020 | The Entry Level Middle Class Lifestyle is a tool that you can use to supercharge your path to FI. Jonathan and Brad go through their expenses one line item at a time. Then they start the conversation about a FI approach to insurance, with an emphasis on life insurance In Today’s Podcast we cover: What Jonathan and Brad’s lifestyle and budget look like. We go in-depth into our actual spending and budget line items What have we talked about previously? How to crush your food budget, how to get fit while being frugal, basics of investing, how to save 75% of your income, tax loss and tax gain harvesting, travel rewards and the unfair advantage for teachers. Housing prices and mortgages for Brad and Jonathan Jonathan was looking for an older neighborhood with a generational shift going on with kids coming in Brad’s net cost per month is under $800 per month on his house in a great school district in the Richmond-metro area How to maximize insurance: be sure to shop around and get quotes and don’t be complacent. Also determine realistically how much coverage you need and don’t just follow the advice of your agent.  Increase your deductible as much as possible to save money. Life insurance: Get term life insurance until you don’t need the insurance any longer (when you’re at Financial Independence). The insurance agent will always attempt you to buy whole life insurance; in the vast majority of cases term life is the best possible option. Once you’re at FI, you can self-insure since you don’t need the lump sum Car expenses: Jonathan mentioned the forthcoming ‘true cost of car ownership’ article Jonathan does currently have a car payment Brad has not had a car payment on either car for well over 5 years Cell phones: Jonathan has Project FI and Brad has Republic Wireless By being smart about your cell phone you should easily be able to save $100 per month “Easy choices, hard life; hard choices, easy life” Cable bills and internet packages from Comcast and Verizon Jonathan buys an internet-only package from Verizon What happens when you give up screen time entirely? Talk, play board games, etc. Gym memberships: Brad pays $20 a month for Crunch fitness. Jonathan does not have a membership any longer.  He paid $1,000 to build a top-notch home gym for a one-time cost Brad now does Brazilian Jiu Jitsu through Gracie University and the free Gracie Garages Take a step back and see what you can work on long-term to get better at life? Keep track of your food and alcohol budget and it will help you cut down Where do we spend that might be “frivolous” but where we get a lot of value? Financial independence is not deprivation. It is about being intentional