The Bermuda Triangle of Personal Finance
What are your Big 3?
I’m not talking about your goals, favorite bands, movies, or personality traits.
I’m talking about your three biggest expenses.
I was listening to a podcast yesterday, and the guest was talking about reaching FIRE sooner rather than later. One of the primary ways he pulled it off was by avoiding what’s commonly called “lifestyle inflation.”
He literally kept his living expenses nearly equal to when he left college. Five years later. Free.
In other words, he didn’t let his spending automatically rise every time his income increased.
A lot of people do the opposite.
They graduate college, land a decent-paying job, and within six months they’ve signed a lease on a luxury apartment that costs $1,000 more per month than needed, financed a brand-new car with a $700 payment, and convinced themselves that DoorDash is a necessity.
The podcast guest said he reached what he called “Cash Flow FIRE” much earlier than most people.
I liked that term.
It’s basically what I’ve referred to before as the crossover point—the moment your assets generate enough income to cover your living expenses.
Freedom starts getting real at that point.
This conversation reminded me of something Early Retirement Extreme was talking about clear back around 2010:
Housing. Transportation. Food.
The Big 3.
And, it’s worth revisiting because those three categories can quietly determine the entire trajectory of your financial life.
What are your big 3?
When I looked back at my own 2025 spending, my personal Big 3 weren’t exactly what the podcast guest—or the FIRE blogs—would predict.
Mine were:
Health insurance
Housing (including utilities)
Federal taxes
Food came in fourth.
Transportation was fifth.
Which is kind of fascinating when you think about it.
Why?
Because part of how I became FIRE was by systematically attacking the traditional Big 3 over a long period of time.
Housing and transportation, especially.
And the way I did that really came down to three things:
Awareness and tracking
Debt elimination
Delayed gratification
Those became my real Big 3.
First, I genuinely do not believe I would have reached FIRE if I hadn’t started tracking my expenses daily.
That was foundational.
And interestingly, tracking didn’t just help me understand where the money was going—it actually changed my behavior psychologically.
When you know every dollar that comes in and every dollar that goes out is going to be recorded later that day, you naturally start asking yourself:
“Do I actually want this?”
I still do this now.
Every day.
Awareness changes behavior.
Second, I slowly came to understand the true cost of debt.
And I don’t just mean mathematically.
I mean existentially.
Debt reduces freedom.
Sometimes dramatically.
Credit card debt is the easiest example because the interest rates are so high. If your card charges 18% interest and your investments return 8%, you are voluntarily swimming upstream financially with ankle weights on.
Car payments are trickier because reliable, independent transportation is often necessary.
But part of the reason transportation only ranked fifth in my expenses last year is because I drive a 12-year-old car that I maintain carefully and fully expect to last many more years.
Could I buy something newer?
Sure.
Will I eventually?
Probably.
But there’s an enormous financial difference between “I can” and “I need.”
Housing is the giant one, though.
The reason my housing costs are second instead of first is because I paid off my mortgage before leaving the corporate workforce.
That was one of the smartest financial decisions I ever made.
People often underestimate how expensive long-term debt really is because they focus on the monthly payment instead of the total cost.
Take a $350,000 mortgage at 5%.
The payment may feel manageable.
But over 30 years?
You’re not paying $350,000.
You’re paying something closer to $540,000.
That’s a very different reality.
And refinancing—while in a few instances a smart right move—typically it is not, because it also resets the amortization clock, meaning you start back in the heavy-interest years again. That first year, 80% of the expense goes to paying off the new interest amortization.
Ouch.
People often conflate the cost of housing or transportation with the cost of debt itself.
Those are not always the same thing.
Debt amplifies costs.
And it quietly limits optionality.
Now, I should say this clearly:
I’m not anti-mortgage.
I’m not anti-car loan.
Sometimes debt is practical, useful, or even necessary.
But, watch your step, carefully.
I think people dramatically underestimate the long tail of financial obligations.
Because “debt” isn’t only money owed to a bank.
A subscription can function like debt.
A storage unit can function like debt.
A boat can become a floating debt machine.
An RV can quietly evolve into a very expensive hobby that mostly sits parked while you make payments, pay insurance, buy gas, and maintain it.
Almost everything we bring into our lives carries hidden carrying costs.
Financial.
Mental.
Energetic.
And over time, people can slowly construct a lifestyle they thought they wanted, but internally begins to feel burdensome.
That’s the Bermuda Triangle part.
The money comes in.
The money goes out.
And somehow the feeling of freedom never arrives.
So yes, if you want to get serious about FIRE—or honestly, just about having more control over your life—it’s probably worth paying close attention to your Big 3 expenses.
But I’d also encourage you to focus on what became my Big 3:
Track your spending.
Eliminate debt, wherever and whenever possible.
And practice delayed gratification.
Because those three together can completely change the trajectory of your life over time, in a relatively short period of time.
Even if it doesn’t feel exciting in the moment.