The Best Tips and Advice From Our Readers to Save Money

More than half of Americans have less than $ 1,000 in savings accounts. But we can do better.

Earlier this week, I wrote a very simple tip on how to actually save money , with tips from some personal finance experts. (I’ve added a tip from two more experts, so if you read it on day of publication, be sure to check it out.) No wonder our readers have talked a lot about this topic too. Here are some of your best tips from the comments – feel free to add your own thoughts and ideas.

Recognize that saving is hard

As guppysb points out, developing any habit takes time, effort, and the right attitude:

My brain sucks. I keep thinking to myself, “Yes, keep buying all these things that you don’t need because you will end up with a better paying job in the future.”

Well, I’ve been saying this to myself for 4 years now. I could have saved a decent amount in those four years if I had lived realistically.

SukaSam says:

Growing up is difficult, and all power belongs to people who have habits and willpower to be saved. Just remember that it’s never too late to start saving, and people who pretend they have “everything” usually have more debt than you in a wealthy family.

Never try to keep up with Jones!

And SkipErnst adds:

Saving is difficult until you develop a habit, but it is also very beneficial.

There is no such insurance as to have money in the bank “fuck”.

Avoid lifestyle inflation

Rate this promotion? Congratulations! But think twice before moving into a larger apartment or upgrading your car. As whatmatters says:

I was chronically horrendous saving money for my adult working life until the last two years as my career progressed, my monthly expenses increased in direct proportion to my salary increase, and in the end I just thought to myself that this was so stupid. My advice (which worked for me) was to come up with a budget implementation plan after a couple of months of tracking where my money is going. Having the data allowed me to truly understand where I was spending my money (buying lunch at work, shopping frivolously online, etc.) and helped me formulate an attack plan that allowed me to consistently save money by allocating what I needed … spend money and what little money can I spend.

My main motivator is not to work until I drop dead, if I can help him.

Pointing at you, the mirror says don’t believe the marketing hype:

My contribution: you should definitely live one or two levels of lifestyle below what you could live, and then begin to live comfortably that way without deviation.

Of course, every ad in the world will work to convince you to violate this principle.

iLikeTech says:

The hardest part for me was to realize that the environment we are in is designed to make you want new bright things and hate what you have. Take a moment to reflect on everything you have. Make it a mental game, trying to make everything you’ve already bought pay off. It will bring you satisfaction, and you will feel less like wasting so much money. Plus, you’ll focus less on new things and ultimately save money.

And know that you will have to make some sacrifices

Most of us don’t have enough money for everything we really want. Saving money means making sacrifices, so hopefully you’ll get better in the long run. Here people say “skip the latte,” which I don’t find particularly useful, but you’ll have to skip a few things or settle for less expensive versions. HoshinoKaze advises:

If you think you want something, wait a week and see if you want more. Look at all your bills and see what you can save on. You can agree on everything. Several years ago I was fired, I called everywhere and said that I had to cancel, because I was fired. My internet bill went from $ 79 to $ 32, my car insurance went down about $ 10 a month.

In this regard, WhatsThatSmell says pay yourself before paying for an upgrade.

Pay yourself first.

This means invest in yourself and your future before spending dollars on anything else. Use dollars as a tool to accumulate wealth, not just waste on bullshit.

But treat yourself from time to time

Spending money from time to time shouldn’t make you feel guilty. Chereaza says:

Relief budget. It can be tempting to spend a little bit every now and then, but it can quickly get out of hand if you don’t plan and keep track of it. Have a budget for Fun Money and use it right.

Make more money

This tip has an important star: of course, we all would like to make more money, but you also need to, you know, save money in order to actually accumulate wealth. According to an August 2017 Career Builder report, about 10% of workers earning $ 100,000 or more said they were living paycheck to paycheck, and 59% said they were in debt. Making more money won’t solve all your problems.

M42 says:

While I agree to save early and consistently, especially a Roth vehicle, the best advice I have ever received was from my dad. He told me, “Son, just make a big pile of money and you will feel better.” It turns out he was right.

As TallGrassShort says, you can do this by investing your hard earned savings:

Those were my aggressive savings when I was in my 20s and now I “earn” more from my investments than I do when I work full time.

Know that salvation alone won’t make you rich

The point of my original article was not to give advice to people on how to get rich (this was basic saving advice), I appreciated this comment from You Probably Wrong :

I know quite a few very rich self-earning people, and quite a few quite rich people (I’m included in the last group), and one of the few things we all agree on is that saving will never make you rich. If your goal is wealth (as opposed to the comfort north of the “I can’t live on less than this” trait), this is pretty much a waste of effort. a hundred bitcoins ago when they were selling for $ 25 each) or radically increase your income to the point where income growth outstrips spending growth. Unless your income increases at least 30-50% per year until 20-30 years old (except for people with very high starting income), all the savings in the world will not help you from the struggling middle class. This is a harsh reality that financial bloggers never tell you about (despite the fact that all the successful ones do just that – Mr. Money Usik does not live well because he only spends $ 100 on groceries a month. because Visa or Discover or Amex or whatever pays him an average of six figures a year for their cards.)

Savings are important for many very good reasons. However, this will never make you rich. And in fact, it will never even lift you up the income class.

I would like to read your thoughts on this.

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