I highly recommend living well within your means, and having simple tastes. I've never made more than $80k in a year, but rarely have I spent more than half of

I highly recommend living well within your means, and having simple tastes. I've never made more than $80k in a year, but rarely have I spent more than half of it. Most expenses are hackable. I bought the most reliable car with the most ubiquitous used part availability. It's 17 years old and has 235k miles on it. I pay $180 per year for my phone plan (unlimited talk/text and 5GB data on a Verizon MVNO). I've cut my own hair for years using a goofy tool called a Robocut. It's 4 inches long all over (I'm female). People tell me they love the layers. If you can pull enough of a cash cushion out before the beginning of the year so you can spend out of your savings, if you make or realize capital gains on $21,800 of income, you can get health insurance for <$50 with a $0 deductible and <$2k OOP max. Life doesn't actually have to be expensive. I like working in startups, so it's normal for me to be out of work for ~1 year out of every 4 or 5.