Underrated point. There are people for whom investing energy into saving money has a decent ROI, but if you are reading HN that’s probably not you.

Instead it’s far more likely the most efficient way to get more money is to work on your career and not learn how to cook well, fix your own car, or extend your commute way out into the country.

That doesn’t mean you can’t have a hobby of cooking, if that’s what you love—go for it, but be honest with yourself. If it was about getting to FIRE you should order in a pizza and working on leetcode.