profit or hold them and make some additional money each year. My plan is to hold on to them until the kids get to college and either sell them to pay for college or if they get scholarships, retire early or buy a beach house. In the meantime, I can either save this money, invest, or pay down the mortgage on my house.

6. We just in general don't buy a lot stuff. We are not into having the latest greatest gadgets or designer clothes so we don't spend money on that type of stuff.

1. Completed MBA/MHA. Don't laugh. Bio students are financial retards straight out of undergrad. Early graduate finance classes were life changing for me.

2. Had credit in my name from an early age.

3. Married Sugarmomma.

I literally have to tell the wife to go buy new clothes. Honestly, neither one of even has time to spend a bunch of money buying stuff which helps.

1. I am lucky to be good at math

2. My grandfather taught me the value of compound interest and instilled an interest in investment at a young age

3. I walked backwards into a profession that pays 6 figures

As someone that feels like they're new to gaining financial independence I'll list some things:

1. Seen exactly how NOT to treat money from watching my mother make 6 figures a year and knowing she'll work until the day she dies because she has no savings. But she has a movie collection the size of a small warehouse and has a nice new shiny car/truck every couple of years.

2. Learned how to budget- My ex and I used to live in a house with a $650 mortgage. We made > 80k a year between the 2 of us but never seemed to have money. When I got divorced, I was terrified about how I could afford to live on my own. In the past 15 months I've finished paying off my student loans (~8k) and I'm a few paychecks away from having saved enough to pay off the car (~11k). I had to refinance the car a year ago (due to the divorce) for 36 months, and will have it paid off in roughly 1 year from the time I refinanced. (4 years in total instead of 6).

3. Learned from my mistakes- When I was 22-ish I got evicted from my apartment because I couldn't afford the rent anymore. Had around 3k credit card debt and went out all the time. It was a disaster for my finances and my credit in general. I had around a 550 credit score back then. I now pay 90% of everything I have with a credit card, but pay it off every couple of weeks or so so as to take advantage of the benefits.

Things are so much better for me now, financially, but mainly from a mental standpoint. By July, I will be debt free...completely. Now I have to start focusing on the future. My company doesn't have a 401k match, so I've never bothered to set one up...I figured I'd work on using that extra money to just pay down my debt, but now that I've essentially done that, I need to learn how to save for my future.