4.5 - Don't save on the essentials

This is among the most expensive mistakes you can make: saving money on the things that determine your quality of life and your long-term health.

Food, especially. The lowest-cost food is usually the worst food, and the worst food is one of the highest long-term costs you'll pay (see Part 1 on well-being). Spending more on good food is not indulgence. It's the most direct investment in your future health, energy, focus, and longevity that you have. Pay for it.

Same goes for:

• Sleep (a good mattress, blackout curtains, a quiet bedroom).

• Tools you use every day (a good chair, a good knife, good shoes, a good laptop).

• Health (do whatever is needed to keep yourself healthy).

• The basics of a comfortable home (heat, light, water, cleanliness, calm).

The principle: spend without flinching on the things that materially affect your daily existence and your long-term well-being. Save aggressively on things that don't.

This is the abundance mindset in practical form. You're not denying yourself the essentials to feel virtuous about saving. You're investing in the parts of your life that compound.