I have cut all my expenses to the bones and put all the resulting spare money into bitcoins - I rarely eat meat and I literally haven't bought anything for myself other than food and bitcoins for a very long time now. I've also sold a lot of things that I never used anymore and put the money from that into bitcoins as well. These activities have resulted in a surprisingly large amount of wealth that I would never have imagined that I'd be able to accumulate.
So, no, I have not invested more money than I can afford to lose. It would not be fun for me if btc goes to zero, but I will not end up on the street or be in debt. On the other hand I have to gamble on this with a large enough bet that it can potentially change my life for the better. If you never do anything risky in life you'll never win either.
Great story! I wonder whether bitcoin made you change your lifestyle (temporary), or you changed your lifesyle because of chasing early retirement/minimalism?
The change came by after realizing that I should have bought those few thousand coins back in 2010 when I first thought about it - and moving away from my girlfriend.
Being on your own means that you have more time for work and can lead a much simpler and cheaper life. The funny thing is, right now I much prefer this way of living. If bitcoin goes to the moon I will still be working, but I will shift my work entirely to my own projects - no Ferraris and retirement for me thank you