You know what’s funny? When I first started thinking about FIRE, I was obsessed with the big numbers. How much do I need to save? What’s my target? When can I finally reach financial independence?
What I didn’t realize back then is that cutting expenses is like magic. Not the “abracadabra, here’s a rabbit” kind of magic—more like the “holy crap, I just saved 200 days on my FIRE date by canceling Netflix” kind of magic.
Let me show you what I mean.
The Subscription Trap
A few years ago, I was looking at my bank statements and I noticed something: I was paying for a lot of subscriptions. Like, a lot. Netflix, Spotify, Amazon Prime, a gym membership I never use, and some random app subscriptions I forgot about.
It wasn’t a huge amount—maybe €60-70 per month total. But then I started thinking: what if I cut all of these? How much faster could I reach FIRE?
So I built a new feature in my FireCalc tool called “Cut Subscriptions, Win Days” to find out. And the results? They blew my mind.
The Math That Will Make You Cancel Everything
Let me give you a real example. Let’s say you’re Italian like me (because, you know, I am), you have €300,000 invested, you’re saving €2,000 per month, and your monthly expenses are €2,500. With Italy’s lovely 26% tax on investment gains, your FIRE date is somewhere around 2035 with the 4% rule.
Now, let’s say you’re paying for:
- Netflix: €12/month
- Spotify: €10/month
- Amazon Prime: €5/month
- Gym membership: €40/month
- Some random apps: €15/month
That’s €82 per month in subscriptions. Not a huge amount, right? Like, it’s less than what you spend on coffee probably.
But here’s where it gets interesting. If you cut all of these subscriptions, your monthly expenses drop from €2,500 to €2,418. And because you need less money to live, you need less money to reach FIRE.
Result? You reach FIRE about 127 days earlier.
That’s more than 4 months. Just by canceling subscriptions you probably don’t even use that much.
Why This Works (The Math Behind the Magic)
The reason this works is simple: when you reduce your expenses, you need less capital to reach FIRE. The 4% rule says you need 25 times your annual expenses. So if your annual expenses are €30,000, you need €750,000. But if you cut €82/month (€984/year), your annual expenses drop to €29,016, and you only need €725,400.
That’s a difference of €24,600 less that you need to accumulate. And because you’re still saving money every month, you reach that lower target faster.
But here’s the really cool part: the impact compounds. Not just because your investments grow, but because every euro you save is a euro you don’t need to withdraw later. It’s like a double win.
Real Examples from the Tool
I’ve been playing with the new feature in my calculator, and here are some real scenarios that made me think twice about my spending:
Scenario 1: The “I Have Too Many Streaming Services” Person
- Netflix: €12
- Disney+: €9
- Amazon Prime: €5
- HBO Max: €10
- Spotify: €10
- Total: €46/month
If you have €400,000 invested, save €2,500/month, and spend €3,000/month, cutting these subscriptions saves you about 95 days on your FIRE date. That’s more than 3 months!
Scenario 2: The “I Pay for a Gym I Never Visit” Person
- Gym membership: €50/month
- Personal trainer app: €15/month
- Nutrition app: €10/month
- Total: €75/month
Same situation as above, but cutting the gym-related stuff saves you about 155 days. That’s 5 months!
Scenario 3: The “I Have Everything” Person
- All streaming services: €46
- Gym stuff: €75
- Random subscriptions: €30
- Total: €151/month
Cutting everything? About 312 days saved. That’s more than 10 months!
The Psychological Trick
Here’s what I find really interesting about this: most people think about cutting expenses in terms of “how much money am I saving?” But when you frame it as “how many days am I saving on my FIRE date?”, it becomes way more powerful.
Like, €12/month for Netflix doesn’t sound like much. But “127 days closer to freedom”? That hits different.
It’s the same reason why people get excited about compound interest—it’s not about the money, it’s about the time. And time is the one thing you can’t get back.
How to Use the Feature
I built this feature into my FireCalc tool because I wanted to see the real impact of cutting expenses. Here’s how it works:
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First, calculate your FIRE date: Fill in all the fields in the “Quick FIRE Date” section (your net worth, monthly expenses, monthly savings, and tax rate). Click “Win Your FIRE Date” to see when you’ll reach financial independence.
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Then, add your subscriptions: Scroll down to the “Cut Subscriptions, Win Days” section. Add all your monthly subscriptions—Netflix, Spotify, gym, whatever. The tool will show you the total monthly savings.
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Calculate the impact: Click “Calculate FIRE Date Savings” and see how many days (or years!) you could save by cutting those subscriptions.
The tool shows you the impact for each scenario (4% rule, 3.7% rule, 3.4% rule) so you can see the range. It’s pretty eye-opening, I have to say.
The Hard Truth
Okay, let me be honest here. I’m not saying you should cancel everything and live like a monk. Life is about balance. If Netflix brings you joy and you actually watch it, keep it. If the gym membership motivates you to work out (even if you don’t go as often as you should), maybe it’s worth it.
But here’s what I am saying: be intentional about your spending. Every subscription should earn its place. If you’re paying for something you don’t use, or something that doesn’t bring you real value, cut it. Not because €10/month is a lot of money, but because those €10/month add up to days of your life.
And days of your life are worth way more than €10.
The Bottom Line
Cutting expenses is one of the most powerful tools in your FIRE arsenal. It’s not as sexy as “invest in this hot stock” or “here’s a secret tax loophole,” but it works. And it works consistently, regardless of what the market is doing.
The best part? You have complete control over it. You can’t control the stock market. You can’t control tax rates. But you can control your expenses.
So go ahead, check your bank statements. See what you’re paying for. Use the FireCalc tool to see the real impact. And then decide: is that subscription worth 30 days of your freedom?
Because at the end of the day, that’s what FIRE is really about: buying back your time. And every euro you don’t spend is a euro you don’t need to earn, which means you’re one step closer to having all the time in the world.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to cancel that gym membership I haven’t used in 6 months. See you in 127 days!