My name is Scott and welcome to Scott on Fire: my thoughts on money, philosophy, and living a good life.
This site is a collection of the lessons I’ve learned in life, spread across my philosophy of action, The Third Journey, and my philosophy of character, The Path of the Spiral. I haved used these principles throughout my life to create better habits, improve my relationship with money and work, and create a life I don’t need to retire from.
I share my thoughts through informational essays, personal blogs, and mythical discourses. Occasionally, I record video content on my YouTube channel. Wherever you are on your own journey, I hope my content helps you live a better life.
Early Years — The First Journey
Goal setting and learning new skills always interested me. I was lucky enough to be exposed to music, martial arts, and business operations from a young age. I always enjoyed saving money, and thought it was better to use it to buy bigger things in the future. This habit got me a Game Boy as a kid, but it later allowed me to purchase a new car and later my first home in my mid-twenties. I was lucky to have a comfortable upbringing free of major hardship, for which I am extremely grateful.
I learned early on that if you want something in life, you have to work for it. And if you want something big, working doesn’t cut it; you have to save, too. My parents taught me that working hard was an essential part of life. Get a job, buy what you need (and a little of what you want), and save the rest for retirement.
But I became disillusioned with the idea of working all my life. Everyone I saw trading their time for money in a way they hated was miserable. I knew there had to be another way. And eventually, I found it.
Catching Fire — The Second Journey
A few years ago, I learned about the Financial Independence Retire Early (or FIRE) Movement. The basic principle of FIRE is that if a person saves enough money and invests it, they can theoretically earn enough passive income that they never need to work again. Learning about FIRE reframed my relationship with money, and helped me realise that a life without full-time work is possible.
Instead of using money to buy random things, I was able to give my money a purpose. Every dollar would bring me closer to a work-optional life. My money allowed me to buy back my time and attention- my most precious resources.
But FIRE wasn’t without its downsides. I began to chase the work that paid the most money, as the only way to happiness was through money. In my attempts to escape work I began to idolise it, preventing me from living a life I loved in the present. I was so focused on escaping work entirely that I didn’t realise I became intertwined with out, with total career burnout happening soon after.
Life-Work Mastery — The Third Journey
In September 2023, I left my full-time consulting career and six figure salary behind. I found that through strategic tax management, investment income, and a small amount of savings, I could both meet my needs and invest for the future. For the first time in my life, I had no commitments or responsibilities; I was free.
The first few months were about experimenting and building habits. I began taking my health and fitness seriously, habits I ignored during my career. I felt as though I was truly gaining control of my life, not just in choosing what I do, but designing how I live.
Eventually, I remembered the blog I started in 2021 and never used, and decided to start posting. That blog was this site, which now features over 100,000 words of content discussing money, meaning, and intentional lifestyle design. The bulk of that writing forms The Third Journey, my lifestyle philosophy of Saving, Investing, and Choosing Work You Love, in order to achieve mastery over and within your life.
FIRE was responsible for getting me here, but it wasn’t because I achieved full Financial Independence. It’s because I used the principles of FIRE to create a lifestyle where a risk like losing your job doesn’t destroy you. It’s about living and working within your natural cycles of work and rest.
FIRE doesn’t teach this — you do. Not from saving everything you need, but from saving enough to make your dreams a reality, and having to courage to face them.
More recently, my opinion of FIRE has changed. The principles of FIRE are essential for anyone looking to build a better relationship with money. But I believe that life is better without fully retiring. If you find work you enjoy and get paid for something that matters to you, you don’t need to save as much as you may think. You can even leverage this earlier in life to enjoy a level of freedom you may not have thought possible.
About Scott
I’m a 30-something-year-old living in Melbourne, Australia. I exited full-time employment in 2023 after an 8-year career in payroll and system administration following the principles of Slow Financial Independence. I now use my free time to share my philosophy, Choose Work I Love, and learn new things.
While I haven’t yet achieved full Financial Independence yet, I decide how work fits into my life, instead of building a life around my work.
My short-term goal is to grow my readership and personal brand, while paying the bills through my consulting business. This lifestyle allows me to save money for the future, helping me achieve my long-term goal of a work-optional lifestyle before I’m 40 years old. With less than 10 years to go, the clock is ticking fast!
If you’d like to read more from me, check out the blog page for access to all of my posts. You can follow me on X @ScottOnFire and Facebook page Scott On Fire. You can also sign up to my newsletter – The Fireside – to get even more content, delivered straight to your inbox.