[morgante]

> It will never be enough for you.

That's not a good assumption to make for everyone. There are many people who do grow income without growing expenses (see the whole financial independence movement).

I spend about as much now as I did 7 years ago when I made 4x less.

[darkwater]

The issue is that for many FIRE people optimizing everything becomes THE main game. You retire and then you are constantly thinking "how could I do if XYZ happened?". It's probably better than having to write your own performance review or grind through a job you don't really enjoy, but it's still not what "live your life" is generally supposed to be.