To me financial freedom means not having to worry about how you are going to pay your bills as well as not having to worry about what you are going to do in an emergency situation. Some ways this can be achieved is through an emergency fund. Set money aside each pay period in a separate fund and don't touch it unless you absolutely have to, such as your car breaking down, you lose your job, or you have unexpected bills such as a hospital bill or a ticket. It does not need to be a lot of money going into this account each pay period just whatever you can afford. This could be a penny to five dollars over even more, every little bit adds up eventually. Another way to achieve financial freedom is through tracking your income and expenses. Making a spreadsheet or a list of all bills and expenses and then deciding what you could afford to do without for a while can help give financial freedom by lowering your cost of living while keeping income the same. This will help build your finances back up so you aren't living paycheck to paycheck and worrying about how you will afford to pay your bills. You can also make little changes such as eating out less and spending less on entertainment and shopping. This isn't to say get rid of these things entirely but, for instance, if you are eating out three to five times a week maybe cut it down to one or two times a week and set aside that money you would have spent on dinner on a bill or an emergency fund instead. If you are spending hundreds a month on clothes shopping maybe try selling some of the clothes you have not worn in a while online. This will help provide some extra cash that could be used to pay a bill. Achieving this in the future could also mean working more hours, getting a better paying job or finding work closer to home to cut down on the cost of gas. Working more hours is not ideal but if it's what it takes to help save up it's better to do it at least for a little while. Working even five extra hours a week can make a huge impact on finances and could be what it takes to get back on track with paying bills and unexpected expenses. Those few extra hours add up in the long run even though they might seem tedious at the time. Having financial freedom doesn't mean not having fun and completely changing your life around, all it takes is a few changes here and there to really have an impact on your budget for the better. Financial freedom to me is all about not having to worry about how you are going to pay your next bill or how you are going to afford an emergency situation.