This couple wanted to spend more time with their children. A flexible FIRE strategy was the answer.

Brendan Pon said his wife introduced him to the FIRE movement.

Brendan Pon

For many people, the plan is simple: finish school, get a job, build a family, buy a house, and, after decades of climbing the corporate ladder, retire around 65.Brendan Pon calls that life trajectory the default path, and it's been two years since he stepped off it through the FIRE movement.FIRE — Financial Independence, Retire Early — is a strategy that combines aggressive saving and intentional investing to accumulate enough money to retire ahead of the traditional schedule."It was my wife who introduced it to me, and she's honestly the brains behind our whole journey," Pon, 37, told Business Insider.Initially, Pon thought the FIRE method sounded like an incredible opportunity, but questioned how feasible it would be for them in North America.Canadian citizens spend 35% to 50% of their paychecks on housing and utilities, according to the Canadian government.Pon and his wife were living in Toronto, where life was going according to plan.

"We had a great house and a really good social network, so we were living well," Pon said. "Financially speaking, we were both working full-time."The rising cost of living was hard to ignore, however."We had good spending habits, but going to the grocery store, only getting two bags of groceries, having to pay a hundred bucks for both of them total, was getting a little bit ridiculous," he said.The couple paid 1,800 Canadian dollars for groceries and 400 Canadian dollars for utilities, which is about $1,200 and $285, respectively. Their mortgage cost a few thousand dollars a month, and they also owned a car.