Never Retire: Spending With Pressure — Why I Raise the Stakes on Purpose

It’s not consumption. It’s a strategy to stay sharp.

Spending with Pressure

Most people are taught to spend only after the money is in the bank. Save first, then spend. Anything else looks reckless.

But I’ve learned there’s another way: Sometimes you deliberately raise the stakes and that spending creates the pressure that keeps you sharp.

This isn’t about status spending. I don’t buy things to look successful or fill space with stuff I don’t need. It’s about deliberate choices that create just enough pressure to keep me engaged.

When we moved to Spain, I thought rent would be around €1,000 a month. Instead, we pay €1,500—and that’s probably a small deal because housing prices in Valencia continue to rise.

The reality today: rent for a similar place lands between €1,550 and €1,750.

Purchasing has moved roughly in lockstep. Apartment prices in Valencia have jumped about 11% in a year, and in the city up to 15%, averaging around €2,514 per square meter. That means a modest 70 m² flat (about 750 square feet) now runs roughly €176,000, while a 90 m² place can push €225,000–€230,000. And we’re talking citywide here.

In two of Valencia’s more popular neighborhoods, it looks like this—

In Russafa, according to Engel & Völkers data for 2025, apartments now average €3,699 per square meter. That works out to about €259,000 for a 70 m² flat and €333,000 for a 90 m².

In Ciutat Vella, the Old City, Idealista listings report an average of €4,786/m² — about €335,000 for 70 m² and €431,000 for 90 m².

And even these numbers, especially in Russafa, feel low compared to what you actually find when you walk the streets. That said—the plan remains to buy an apartment here. It’s doable, but likely on just a different chronological and strategic timeline.

For context, in Madrid, the city average is €6,000/m²—meaning the same 70 m² apartment would cost more than €420,000, and a 90 m² closer to €540,000.

That difference matters. A lower rent would have left more cushion. But the higher rent forces me to structure my freelance work carefully, cover my floor consistently, and push my ceiling projects forward. The persistently weakening USD adds another layer, making me think not only about earning more dollars, but adding euros directly to the mix.

The pressure works. I actually like it. Primarily because I see it as strategic and a welcome challenge in mid-life, plus I finally learned how to strike a balance.

And the irony is: with more pressure, I live more freely. I ride my bike most days for an hour, do hot yoga or pilates four times a week, hardly touch weekends for work, and still spend hours at the beach with my wife. We’re constantly out and about, in and around our neighborhood and the surrounding core of this great city.

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Pressure vs Panic

Of course, there’s a line. Panic spending is chasing comfort through consumption.

Pressure spending is different. It’s calculated.

Buying a camera for Friki de Bici isn’t comfort—it’s pressure. It means I need to film, edit, and publish.

Even rent can be pressure: the right kind makes you work harder without grinding you down.

I’ve always needed that kind of pressure. I’ve always done my best work when there was something concrete on the line.

The trick is designing the pressure yourself—before life does it for you. As one of my old Little League baseball coaches used to say: Play the ball, don’t let the ball play you.

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Why This Fits Never Retire

Never Retire isn’t about chasing comfort. It’s about engagement. And nothing creates engagement like pressure.

If everything is cushion and safety, days blur together. You stagnate. But when you’ve made choices that raise the stakes, you stay sharp. You work not just because you have to, but because you’ve built a life that demands it and rewards you for showing up.

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Where the Numbers Come In

Here’s the key distinction: some spending is pure baseline (groceries, utilities, taxes). Other spending is pressure (housing, projects, investments in myself and my work).

Knowing the difference — and deliberately choosing to take on the right kind of pressure — is how I keep building this second act abroad.

That’s the structure I live by: distinguishing between baseline and pressure. It’s not about deprivation or excess. It’s about designing a life that forces me to stay engaged.

Never Retire is built on that same pressure. I put in the work each week to make it more than a postcard version of life abroad — to show you what it really looks like. If you’ve been reading for free and this resonates, consider upgrading today. Paid subscriptions start at just a few euros a month, or €90/$100 for lifetime access.

That support is what keeps me writing, filming, and building this second act abroad in real time — not as a glossy postcard, but as the honest record of what it really takes.