I'm working simultaneously in two "full-time" contracts (both contractors know about each other). As I need just half of the earning of one contract to live well, I'm saving 3x what I would normally. It is not the first time it happened to me but it is the first time I'm saving and planning ahead my financial independence.

Another important point is that one year ago I had US50k (but in brazilian reais) in debt because of a failed startup and a lot of difficult getting back to the work force. It was really hard to bootstrap myself out of that situation.