We Survived Because We Avoided Debt
Looking back now, I think there was only one major financial belief my husband and I fully shared:
Do not go into debt.
Everything else often felt different.
Our personalities were different.
Our cultures were different.
Our ideas about money were different.
But debt was the one line we both feared crossing.
And honestly, I think that decision saved us.
Because after deciding to build and live on a boat, life became extremely hard for several years.
Not “Instagram difficult.”
Actually difficult.
Three years of living with very little money.
Constant uncertainty.
Stress.
Children still small.
Trying to build a completely different kind of life while surviving financially at the same time.
I hated it sometimes.
There were many moments where I thought:
“Why are we living like this?”
At the time, it did not feel inspiring.
It just felt exhausting.
But looking back now, I realise something important happened during those years.
We unintentionally trained ourselves to survive on low fixed costs.
Not because we were financially wise.
Because we had no choice.
And that experience changed my understanding of money permanently.
When your fixed costs are low, small problems stay small.
When your fixed costs are high, even small problems can become emergencies.
I think many people underestimate how powerful this is.
Low fixed costs create flexibility.
Flexibility creates resilience.
Resilience creates emotional stability.
That does not mean life becomes easy.
But it becomes harder to completely collapse.
Later in life, when I experienced a brain bleed and everything suddenly changed again, I realised how important that earlier period had been.
Without knowing it, we had already built survival muscles.
We knew how to live with less.
We knew how to adapt.
We knew how to survive uncertainty.
And honestly, I think those skills are becoming more important in modern life.
Because the world feels increasingly unstable.
Expensive lifestyles can look impressive during good times.
But resilience matters most during bad times.
Now I no longer see low fixed costs as failure.
I see them as strength.
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