“When one door closes,another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.” – Alexander Graham Bell
When you are on the path to Financial Independence, Retire Early (FIRE) you need to be looking for every edge. This way of thinking allows FIRE seekers to uncover opportunities for savings and growth in everyday activities. Whether it be house or travel hacking, biking over driving, or making delicious home-cooked meals for pennies on the dollar, the FIRE lifestyle is centered around creative thinking for everyday issues. Housing, transportation and food are predictable everyday facts of life.
However, one facet of everyday life is not so predictable:
Adversity
How can FIRE thinking take advantage of that?
We’ve all heard the phrase “Keeping up with the Joneses”. That is the arms race of measuring one’s worth by comparing one’s possessions and status with one’s peers. It means acquiring the biggest, the best, the newest, and the most expensive things. You look down the street and see the family with the new car and you set your sights to figuring out how you can buy one yourself. A friend gets a new job or promotion and you feel the pressure to improve your own career standing. You have to be the first among your friends to buy the newest iPhone model. It is an insatiable pursuit of more and better. If you look around, it appears that we are surrounded by the Joneses. Do we have to keep up with the Joneses? Is there another way?
We’ve reached the halfway point of 2018 and I thought it would informative to check in on our monthly spending thus far. 
Welp, it seems like Spring lasted about 2 days. In