FBC – 303 – The price I am willing to pay for my freedom

The price I am willing to pay for my freedom.

Today, I am going to tell you what I am ready to do and to sacrifice in exchange for my freedom. Some things might sound like madness to you but they make sense for me!

In addition, I have some very good news (for me) he he and i am super happy.

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I am so happy because tomorrow, my friends, I am getting rid of the apartment I have in France, and it's going to be party time and it's going to be the Fiesta Latina, I guess, because after 10 years of a very, very, very bad investment, I am getting rid of that damn apartment.

I bought this apartment not because I wanted the apartment. It's just that everybody told me, you know, you have to buy an apartment and blah, blah, blah. So I ended up with this mortgage with an insanely high rate. And I didn't even run the numbers or anything. I was like, easy. Well, anyway, long story short, I ended up with this. So, I mean, it's a really bad investment.

And the worst thing was that when you buy an apartment, you can get some tax rebates. Right. And well, actually, one of the main reasons why I bought the apartment was to have a tax rebate. And this is the worst possible thing you can do. So if you were thinking about buying an apartment so that you pay less or fewer taxes don't do it because you may pay fewer taxes for like a year or something, and then afterwards you're screwed for the next twenty five years.

I got some tax rebates for the first four years or something. You know, you can deduct some of your interest and stuff. But then I had to keep the apartment for at least eight years. Otherwise I would have had to refund all that money to the state. So I was screwed. I could have done something about it. I just let it slide anyway. Bad investment, bad idea.

The price I am willing to pay for my freedom

I was having a chat with a buddy of mine and we were talking about freedom and stuff. And I was giving him my views on freedom. So the thing is, you know, when you're driven, when you have a mission or something, it doesn't apply. I mean, at least to me it doesn't apply to like just business or something. You know, my thing is I want to have a choice. I want freedom. And freedom is just a manifestation of having a choice.

And this is not only in business and in some areas of my life, it's in everything, like everything, you know, some stuff that you can't even imagine. It's dictated by my passion for choice, and that's how I really have like a calling for automation.

It will transpire in every single thing you do. So we were talking and I was explaining how after this bad investment, now if I buy a house for buy some land or anything, I'll just pay cash. And because that's how I am, because my thing is, well, at least I'm free after that. And the argument was like, oh man, that's not a good idea because otherwise you're going to miss some deals.

You should just pay the down payment and then afterwards you have more so you can actually do a deal and bla bla bla bla bla bla, which are, you know valid points.

So I was trying to explain them. That dude, there is no good or bad answer. Right or wrong. It just depends on who you are.

So does it mean that I am actually going to miss some real estate deals and stuff? Of course it means this, but what's important for you? I mean, what's the most important thing for you?

For me it's not these deals. I don't care about these deals. It's not like I'm going to get buried with my money or something and I need to make like three hundred deals or something. No, I'm about my freedom, bro.

If you buy this place and you have a mortgage for like 20 years or something, for 20 years, you have to think about how to repay the mortgage. So, you know, most of the time it will be fine. But sometimes you end up in a situation where you're like, dude, how are we going to pay for the mortgage? And this is something I don't really want in my life.

So I am willing to sacrifice making deals here left and right and paying just 20 percent or 20 percent there and then having like 10 mortgages on my head. I'm willing to give that up. It means that I'm not going to own like three hundred properties. But do I actually need three hundred properties?

There is enough stress in this life. I don't need more stress about some house that I can pay today because everything's good today. But what about in 15 years? You know, in 15 years, you don't know what happens. In fifteen years, they might be like, you can't pay the house. That's it. Bam, we take the house. Right.

So my point is, if that's something you want to do, like the down payments and stuff, I am not going to discourage anybody because people make fortunes with this thing. So I'm not saying it doesn't work. It just doesn't work for me, for me as a person, not because it just doesn't work in general. It's just for me as a person, you have to choose what you're comfortable doing.

The real price I pay to run this from Bali

Freedom is not free. It just moves the bill somewhere you did not expect. That was the honest core of this episode. People see the Bali photos and miss the years of unglamorous work behind them. I left a stable path, moved through 49 countries, and rebuilt my income from zero more than once. If you want a business that runs without you, you pay in patience, in missed shortcuts, and in the discipline to build systems before you build lifestyle. I have automated 1,500 plus workflows precisely so the machine pays part of that price for me. The stack does the repetitive work while I do the work only I can do.

I break down that trade on my Freedom by Choice podcast. Zapier reports 88 percent of small businesses say automation lets them compete with larger companies, which is how one person runs what used to take a team. Stripe Atlas makes the same point to founders: the freedom you want is downstream of the systems you are avoiding. I go deeper on the cost in my LinkedIn newsletter, Diary of a Virtual CEO.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is buying an apartment a good investment for entrepreneurs?

It depends on your situation. I bought an apartment in France because everyone told me I should, and it turned out to be a terrible investment. I had a high mortgage rate and did not run the numbers properly. Never buy property just for tax rebates. The short term savings rarely justify twenty five years of financial commitment.

What is the price of freedom for a location independent entrepreneur?

For me, it meant getting rid of all fixed financial obligations like mortgages and long term debt. I prefer owning assets outright (like land) rather than carrying monthly payments. The peace of mind from zero debt is worth more than any tax benefit or leveraged investment.

Should entrepreneurs avoid mortgages and real estate debt?

Not necessarily. People make fortunes with real estate. It just does not work for everyone. If your income is variable or you live abroad, a mortgage creates risk you cannot control. You have to choose what you are comfortable with based on your personal circumstances and lifestyle goals.

About the Author

Martin Ebongue is the founder of martinebongue.com, an online business and lifestyle design blog focused on helping aspiring entrepreneurs build location-independent businesses. Since 2014, he has been creating and scaling online ventures across multiple niches, from digital products and affiliate marketing to SaaS and content platforms, while traveling the world. He shares the real-world strategies, tools, and systems that work, with a particular focus on AI-powered automation for solopreneurs. Follow him on YouTube, X (Twitter), and Instagram.

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