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How I Retired at 53: FIRE Books, Blogs & Podcasts That Actually Worked - FIRE 🔥
23
items Books, blogs, and podcasts that shaped my thinking on financial independence. Sharing in case they help you too.
📚💰 Financial freedom didn’t happen by accident, it came from years of reading, listening, and slowly changing how I think about money....
Sections
4
Books
Blogs
Podcasts
Documentaries
Books
A great start to your FIRE journey 🔥
Avoid debt, spend less than you earn, invest the rest, mainly via low-cost index funds.
The Simple Path to Wealth
The framework for building small, consistent habits applies directly to money and automating savings, tracking spending, showing up daily for a side business.
Atomic Habits: Tiny Changes, Remarkable Results by James Clear
A 1950s classic on ambitious thinking and pushing past self-imposed limits focuses on mindset over tactics.
The Magic of Thinking Big by David J. Schwartz
Upends the image of what wealth looks like as most self-made millionaires live well below their means and prioritise saving over flashy spending.
The Millionaire Next Door: Surprising Secrets
A collection of his best
essays on simplifying life, decluttering, and building better habits. Less finance-specific, more the mindset that supports financial independence: needing less, living intentionally.
Handbook for Life: 52 Tips for Happiness and Productivity
How I actually get through most of these books. Audiobooks fit round dog walks, driving, and packing orders far more easily than sitting down with a physical copy. Worth a mention as the practical way to work through this list.
Audible
A personal account of Rieckens and his family’s move toward financial independence after discovering the FIRE movement, written alongside the documentary of the same name. Good for seeing the emotional and relationship side of a big financial pivot, ...
Playing with FIRE: Financial Independence
Blogs
Sharp, often blunt essays on frugality, early retirement, and rethinking what you actually need to be happy.
Sustainable FIlosophy with Mr. Money Mustache | Pete Adeney | 073
A real-world, numbers-first account of one couple’s journey to financial independence and early retirement, useful for seeing the actual figures behind the FI philosophy rather than just theory.
1500 Days to Freedom - Think different and escape the rat race.
One of the longest-running personal finance blogs, covering the basics of budgeting, saving, and debt repayment in plain, practical terms.
J.D. Roth, Author at Get Rich Slowly
Leo Babauta’s long-running blog on simplicity, frugality, and habit change, still active.
Welcome to Zen Habits - Zen Habits Website
Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus write on simple living, decluttering, and what actually adds value to life. Less finance-specific, more the philosophy that makes frugality feel like a choice rather than a sacrifice.
The Minimalists
Chronicles Elizabeth Willard Thames and her family’s move from city life to a homestead in Vermont in pursuit of financial independence; strong on the trade-offs between frugality and lifestyle choices.
Frugalwoods
One of the more detailed FI blogs on tax optimisation and geographic arbitrage, written from the perspective of a family who achieved FI and now travel full-time.
Go Curry Cracker!
Built around the idea that you can afford anything, just not everything; covers real estate investing, mindful spending, and intentional trade-offs.
Podcast - Afford Anything®
Podcasts
Interview-style podcast on practical
FIRE strategies, with real people's stories of reaching financial independence. Brad and Jonathon’s enthusiasm is catching! Start from the beginning.
ChooseFI
Curated readings of top personal development blog posts, narrated daily.
Optimal Living Daily - Personal Development and Self-Improvement
The finance-focused sister show of Optimal Living Daily narrated articles from top money blogs.
Optimal Finance Daily - Financial Independence and Money Advice
Leo Babauta's long-running blog on
simplicity, frugality, and habit change, still active.
Welcome to Zen Habits - Zen Habits Website
Deep-dive, often technical episodes on tax optimisation, early retirement strategy, and interviews with notable figures in the FI community.
A good next step once you want to go beyond the basics into the finer details of the numbers.
Mad Fientist
Millburn and Nicodemus talk simple living, relationships, and what “enough” actually means, often with a wry, conversational tone.
The Minimalists Podcast
Documentaries
Two documentaries following Millburn and Nicodemus’s own journey away from corporate consumerism, plus interviews with others living more intentionally.
Watch The Minimalists: Less Is Now
Follows Rieckens and his family as they overhaul their spending and pursue financial independence, with input from well-known FIRE community figures along the way. A good companion to the book of the same name.
Playing with FIRE: The Documentary (2019)