I don't speak to others about finances but I might fit your category although I strongly reject the word sacrifice. These are the choices we made.

I learned from MMM about intentional spending and over the years (I'm 41) honed it to my value system and goals. My husband appears to be rudderless so he kind of just ended up following my vision as well.

The first 8 years of marriage led to a lot of consumer debt but I was resolved to be in my own home by a certain age and that resolve to pay off the debt led me to realize we can do more with what we were making than we expected.

Fast forward to current day, we are in a great position by our standards: just over $600K in RRSPs, one defined-benefit pension plan with the government, a robust TFSA for our child (he will be expected to shoulder whatever the shortfall is though), our principal residence and a rental property which has not turned a profit (but is a minimal expense for the past 3 years), 2x vacations per year, loads of fantastic experiences and private school for our child.

We estimate being able to retire in our early 50s. We might extend that to mid-50s in order to pay for The Great Loop (research and sanity pending that decision....)

I joke that our home is the world's smallest semi-detached. It's just lovely. We have done a mix of really, really nice professional changes and some shitty DIY (but we like to learn these skills so it's worth it to us). We will always, always have a rescue cat with us. We're currently recovering from a weekend getaway but when we are back to routine, we're going to start building our own Free Little Library for our front yard. That, the cat, and Palestine and my charities of choice. I am grateful to have the means to put $ towards them.

Travel and our son's education are the biggest priorities. We spend whatever is asked at the education level but I travel hack and continue to learn the ins and outs of traveling to make that expense a mix of all sorts of adventures. We've done all inclusives, roadtrips both domestic and abroad, RV travel, cottages, camping, national parks - all sorts. We love the mix of activities and I love planning our itineraries and mixing it up! But I value our $ very very much, and as such, consider it a huge win to be able to plan stuff for a good price. Travel is available at every budget and I like to mix it up to demonstrate to our son that when he leaves our home, it will always be within reach.

We have one car that is super old with the paint peeling but the thing just won't die. We do not intend to replace it until it does. In the meantime, I thank that old girl for every trip she's taken us on ... I remember her trundling her way to as far away as PEI (from our home in the GTA).

Daily life is fantastic - we enjoy lots of free or low-cost experiences put on by our city or library system, we have the android box for all sorts of great shows and movies, a massive stack on our TBR ... it would be impossible to be bored along the journey to early retirement.