I’m pretty sure that I have an unhealthy obsession with money. You’re probably obsessed with money too.  This obsession snuck up on me disguised as a goal to get my financial act together. A wolf in sheep’s clothing.

OBSESSED WITH MONEY

The odd part is that I don’t feel like I’m obsessed with making or saving money, although all of the evidence says otherwise (Hello! I’ve got 2.5 personal finance blogs and four personal finance twitter accounts).

I wouldn’t call it an an all-consuming obsession, but I think about the stuff way too much.  If balance is required in all things, I’m out of balance.

FINANCIAL PYROMANIAC

I blame the obsession on FIRE. Discovering this mathmagical retirement calculation was a HUGE epiphany moment for me

Since that moment I’ve been on a perpetual hunt to:

• Cut unnecessary expenses
• Negotiate my bills lower
• Boost my income
• Optimized my tax burden
• Look for side hustles
• Hoard cash

I’m on a never-ending quest to make my finances as efficient as possible, all in the name of reaching financial independence and retiring early.

I’m not just pursuing FIRE, I’ve become a FIromaniac that’s obsessed with money and I can’t stop thinking about and working on achieving financial independence as soon as possible.

Fi·ro·ma·ni·ac /ˌfīrōˈmānēˌak/ noun A person with an unhealthy obsession with the FIRE movement is a firomaniac.

• A person suffering from an obsession with financial independence and early retirement
• “Ty can’t stop thinking about the FIRE movement and has become firomaniac”
• synonym: plutomania

DOESN’T NEED TO BE THIS WAY

The sad thing is that it doesn’t need to be this way. Personal finance is easy. Want to know how to drastically and quickly improve your financial situation? Here you go:

1. Spend less money than you earn
2. Eliminate, then avoid debt
3. Invest the difference in low cost index funds
4. Avoid lifestyle inflation

That’s it.  Want to become financially independent and retire early?  That’s simple as well:

1. Save 25 times your annual expenses; invest this in index funds
2. Live off 4% of what your index fund portfolio generates

That’s it. Personal finance is easy.  I should have taken this info, got my financial act together, then moved on to another part of my life that needed work. But so far I’ve been unable to do so.

WHAT’S NEXT?

I wish I had a solution to this problem, but I don’t.  At least I’m aware of it and can try to regain balance.  I’m publishing this blog post today for a couple of reasons:

1. To admit to myself that I’ve become a FIromaniac
2. To provide a warning to readers that becoming a financial FIromaniac is dangerously easy

Chime in!

Are you obsessed with money?  Have you crossed the line and become a FIromaniac?  Have you ever found yourself out of balance?  If so, what have you done (or are you doing) to re-center yourself?