You are doing the wrong thing about investing. It is not important to have a discretionary income before investing in Bitcoin . If you are studying in a university, you will learn about Bitcoin and you can accumulate Bitcoin during your studies. Buy Bitcoin by saving some money from your part time job or from the session fees you get from your family. You will gain knowledge about Bitcoin while you are a student and along with that, you can accumulate any fractional amount. It is always intelligent to rely on your own cash fund. If you take out a loan or depend on other people's money to invest, you will not be able to keep it going in the long term.
You need a discretionary income in order for you to invest into bitcoin and hodli for long. I understand what you mean, it's just that you don't understand what discretionary income is. Discretionary income is the extra money from your income that you can do away with and it wouldn't affect you lifestyle. Some people use it to drink, smoke, gamble, club and many more consumption al stuff. Using such funds to invest in bitcoin is the best because you can use it to grow and build your bitcoin portfolio for the future.
That is actually the smartest way to invest. Using discretionary income just makes everything easier because you’re not putting pressure on yourself or touching money meant for your basic needs. Most people make the mistake of investing with funds they can not afford to lose, and that is why they panic sell when the market dips.
But when you use extra cash, the one you would normally spend on flexing or random stuff, you can hodl longer and stay calm no matter what the market does. That is how real long term conviction is built..
In the case of Bitcoin investment, you should definitely decide to invest from a prudent income, which you will not have any problem if you lose. It is true that when a person invests money that he cannot afford to lose, then during times of volatility, when he sees his investment decreasing, he can easily panic, and due to panic, he can make the wrong decision to sell his investment, and as a result, his investment will fail and he will face losses. Therefore, when investing, you should definitely invest in such a money that losing money will not affect your life. Invest with money according to your ability to lose and keep it for the long term. If you can ignore the volatility and keep the investment for the long term, the chances of success will be high.
The thing is, a lot of people do not really understand how dangerous it is to invest money they can not afford to lose until the market starts shaking. Once the price drops, fear comes in and emotions take over, that is when they start making bad decisions like panic selling or trying to cut losses at the wrong time..
That is why I always tell people, investing from a comfortable place of I am okay even if this goes down for a while makes the whole process peaceful. You will not be glued to the chart or stressing over every dip..
Like you said, it is all about knowing your capacity, using funds that would not affect your lifestyle, and staying consistent. Because in Bitcoin, the real win does not come from timing or quick trades, it comes from patience, calmness, and having the courage to hold when everyone else is panicking..