I get asked about my "lifestyle" all the time. Here's some notes. And let's qualify "interesting" to mean — rigorous and curious.
Design MBA Podcast interview: " Craig Mod — Investing to buy future freedom"
Obviously, creative, rigorous work can make a lot of money, but that's the exception to the rule. So by assuming low-financial returns on your rigorous and curious projects, you'll mitigate disappointment / be better able to set a reasonable cost of living for an ascetic baseline. Any creative project that exceeds those expectations — great! Time to reinvest those dividends into yourself / the work / tools.