FIRE variant targeting retirement on $25K-40K/year through extreme frugality: small living spaces, no car, minimal consumption, geographic arbitrage (low cost-of-living areas or geoarbitrage abroad).

Target Numbers (4% Rule)

• $25K/year: $625K portfolio
• $30K/year: $750K portfolio
• $40K/year: $1M portfolio

Achievable 10-15 years earlier than traditional FIRE ($1.5M-2M+) for high earners saving aggressively.

Lifestyle Adjustments

• Housing: Van life, house hacking, roommates, low-cost states (Mississippi, Arkansas)
• Healthcare: Medicaid (income <138% poverty line), ACA subsidies, medical tourism
• Food: Meal prep, bulk buying, no restaurants
• Entertainment: Free (hiking, library, parks)
• Travel: Credit card points, housesitting, slow travel in Southeast Asia ($1K/month)

r/leanfire Community

Subreddit (150K+ members) shares:

• Living on $1,500/month in Thailand, Portugal, Mexico
• Minimalist studio apartments ($600/month)
• “Why do I need a car when I have a bike?”
• Single-person extreme frugality success stories

Criticism

• Healthcare fragility: One medical emergency or policy change could derail plan
• Social isolation: Friends’ lifestyles may drift apart (restaurants, travel, weddings)
• No safety margin: 4% rule assumes averages; bad sequence of returns could force return to work
• Quality of life trade-offs: Is decades of austerity worth it?

Sources:

• r/leanfire community
• “Early Retirement Extreme” (Jacob Lund Fisker, 2010)
• FIRE movement taxonomy