Rock climbing is a great way to increasing your strength, flexibility and get in shape. I love rock climbing and want to share with you my thoughts after 6 months of rock climbing.

4 months ago, I started rock climbing consistently. Starting off, I was going to a local indoor rock climbing gym two times a week, and now have gotten a year long membership and go three times a week.

Now, I can confidently say I have never felt as strong as I am now, even though back in college I was lifting 4-5 times a week.

Starting off, rock climbing became something I did to supplement my other body weight exercises.

However, because it is so much fun, it seems I’ve started to use my body weight exercises to supplement my rock climbing!

Rock climbing has become a big part of my life and I’m excited to share with you some of my thoughts on my new hobby.

In this post, I’m going to share with you:

• why I’m loving rock climbing
• my fitness level after rock climbing for 4 months, and
• some thoughts on why I probably won’t ever get a membership at a regular gym again

Let’s get into the post!

What is Rock Climbing and How Do I Rock Climb?

First, let’s talk about what I mean when I’m rock climbing.

I go to a indoor climbing gym called Vertical Endeavors in the Twin Cities, and at this gym, there are areas for top rope and bouldering.

Top rope climbing is where you tie into a rope, and then climb up a wall. At the gym I go to, these walls are between 30 and 60 feet high.

Bouldering is where you don’t have any gear, and you climb different routes up to 15 feet.

On the walls, there are different colored routes, and each route is a different difficulty. While you can “rainbow” and climb on whatever color you want, over time, you want to stick to one color per route.

As climbing has become more popular, there are a bunch of gyms in every major suburban area.

Also, you can go outdoor rock climbing. There are thousands of routes all around the world which have been mapped out on the side of mountains, at different boulders, and hills.

I have yet to do this, but plan on going to a bouldering area in a nearby state park soon.

Now that you know what I mean when I say rock climbing, now I’m going to share with you my experience and why I love rock climbing.

Why I Love Rock Climbing

First, I’ve always loved being active, fit and strong. I love sports and am very competitive.

Once I got to college, since I wasn’t playing sports anymore, I started hitting the gym fairly consistently.

The thing about weights though is it is very much the same thing over and over and over again.

Lift this barbell in a certain way, and if you can do it for 10 reps, then maybe consider adding weight.

With lifting weights, it’s very much a straightforward process without much room for creativity and exploration.

While yes, you can get creative with your workout program, it’s still just a matter of up-down with different movements.

However, with rock climbing, there is a huge problem solving aspect to getting up a wall. This is why I love rock climbing, and think it’s so much fun.

I love rock climbing because:

• there’s a lot of problem solving that goes into being successfully
• it’s an awesome feeling to be able to get to the top of a wall successfully
• getting into and out of different body positions makes me feel very strong

Body positioning is such a huge part of becoming better at rock climbing.

When approaching a wall, you have to look and plan out your route. You can’t just try and climb everything like a ladder, and with this, there is a lot of thinking that must happen to put yourself in the best position to succeed.

Also, it’s so awesome to be able to get to the top of a wall and be way up in the air. Even though I’m slightly scared of heights, I still think it’s an incredible feeling.

Becoming Strong, Fit and Feeling Better than When Doing Weights

As I’m typing this right now, I can confidently say I feel better and feel stronger now than I did when I was throwing around a ton of iron and weight at the gym.

I might not be stronger, in terms of the weight I can throw around, but I feel stronger.

First, I believe it’s very important to be self-aware and listen to your body when you are getting in shape.

For this reason, as I’ve gotten back into shape this year and am at a great level of fitness now, I’m confident in my comments about how I feel better than I did before rock climbing.

I think there are a few reasons for why I’m feeling so strong:

• My grip strength is stupid.
  • From rock climbing, I can now hang on a bar from 1 arm for 5-10 seconds.
  • Also,when doing pull-ups, I rarely will stop because of grip, but instead because I can’t pull-up anymore.
• I don’t feel many aches and pains from my joints.
  • Since rock climbing is all body weight, I don’t have any joint pain (at least right now), that I used to experience with my knees and shoulders from squatting and bench pressing.
• Being able to hold my body in different positions requires a strong core
  • When I’m doing an overhanging boulder problem or need to make a slow move, I need to keep my core very tight or I will fall off the wall.

Overall though, it just feels awesome to be able to move my body in different ways with my own strength.

While these points have been made on how I’m feeling, I actually found out I am as strong I once was back in college.

Why I Don’t Think I’ll Get a Regular Gym Membership Again

This past summer, I was the manager of an intern at work. This intern was a total gym rat and power lifter.

About half way into the internship, he was completing a lifting program, and after each lifting program, he re-tests his maximum lifts.

He asked if I wanted to come lift with him and max with him.

At this point, I had been doing my body weight exercises (push-ups, planks, body weight squats, and pull-ups) and rock climbing for a handful of months, but hadn’t been in a regular gym in 15 months.

What the heck I thought, I’ll max with him.

Back in college, my maximum lifts were a 265 pound bench press, 340 pound back squat and 300 pound dead lift.

These max lifts were all hit when I was lifting 4-5 times a week.

Again, I hadn’t done a bench press, back squat or dead lift in 15 months, and I had no expectations when I went to the gym with my intern.

I was blown away by my results.

From doing intense push-up exercises only, I had built enough strength to perform a 225 pound bench press. From rock climbing, my grip and back was strong enough for a 295 pound dead lift.

What was crazy on the dead lift was it wasn’t my grip which was the problem, it was my legs and back which couldn’t push hard enough when I tried 315 pounds.

With these results, I realized I can be strong without lifting weights!

I can be strong by doing intense body weight exercises consistently, eating a healthy diet, and supplementing my diet with different workout supplements.

This is certainly a challenge to the mainstream thought of “you need to go to the gym to be strong”.

I’m definitely happy I’ve been able to figure out what makes sense for me and my body.

Over the next year, I want to keep improving and progressing as a rock climber, and hope to climb a 5.11+ route by next summer!

How Much Does Rock Climbing Cost?

On this blog, I like to talk a lot about money and finances.

The rock climbing membership I got is $55 a month. This is definitely more than the $35 a month I was paying at LA Fitness when I went there, but $55 a month is similar to a middle tier regular gym.

One cool thing about the rock climbing gyms that I go to is there are regular workout equipment for you to use if you want to do this.

With this regular workout equipment, I can use these weights if I want to (I don’t because I like body weight exercises so much).

With these options, I think it justifies the slightly higher price.

Also, I’m not afraid to spend money on my health and wellness, and so if it’s an extra $20 a month for better results and more fun, I definitely am happy to spend the money.

Does Rock Climbing Interest You?

I’ve loved getting into rock climbing and definitely recommend you try it out if you haven’t before.

If you have tried it out, maybe it makes sense to start supplementing you current exercises with it to get a better variety of exercises.

Becoming a well rounded individual and the master of your life should involve trying new things and seeing what makes sense for you.

What I love about rock climbing is it really does help you become a well rounded athlete – I’m strong, flexible and conditioned.

Last year, I tried yoga for a few months, and while I enjoyed it, it wasn’t quite my favorite thing to do.

Now that I’m rock climbing, I’m loving it, and I’m seeing how it’s benefiting my other activities, such as hiking, golfing, and basketball.

What do you think? Would you give rock climbing a try?

Readers: does rock climbing interest you? What are you doing to become strong and fit? Do you go to a regular gym, do yoga, or do other exercises?

Thanks for reading!

Becoming financially successful and winning with your money can be accomplished with the right game plan and actions. Luckily, you don’t need a finance degree to be good with money. In this post, you’ll learn the 15 steps you can take to improve your financial situation in your 20’s, and how to become financially smart in your 20’s.

Are you looking to get into a better financial situation? Do you want to be able to make financially smart decisions? Would you like to save more money and learn about personal finances? Are you in debt and want to get out of debt?

This might be obvious to you, but the financial decisions you make in your 20’s can either help or hurt your financial future.

Unfortunately, there are people who, either through bad luck or bad decisions, do not have their financial house in order in their 30’s,  40’s and 50’s, and cannot live the life they want to live.

I believe that through intentional living and smart decision making, anyone can be successful.

It’s possible that these same people could be in better financial situations if they made different choices.

The thing is with personal finance, these choices are usually not life changing. You would be surprised if I told you an extra $50 a month in savings (not a lot of money each month) could lead to thousands later in life!

Becoming better with your finances, finding financial success, and winning with your money in your 20’scan build a great foundation for your future self.

In this post, I’m going to share with you 15 steps, and a number of great resources for learning personal finance, to help you become more confident when handling your finances and money.

Let’s get into this personal finance basics post!

15 Steps to Winning With Your Money in Your 20’s

Below are the 15 steps to win with your money which I will cover in this post. By following these steps, you can create a great financial foundation for your life early in adulthood.

After creating a great financial foundation, you can then start thinking about financial freedom.

This post however is all about the steps to take to create an incredibly solid financial foundation.

The 15 steps to becoming financially successful are:

1. Start Thinking Positive Thoughts
2. Cultivate an Abundance Mindset
3. Decide to Live Intentionally
4. Start Tracking Your Income and Expenses
5. Learn More about Personal Finance
6. Cut Expenses to Save More Money
7. Get Out of Debt
8. Focus on Exploding Your Income
9. Understand Credit Scores
10. Build an Emergency Fund
11. Learn about Investing and Investment Accounts
12. Explore House Hacking
13. Start a Side Hustle
14. Become Self Aware of What You Enjoy in Life
15. Stay Consistent with Your Actions

Let’s dive into each of these steps for winning with money in greater detail.

1. Start Thinking Positive Thoughts

Our minds are incredibly powerful and can quite literally create its own reality.

Using positive thinking can manifest itself in building the financial situation you want.

Telling yourself you are good with money can lead to you becoming better with money.

You are what you say you are.

Saying, “I’m a negative person who is broke and will never be rich” is a reinforcing trap. Saying this sort of thing will result in you being a negative person who is broke and will never be rich.

Likewise, telling yourself, “I’m a positive person who can build wealth and improve my financial situation” will lead to improving your financial situation.

Using positive thinking can help guide you on your path to winning with money.

While mindset alone will not change your financial situation, by starting to think positive thoughts, you will start believing in yourself and change for the better.

2. Cultivate an Abundance Mindset

Think about this for a second: there is so much money in the world, and to become a little bit wealthier – you just need to get a little bit of it.

In the world, there are trillions and trillions of units of wealth (dollars, whatever your country’s currency is, etc).

0.0000001% of 1 Trillion Dollars is $10,000.

Think about that, of all the money in the world, you only need to get 0.0000001% of it to get to 5 figures in savings.

Can you do this?

Getting into an abundance mindset will let you believe in yourself, and also realize that you can win while others win.

Creating value and doing what’s right in the world can lead to riches – you don’t need to steal or cut others down to make more money.

3. Decide to Live Intentionally

Do you decide what will happen to you in your life, or do you let life decide what will happen to you?

Improving your financial situation involves intentional living and doing what you want with your time, money and efforts.

By setting goals, making a plan, and executing on that plan, you can build wealth, pay down debt and grow your savings.

To do this, you need to start living intentionally and practice proactive behavior.

Instead of letting life happen to you, you need to take action and lead a life of intention and action.

After making the decision to live with intention, a decision to care about your financial situation, then you can get onto learning about the basics of personal finances, come up with a financial plan, and start executing your plan.

4. Start Tracking Your Income and Expenses

One of my favorite quotes is “What gets measured, gets managed”, by Peter Drucker.

The idea behind this quote is especially important in the world of personal finance.

If you don’t know where you are with your finances, how are you going to get to where you want to go?

Tracking your income and expenses is easily the most important step for improving your financial situation. Just knowing how much you are saving (or spending) each month will allow you to prioritize what you can cut back on, or what you should change regarding your spending habits.

At a minimum, you should track your income, expenses, savings rate, and net worth.

Once you know each of these numbers, you can then start making changes in your spending habits to start saving more, paying down debt, investing more, etc.

Looking at your bank statements is one place to start, but there are also a number of great software packages (or Excel) which you can use to track your personal finances.

5. Learn More about Personal Finance

After you’ve started tracking your numbers, now it’s time to start learning more about personal finance.

When I think about personal finance, I think of the following topic areas:

• Making Money
• Paying Down Debt
• Saving Money
• Investing
• Mindset
• Budgeting

These personal finance topic areas have some overlap, but a lot of the content is unique and specific to a certain goal and situation.

Learning about personal finance basics can be done through reading personal finance books, personal finance blogs, or personal finance podcasts.

You’ll have to figure out which medium of learning is best for you, but I can assure you, there are hundreds of great resources out there for you to explore.

For me, when I started on my personal finance journey, I read a lot of personal finance blogs. I also love reading books, so read a lot of different personal finance and investing books.

You might like podcasts, and luckily there are a ton of podcasts to help you learn the basics of personal finance!

Over time, you’ll become comfortable with different personal finance terms and concepts, and get on to becoming a personal finance expert.

 

6. Cut Expenses to Save More Money

After starting to track your expenses and learning more about personal finance, now, it’s time to start building a solid financial foundation.

The best place to start, which will bring fast results for your financial situation, is to cut unnecessary expenses.

Even $100 a month can add up over time, and I’d be very surprised if you weren’t spending $100 on things you don’t necessarily need (I know I do even in months where I’m really good with my spending!).

The first place you should start is by examining the big three expenses: housing, transportation and food.

While it might not make sense to move, over time, you can consider downsizing or picking a slightly less nice apartment to save more money.

For transportation, buying a slightly used car vs. buying a new luxury car lead to massive savings over time.

For food, cooking your meals vs. going out can lead to great savings.

After examining these three expense categories, subscriptions and impulse purchases are next.

Over time, you can figure out which expenses are necessary, and which expenses are unnecessary. Through this process, you will then be able to save more money over time.

7. Get Out of Debt

Being in debt is incredibly restricting and expensive.

Whether you have credit card debt, student loan debt, a mortgage, an auto loan, or a personal loan, getting out of debt should be a priority over time.

Being in debt sucks and is not a freeing feeling.

Getting out of debt can happen faster by paying more than the minimum payment each month, and over time, you can employ some different pay down strategies, refinance, or consolidate your debts to further decrease your payments.

At the end of the day, being completely debt free is the goal, and this will help you on your path to winning with money and becoming financially successful.

8. Focus on Exploding Your Income

After you’ve gotten a handle on your expenses and debt, now, it’s time to focus on providing value in the world and exploding your income.

While you can get the fastest personal finance benefit from decreasing your expenses, there is unlimited upside when you look at the income side of the personal finance equation.

Growing your income can involve a number of things:

• Taking courses relevant to your work
• Changing jobs or industry
• Going back to school for a new degree
• Starting a side hustle
• Picking up a second shift or second job

At the end of the day though, you want to become more valuable in the industry you are interested in working in.

I work in the financial industry, and for me, to become successful in my role, I’ve had to:

• learn about different financial products and jargon
• get certain credentials and degrees
• work on my communication and big picture thinking
• and learn how to automate and make efficient processes with programming

This didn’t happen over night, but during the past 5 years, I’ve nearly doubled my salary by having this “look to add value” mindset.

You can do this too through your intentional actions and figuring how what makes sense in your current or prospective role.

9. Understand Credit Scores

While the goal is to have no debt and to never have to be in debt, there are some times in your life where financing a certain purchase (houses could make sense here).

Understanding how credit scores work, and how you can increase your credit score, is a piece of personal finance which is easy to learn and improve upon.

There are five main factors that determine your credit score:

• Payment History (35%)
• Utilization (30%)
• Length Of Credit History (15%)
• New Credit (10%)
• Types Of Credit Used (10%).

By focusing on improving each of these categories, you can improve your credit score.

With a better credit score, you can get lower interest rates and better financing options – saving money on your interest expense if you decide to take on new debts.

10. Build an Emergency Fund

Having funds set aside for emergencies is critical for being able to weather any unexpected expenses.

Saving up 3-6 months of expenses in a savings account, or having other liquid assets ready to go in times of need can be the difference between extreme stress and sleeping well at night.

Building an emergency fund is all about saving more money for an extended period of time until you are happy with your level of expenses saved up.

For me, I like having 6 months of expenses saved up, but you might like less or more. You’ll have to figure out what you are comfortable with for yourself!

11. Learn about Investing and Investment Accounts

While it is great to save money in traditional bank accounts, these days, banks are paying pennies in interest.

Learning about investing, and looking for other ways to grow you money over time, can help you build wealth after establishing your solid financial foundation.

There are a number of different assets and ways to invest and grow your money. Some of these asset classes include:

• Real estate
• Stocks
• Bonds
• Precious Metals
• Small Businesses
• Cryptocurrencies

By learning about the pros and cons of each of these asset classes, you can then make a decide on where to put your money to try to grow it for your financial future.

12. Explore House Hacking

In your 20s and 30s, house hacking is one of the best ways to build wealth fast and get into the real estate investing game.

For me, house hacking was my best financial move to date, and over a 4 year span, I was able to make $15,000 to live. 

That’s right I made money to live in my house – through buying a house and renting it out to friends, I was able to cover my mortgage and make some money on top of the mortgage.

As I mentioned above, in step 6, cutting housing expenses can have a huge impact on your financial situation, and with house hacking, you can cut your housing expenses in a huge way.

13. Start a Side Hustle

Starting a side hustle can be incredibly rewarding, and can also be lucrative.

While side hustling is not for everyone, for me, it has definitely been a great way to gain exposure to new topics of interest, learn new skills, and grow as a person.

Over time too, your side hustle might be able to become your full time hustle!

Starting a side hustle can be as easy as mowing your neighbor’s lawn, signing up to do bookkeeping for a local small business, creating graphics and marketing content with the help of tools such as the Pix AI Art Generator, or even refereeing a local sports league.

A side hustle could also be starting a business, a blog, or something with potential to scale!

Depending on what you want your life to look like, a side hustle might be for you, and if it is, then aligning your side hustle with your goals and dreams will lead to the best outcome.

14. Become Self Aware of What You Enjoy in Life

When you start diving into personal finance, learning the basics of personal finance, and becoming a personal finance geek, you will become obsessed with money.

Over time though, you might realize that life isn’t about money, and really, money doesn’t really matter unless you are able to use that money to live an enjoyable life.

The whole point of financial success and winning with money is so that you can live your dream life and do what you want with your time!

Becoming self-aware of what you like to do, understanding there should be a balance between work and play, and understanding money isn’t everything will lead to a successful life.

15. Stay Consistent with Your Actions

Doing the right action once, and never again will not lead to success in life.

Doing the right action over and over, and repeating this process for months and years, WILL lead to success.

Personal finance success isn’t hard, but the application of consistent actions can be tough to do.

Becoming successful financially can happen if you stick with it, keep learning over time, find balance in your budget and expenses, and look to grow your income over time.

Having this mindset of consistency and action, and having patience will lead to winning with your money and becoming a financial success.

Learn The Basics of Personal Finance and Start Winning With Money!

Hopefully this article provides you with a number of resources and ideas for getting on the right path for personal finance success.

What I’ve provided above are a lot of the basics of personal finance. My hope is you will go back now and click into some of the other articles to get more information on each of these topics.

While your financial situation will more likely not improve overnight, little by little, you can improve your financial situation and win with money.

If you have questions, please leave a comment below! Thanks for reading!

Intermittent fasting is a great way to mix up your eating habits and reduce the amount of time you spend eating. Intermittent fasting is not a diet, but a way to let your body maximize it’s healing potential.

In this article, you’ll learn about what is intermittent fasting, how intermittent fasting works, and the benefits of intermittent fasting.

Over the past few years, I’ve been experimenting with my eating habits and have been intermittent fasting for the past four years.

I typically don’t eat breakfast, and look to restrict my eating window to an 8 hour period throughout each day.

Growing up, I had to always eat breakfast – it’s what everyone said! But now, I truly believe “breakfast is the most important meal of the day” is just a marketing scheme to get people to buy sugary cereals.

After experimenting and listening to my body, I made the switch in 2015 and have never felt better.

By skipping breakfast, I’m able to save time getting ready in the morning, have a clear mind going into work, and I allow my body to continue to clean itself.

At this point, you probably think I’m crazy, but hear me out. Intermittent fasting is very popular among health enthusiasts and there are numerous studies backing up the benefits of fasting.

While intermittent fasting may not be for you, there are other strategies and thoughts which may be worthwhile to take away from this article.

In this post, I’m going to look to answer the following questions:

• What is Intermittent Fasting?
• Why is Fasting Beneficial?
• How I Found Intermittent Fasting
• Why I Don’t Eat Breakfast Anymore (and what I do instead)
• What are the Different Methods of Intermittent Fasting?

Let’s begin with what is intermittent fasting.

First, a disclaimer: I’m not a doctor. Everyone’s body responds to things differently and just because I’ve had a good experience doesn’t mean you will. Please consult a real doctor if you have concerns or interest about this subject.

What is Intermittent Fasting and Why Fasting is Beneficial

Intermittent fasting is a method where you restrict your eating window to limit the amount of time you spend in a fed state, and increase the amount of time you spend in a fasted state.

Being in a fasted state unlocks a number of benefits, and by increasing the amount of time in this state, you can tap into these benefits.

Our bodies naturally have evolved over time where we don’t need food, and the time spent not eating can be beneficial.

If you are always eating, your body does not have the ability to perform some of it’s natural functions – namely, cleaning itself and getting rid of the junk.

By fasting, you give your body space and time to heal itself.

In addition, when you are in a fasted state, your body is able to burn more fat because your insulin levels are low.

This is where the strategy of intermittent fasting comes in – you are still able to eat the same food you usually do, just in a restricted time frame to unlock these benefits.

To clarify, intermittent fasting is not a diet. Since you aren’t changing what you are eating, this is a benefit of intermittent fasting – it’s easy to implement!

Intermittent fasting is a strategy which changes when you eat, not what you eat.

Of course, when combined with a healthy diet and supplementation, it can result in even better results.

How does intermittent fasting work? Let’s dive into the details a little more.

How Intermittent Fasting Works

As discussed in the last section, intermittent fasting gets your body into a fasted state, and in this fasted state, you are able to unlock and tap into a number of great benefits.

During and after eating a meal, your body will enter into a fed state. It is not until roughly twelve hours later where your body will enter into a fasted state.

When your body is in a fed state, your body is not able to multi-task and get rid of the junk, burn fat, and also digest food all at the same time.

Also, after eating, your insulin levels will increase, which makes it hard to burn fat.

Once you reach twelve hours and later though, this is when the benefits of intermittent fasting kick in.

From twelve hours on, your body is able to clean itself out and burn fat.

This is the power of intermittent fasting.

The Different Methods of Intermittent Fasting

Now that you’ve learned what intermittent fasting is, and how intermittent fasting works, now let’s talk about the different method of intermittent fasting.

There are a few different methods of intermittent fasting:

• 16/8 Method of Intermittent Fasting
• The Warrior’s Diet
• The 5/2 Method of Intermittent Fasting
• Weekly 24 Hour Fasts

The 16/8 method of intermittent fasting is where you have an eating window of 8 hours a day, and a fasting window of 16 hours a day.

The 16/8 method is one of the most common intermittent fasting methods (and one which I personally have tried and like). Usually, this is where people will skip breakfast and eat between 12 PM and 8 PM. Then outside that time period, there is no eating.

The Warrior’s Diet is another way to perform intermittent fasting. With the Warrior’s Diet, you fast for 20 hours and eat during a 4 hour window.

Other intermittent fasting methods include the 5/2 method of intermittent fasting, and weekly 24 hour fasts.

These two methods include doing 24 hour fasts either 1 or 2 times a week, and then not restricting your eating window at all the other days of the week.

I like throwing in a 24 hour fast once in a while, but for me the 16/8 method seems to be best if you are a creature of habit and like routine.

Now, I want to share with you what I do and how I apply intermittent fasting in my life.

How I Found Intermittent Fasting

Part of trying to become the master of your life and working on getting to your dream life is experimenting and trying new things.

Growing up, I was taught from a young age (as many American kids are instructed) that breakfast is the most important meal of the day.

“If you don’t get breakfast, then you won’t have energy to learn at school!”

I followed this advice, and truly thought this was the case until I was 22 years old.

Throughout this entire time period, I thought that if I didn’t have something for breakfast, then I would have no energy and would die.

When I started diving down the rabbit hole of nutrition, health and eating when I was 22, I found intermittent fasting.

At first, I was skeptical and couldn’t imagine why anyone would want to purposely starve themselves – regardless of the benefits.

Starting out, it was very tough and the first time I skipped breakfast, I ended up “needing” to eat at 8:45 AM.

The next few days, I was able to extend my fasts out to lunch time, and eventually, I was able to comfortably give up breakfast all together.

What I realized is when I woke up, I wasn’t actually hungry, but instead, I was thirsty.

By drinking water, coffee or tea, I could overcome my hunger pains and get on to focusing on what mattered to me most.

Drinking water and getting enough liquids is definitely the key to successfully completing fasts.

Over time, I’ve experimented with 24 hours and 48 hour fasts, but have found I feel best when I have an eating window of 8 to 10 hours, and a fasting window of 14 to 16 hours.

Why I Don’t Eat Breakfast and My Morning Eating Routine

Since I don’t eat breakfast anymore because I do intermittent fasting, you might be wondering what I actually do in the morning

When I wake up each morning, instead of eating breakfast, I drink 2 full glasses of water.

For me, after realizing the benefits of drinking a lot of water throughout the day, and also realizing that my body is thirsty when I wake up, 2 full glasses of water clears my mind and jump starts my body for the day.

Also, 2 full glasses of water will fill up my stomach, and will typically keep any “hunger” thoughts away for 1-2 hours.

After drinking my water, I will typically follow this up with a cup of black coffee or some green tea.

Tea and coffee without any additives do not take you out of a fasted state, and the caffeine might elevate your heart rate to get a little bit more fat burning out of the fast.

Usually around 10-11 AM I’ll have my first food. For me, I typically will have a banana, an apple, and a protein bar at this time.

I then will have lunch around 12-1 PM, and have dinner between 6 and 7 PM.

With this eating schedule, my eating window is typically between 10 and 8 PM (a 10 hour window) and my fasting window is roughly 14 hours a day.

While I could certainly expand this fasting window to 16-20 hours, I’m comfortable where I’m at. and now that I’ve been doing intermittent fasting for the last 4 years, I’ve found what works for me.

What do you think? Could intermittent fasting be for you?

Could Intermittent Fasting Be Right for You?

Everyone is different and unique – you are different than me and I’m different than you.

We have different goals, different responses to food and diets, and different thoughts towards eating.

With this, intermittent fasting may not be for you, and if you have any health complications, seeing a doctor might be best.

At the same time, looking to lead a life where you are reaching for your fullest potential means trying new things and seeing if you can improve your life through these new experiences.

Becoming a mastermind involves challenging the status quo and figuring out life for yourself.

Intermittent fasting has been beneficial for my life, and I hope this post has inspired some new thoughts for you to think about and potentially try going forward.

Thanks for reading!

Saving up money for emergencies is a great first step in building a solid financial foundation. When saving up money for your emergency fund, cash is great, but there are other financial assets which might make sense to consider having as well.

In this post, you’ll learn how to create the ultimate emergency fund, and learn how you can save more money over time to improve your financial situation.

Saving up an emergency fund is the first step in becoming financially successful. Having money in the bank will help you sleep better at night knowing you can pay your bills.

Many financial experts recommend saving and having at least $1,000 in the bank.

While $1,000 is a great starting point, I believe this is just a small baby step towards creating the ultimate emergency fund for you and your family.

The ultimate emergency fund I’m going to describe is a little bit out there, and you might think I’m crazy.

However, the probability of an emergency could be higher than you expect (and by preparing for the unexpected, you can prepare to weather any storm).

In this post, I’ll be describing what I believe to be the ultimate emergency fund, talk about steps you can take to build this emergency fund, and discuss other considerations to think about when building this fund.

Disclaimer: I’m not an investment adviser, a lawyer, or a certified financial planner. With all investments and things regarding money, it’s crucial you do your due diligence, realize that your financial situation is unique to you, and do the necessary research and learning before taking action. Personal finance is personal. While I believe that the assets I’m going to discuss are good to own and have, they may not make sense in your personal situation.

Why You Need an Emergency Fund

Before getting into the three assets which make sense to own for your emergency fund, I first want to share with you why it’s critical to have an emergency fund.

An emergency fund is just that: money saved for emergencies.

If you lose your job, could you still pay your bills?

If your roof gets damaged, or your car gets wrecked, could you afford to pay for the damages?

What would happen if you unexpectedly had to pay for a medical complication? Could you do it?

These are common situations where having an emergency fund is incredibly important. By having an emergency fund, you could successfully navigate these situations without getting into debt or other financial troubles.

In addition to these situations, there are a few other emergencies which might apply.

What if you have to leave the country because of a tyrannical government?

In the United States, this might seem like an absurdity, but in other parts of the world, things like this happen all the time.

Likewise, what if favorite bank goes bankrupt or closes down? How safe is your cash then?

I don’t have the answers to all of these situations, but want to get you thinking about the importance of an emergency fund, and also think about how this extends to unlikely situations.

The Three Assets Necessary for Your Ultimate Emergency Fund

Now that you understand the importance of building an emergency fund, let’s get into the meat of the article and discuss the three assets for your ultimate emergency fund.

After you’ve taken your first actions towards becoming financially successful, and have $1,000 saved up in the bank, you can start to think about creating your ultimate emergency fund.

Having $1,000 in the bank is necessary to break the cycle of living paycheck to paycheck, and will provide a solid base for future savings.

After getting this cash stash saved up, the next steps are to start investing for the future, and to work on solidifying your present situation.

Most personal finance experts recommend having an emergency fund which could cover 3-6 months of expenses.

If you spend $3,000 a month, then 6 months of expenses would mean you have $18,000 saved up for emergencies.

6 months of expenses in your emergency fund is a great start, but I’ve found having more than 6 months of expenses saved provides me with comfort.

This level of savings should depend on your job, your level of expenses, and your comfort with having money in the bank.

For your emergency fund, there are three assets which I believe will provide an amazing safety net for your financial situation are:

• Cash
• Precious Metals
• Cryptocurrency

Let’s talk about each of these assets in detail.

Why You Should Hold Cash in Your Emergency Fund

Holding cash in your emergency fund is a pretty obvious suggestion.

You probably pay your bills with whatever currency is the main currency in your country, so having a checking or savings account with this currency certainly makes sense.

Depending on your level of comfort with different accounts, your cash can be held in a variety of ways.

I’ve already mentioned checking accounts, and savings accounts, but if you want to get a higher rate of return, you could opt for short term Treasury Bills or open up a high yield savings account.

Some people also will put cash in a Certificate of Deposit, but I’m not a huge fan of those as there can be restrictions on when you can access your money.

Cash is king, and by having a large cash position, you should be able to weather most financial storms.

However, with recent decisions by the European Central Bank (to cut interest rates further and start quantitative easing), and other central banks, the growth on your money in a traditional bank might not make sense going forward.

Before discussing the other two assets to own in your emergency fund, I want to touch on the absurdity of negative interest rates, and hopefully spark some new thoughts regarding cash flows.

On The Absurdity of Negative Interest Rates

In Europe, the overnight interest rate is -0.5%. What does this mean?

If I lend you $100, I have to pay you 0.5% for you borrowing my money.

On the face of this, why would I ever lend you anything?

For thousands of years, the purpose of lending and banking was that if I need a loan, then the lender is doing a service and taking on risk.

By taking on this risk, the borrower would pay an interest rate which would compensate the lender for lending out money.

Now, with negative interest rates in certain parts of the world, you have a completely distorted lending situation: lenders are quite literally losing money by lending (and taking on the risk of default from the borrower!)

One of the most mentioned arguments against precious metals and cryptocurrencies is how they don’t pay a dividend and do not have any cash flow.

Well, when banks are paying out 0%, or even charging you interest to hold cash in a checking or savings account, then you aren’t getting any cash flow for your savings anyway!

This is where it might make sense to consider these other two assets.

Why You Should Have Precious Metals in Case of Emergency Fund

Gold and silver, also known as precious metals, have been money for 6,000 years.

For a number of reasons, these shiny metals have stood the test of time, and have been coveted by different civilizations throughout different time periods all over the world.

Gold and silver satisfy a number of the essential qualities of money:

• Proven Medium of Exchange
• Unit of Account
• Portable
• Divisible
• Interchangeable
• Durable
• Private
• Default Proof
• Naturally Limited in Supply
• Millennial Long Stores of Value

You might think gold and silver are only things your grandma and grandpa own, but these assets have a position in your ultimate emergency fund.

If you need to flee the country, or need to protect your wealth from a rapidly depreciating currency, having physical assets is very important.

5 ounces of gold is currently worth over $7,500, and could easily fit in your pocket.

With the ability to concentrate your wealth into something physical, valuable and portable, this seems to make sense for an emergency.

One thing to note here is I’m not talking about buying GLD or SLV, ETFs which supposedly are backed by physical assets. These ETFs are digital and while could make sense in your investment portfolio, these have no place in your emergency fund.

I’m talking about physically having the physical coins or bars in a safe, hidden location.

There are a number of ways to buy gold and silver.

For me, I’ve purchased from sites such as SD Bullion and Apmex,. There are a ton of different coins and bars you could buy, but to start, I might look at something simple like Sunshine Mint bars, American Eagles or Junk (old quarters, dimes, etc.).

For you, you may not be comfortable buying at this point, but hopefully this sparks a thought into why you might want to consider buying these precious metals for your emergency fund.

Even $1,000 worth of precious metals could go a long way in making sure you stay financially resilient in a financial storm.

Why You Should Consider Cryptocurrencies in Your Emergency Fund

The next asset which might make sense for your emergency fund is cryptocurrencies.

At this point, you might think I’m crazy to even suggest this for your emergency fund.

Again, I’m looking to build the ultimate emergency fund, and if you live in a country with a volatile currency, or may need to flee your country, having a digital asset which isn’t tied to one specific currency may make sense.

Here, I’m not suggesting you go all in on one coin. What I’m saying here is it might make sense to allocate a little bit of your money into some of the bigger coins, such as Bitcoin, Litecoin, or Ethereum.

As with precious metals, even with $1,000 in something other than your home currency could be the difference between getting wiped out and having money in a crisis.

For buying cryptocurrency, you can use sites such as Coinbase.

One thing to note here is some governments have been cracking down on cryptocurrencies. While I don’t know what will happen in the future, this is definitely something to consider when thinking about buying these different assets.

At the same time, why should the government be afraid of something, and why should that stop different people from buying these assets?

I’m not sure, but with these three assets, you have the possibility to create an amazing emergency fund.

Now, let’s switch gears a little.

In the next section, I’m going to share with with 13 tips to save money to build your emergency fund.

13 Tips for Saving Up Money to Build Your Emergency Fund

There are a number of ways to save money each and every day.

Below are thirteen points you can look to implement in your life to save more money:

• Destroy your Debt
• Meal Prep and Eating in
• Buy Last Year’s Model
• Coupon at the Grocery Store
• Impose Self Spending Limits
• Planning Ahead for Vacations
• DIY Projects
• Using the Library
• Unsubscribe From Subscriptions
• Practice Smart Banking
• Use What is Needed
• Take Public Transportation
• Take Advantage of Offers

Essentially, if you want to save money, you have to start living intentionally and being conscious of your spending.

One recommendation I have for everyone with regards to spending is to think about what isn’t necessary and cut it.

If you are doing something which doesn’t bring you joy, then maybe it’s time to stop spending money on that thing!

For me, that’s how I decide how to spend my money. If it brings me enjoyment, I won’t hesitate to spend money. At the same time, if the product or service won’t bring me enjoyment, I won’t buy it.

Saving money might seem like a tough goal, but I know you can make smart financial decisions over time and get there.

Here are some other articles which can help you with learn about saving more money:

• 9 Money Saving Tips to Help You Live Frugally
• Increase Savings Fast by Reducing These 3 Big Expenses
• 9 Ways to Save Thousands of Dollars Every Year
• Personal Finance Blogs Saving Money Article Feed

Start Building Your Ultimate Emergency Fund Today

Getting a solid financial foundation in place is crucial for taking risks and becoming wealthy. A strong emergency fund is part of this solid financial foundation, and with this article, you now have some great background on what assets to own for your emergency fund.

Now, it’s your turn to start making changes in your life.

With a strong emergency fund, you will have a create foundation to start building your dream life.

Hopefully this article has given you some good food for thought regarding different ways to construct an emergency fund.

You may think my ideas in this post are out there and a little wacky, but this is my truth and I need to share it. If I don’t share these thoughts with you, I’m not being authentic.

Thanks for reading!

Making a major financial decision can be intimidating if you don’t have a lot of personal finance experience. In this article, you will learn about how you can make financial decisions with confidence.

Throughout your adult life you will have to make major financial decisions that can potentially be life altering.  Some people don’t think their decisions through, while others are guilty of overthinking them.

Major financial decisions are often tied to our largest expenses. Choosing to rent vs. buy a home is a common one. Choosing the specific home is a subsequent major decision as well! Other examples of major financial decisions include (from largest to smallest):

• Post-secondary education (for yourself or your children)
• Choosing a vehicle
• Purchasing furniture & large appliances
• Purchasing computers, smartphones, & other technology

For the purposes of this article, we’ll say any purchase over $1,000 is a major financial decision. These aren’t decisions you make on a daily, weekly, or even monthly basis.

It may seem surprising, but the method for making major financial decisions is the same, whether it’s making the purchase of a home or a smartphone. It is also similar but more detailed than the process used for making better daily financial decisions.

Below, I have 5 tips you can implement to make better major financial decisions:

1. Avoid Impulse Decisions at all Costs
2. Don’t Listen to “Blanket” Advice
3. Ask Yourself These Personal Questions
4. Run The Numbers
5. Don’t Get Cold Feet

Avoid Impulse Decisions at all Costs

Impulse buying is something nearly all of us do; this study says 84% of Americans have made an impulse purchase before.

While you may think of “impulse” shopping as buying a latte or a pair of jeans, it also occurs for major purchases. The same study said 20% of shoppers make an impulse purchase greater than $1,000!

You should “sleep on it” before making any such purchase if possible. The amount of time and effort to put depends on the scale of the decision being made. You should spend far more time researching a vehicle than researching a smartphone for example.

Also realize that buying the product as soon as you enter the store is NOT necessarily an impulse purchase. Ideally you’d be researching before going to the store, not after.

If I research the new iPhone and decide I want it, then I may spend no more than 10 minutes in the store. If I were to see the Samsung next to it and decide I like the Samsung better, then that would be an impulse purchase.

Sometimes unexpected things happen, whether it is a new deal for a different product, or a change in personal circumstances. Whatever the case may be, always sleep on your decision!

Don’t Listen to “Blanket” Financial Advice

Blanket advice is a term that describes a generic piece of advice that doesn’t consider your personal circumstances. It may be good advice for some or many, but bad for others. Given how personal finance is highly personal, you’ll need to filter through these pieces of blanket advice.

“Buying a home is always better than renting” is the most common piece of blanket advice in the personal finance world.

Since this is arguably the biggest financial decision of your life, it would be wise to not follow blanket advice here!

Ask Yourself These Personal Questions

There are some qualitative questions you should ponder before making your decision. Some of them may not be easy to answer; remember to be as honest with yourself as possible!

Do I need this or want this?

The question appears simple on the surface but it is actually subjective and complex. Needs and wants can overlap. You may need a car, but you want a Mercedes. You may need a college degree to be an accountant, but you want to go to an expensive, private, out-of-state college.

Timing also plays a factor here.

Getting a new phone can be a need if you have an iPhone 6, but a want if you have an iPhone 10.

Give it a few years and that want for a new phone will turn into a need.

Try to be as truthful with yourself as possible, and remember to prioritize needs over wants.

If this is a want, does it provide value to my life?

Just because something is a want doesn’t mean it gets ruled out!

The next step is to see if making this decision will bring value to your life, and seeing if that value is worth the cost.

This step separates the “I really want…” from the “I kind of want…”

If a major purchase or financial choice will improve your quality of life then it’s worth it, so long as you can afford it.

Can I afford this at its current cost?

This one is more objective than subjective. Running the numbers (discussed below) is the way to figure this out. You shouldn’t make a financial decision that will break your budget, even if it is a good deal or opportunity on its own.

Am I willing to consider any cheaper alternatives?

There is a cheaper alternative to virtually anything. The question is, what is the lowest-cost alternative that is still practical, and that you’re still willing to consider? These are questions only you can answer.

You might be in the market for a pre-owned vehicle in the $20,000 to $30,000 range. Would you consider a $10,000 used car? Would you go lower than this, especially if you’re looking to purchase a car with bad credit in Cheyenne How about a $1,000 box on wheels? Odds are that you’ll get to a point where your standards will limit how low-cost you’re willing to go.

This is why you need to figure out what low-cost alternatives you’re going to consider, if any.

Housing is another area where there are many lower-cost alternatives.

House hacking is a great way to greatly reduce your housing costs IF you’re willing to consider it. I did house hacking for 4 years and had some great results!

Run The Numbers for Your Major Financial Decision

If you follow any one tip from this article, make it be this one! Doing the math for your own personal situation is a must for making major financial decisions.

If it’s a large purchase, you’ll need to evaluate what it’ll cost you. Remember that includes recurring costs (ie. maintenance costs) and not just the purchase price on the sticker.

If you are comparing different scenarios (most commonly renting vs. buying) then you’ll have to evaluate the costs of both to see which one is better in the long run. Again, don’t forget to include all costs and not just the purchase price!

It can be complex to perform these calculations though, especially if math isn’t your strong suit. Luckily there are plenty of awesome calculators online meaning you just need to gather the data and input.

Here are my favorite online calculators for different situations:

• Renting vs. buying a home
• Home ownership cost
• New car vs. used car
• Car ownership cost

Don’t Get Cold Feet

At first glance, this may seem like it contradicts the first tip. However, this tip targets the other extreme! This is for the people who get cold feet from waiting too long.

“Through indecision opportunity is often lost” – Publilius Syrus

Not making a decision is effectively making a decision to do nothing. While you should definitely sleep on the decision of buying a used car, sleeping too many nights will result in the car likely being sold to someone else.

This is why doing the legwork beforehand is crucial; it gives you the opportunity to make a well-informed decision quickly when the time arises.

Make Smart Decisions During Major Financial Moments

Improving the way you make decisions can in fact improve your finances.  You employ many of the same strategies whether you are making daily financial decisions or making once-in-a-lifetime decisions.

It is important not to let impulses dictate your decisions here; but you also have to be careful to not get cold feet either.

Following the remainder of these tips will allow you to look at both the qualitative and quantitative sides to the decision, and be ready to make a well informed decision when the time comes!

Readers: what is the next major financial decision you foresee having to make?

Making smart financial decisions can be a tough task if you don’t have a lot of personal finance experience. In this article, you will learn tips to for you to make smart financial decisions with confidence on a daily basis.

Every day you are forced to make decisions that impact your life. In fact, humans make an estimated 35,000 decisions daily!

Some of these decisions will impact your finances either directly or indirectly.

Direct effects are most often decisions on whether or not to purchase something.

Indirect effects can be a result of other things such as the opportunity cost of your decisions.

These types of effects can be seen when making major purchase decisions and making small daily decisions.

Since we acknowledge decision-making and finances are related, we should also realize that improving your decision-making might possibly benefit your finances as a result.

This article will talk about making better daily decisions not only for your finances, but also for your life as a whole.

The Power of Small, Consistent Actions

Since it is well known that focusing on the “Big Three” expenses is the best way to cut on spending, you may be thinking:

Why focus on small daily decisions?

The reason is simple. Firstly, the savings brought by some of these decisions can accumulate into large amounts. However, the most important reason is that small daily decisions are what form habits. They are a manifestation of your discipline, or a lack-of.

The process of self-improvement on a daily basis is equivalent to interest that compounds daily! It is more proof that compounding takes place in all aspects of life.

Financial decisions that occur daily are most often purchase decisions.

• Do I buy lunch today, or do I cook the groceries I previously bought?
• Should I check out the shoe store at the mall? Or just go and buy what I came here for?

The answers to these hypothetical questions can affect both your self-discipline and your wallet.

Most often, the daily financial decisions you make involve choosing to stick to your budget or not. If you frequently make purchases that have no place in your budget, or you overspend on things that are in your budget, you could be engaging in impulse buying.

The Power of Overcoming Impulse Buying

Impulse buying can be defined as: “the buying of retail merchandise prompted by a whim on seeing the product displayed.”

Impulse buying is a common occurrence, partly due to the free market we live in and the abundance of products you didn’t know you needed. In fact, a study by Invesp has found that 84% of American shoppers make impulse purchases!

These aren’t necessarily on small purchases either; the same study found over 50% of the same group has spent $100 or more on said impulse purchases.

The key trait of impulse buying is that it falls under unplanned decisions. At first glance, you might think it best to avoid saying “no” to all unplanned decisions, however it is not always that simple.

What if you forgot to add deodorant to your shopping list, but remember that you need it once you see it in store? Even though this was an unplanned decision, it’s still wise to say yes and purchase something you need.

Learning to filter the needs from your wants is all part of the improved decision making process you’ll use to avoid impulse buying.

5 Tips for Improving Your Daily Financial Decision Making

Improving your financial decision making might seem like a tough task, but with the right knowledge and steps, you can start making better financial decisions.

Below, I have 5 tips you can take and implement in your life to improve your daily decision making:

• Always plan ahead
• Minimize time spent on the smallest decisions
• Avoid the source of tough decisions
• Consider using cash envelopes
• Find balance with your purchases and don’t sweat your mistakes

Let’s dive into each of these tips in more detail below.

1. Always plan ahead

The best way to improve your decision-making on a daily level is to have a plan.

This plan can be in the form of a monthly budget, shopping list, or meal prep plan.

Think about it: knowing what you’re having for lunch this week reduces the likelihood of you deciding to buy lunch!

Remember that a plan alone is not enough. Everyday, you’ll now have to make the decision of “do I stick to my plan?”

2. Minimize time spent on the smallest decisions

The size of the purchase should influence the time you spend debating it. After all, it shouldn’t take you 10 minutes to decide whether or not you want a $5 latte!

For most daily purchases, you shouldn’t need more than ten seconds to make a decision. The primary question to ask yourself is:

“Does this purchase bring value to me?”

There is also a secondary benefit to making your decisions quickly and concisely. The longer you think about it, the more likely you are to give in and try to justify the impulse buy in your head.

3. Avoid the source of tough decisions

This technique will help you stick to any plans you may have made in the first step. Avoiding online shopping is one common way people avoid difficult purchase decisions.

Marketing for e-commerce is cutting edge and astonishingly effective at getting repeat customers to make purchases. If you find yourself always tempted by this, then your best bet is to completely avoid visiting the website of your favorite retailers.

The same goes for shopping malls and large department stores. Try not to visit them spontaneously; I find it helpful to only go on shopping trips that are pre-planned.

4. Consider using cash envelopes

Finally, if you are really finding it hard to take control of your daily financial decisions, you may want to look into the cash envelope budget method. I actually covered this in depth as one of the 5 simple budgeting methods to make the most of your money.

I’ve personally never used this budgeting method, but it is one of the oldest forms of budgeting and is largely popular even in today’s digital age. It is truly a great strategy for those who struggle with sticking to a budget and avoiding impulse purchases.

The cash envelope budget method involves filling envelopes with a set amount of cash every month, with each envelope representing a spending category (groceries, transportation, entertainment, etc.)

The premise of this budgeting method is that it’s impossible to overspend with cash, since you cannot spend more than you have. Also, it’s been well documented that people tend to spend more using credit cards than cash. There’s something psychological about cash (maybe the fact that it’s tangible) that leads people to be more conservative with it.

5. Find Balance with Your Purchases and Don’t Sweat Mistakes

Decision making can be tough, and if you are worrying about past mistakes, then it can be even tougher.

I love playing sports, and in particular, one of my favorite sports is golf.

If I’m playing and hit a bad shot, sometimes it’s tough to forget about that bad shot, and I’ll end up overthinking my next shot – compounding the problem.

Instead, I try to take a deep breath and focus on making my next shot as good as it can be.

I can’t change the past, but can change my future.

For making smart financial decisions, a similar concept can be applied.

First, it’s okay to spend money on things which bring you joy. You can spend money and still meet your financial goals (living a fulfilling life is also important!!).

Second, sometimes impulse purchases are necessary because of stress or peer pressures. Realizing this, you can then find balance by cutting back elsewhere and recognizing that mistakes happen to everyone.

Balance is so important in life, and knowing when to be on, and when to relax is tough but a worthwhile endeavor to try to tackle.

Start Making Smarter Financial Decisions Today

Improving daily decision-making is a powerful way to help build positive habits and break down negatives ones. This goes not only for personal finance, but also for other aspects of life such as health and fitness.

Impulse buying is a very common daily occurrence, and one example of what improved decision-making can help to counter. Impulse decisions also affects making major purchases, which can add up over time.

Remember, there are many tools out there to improve your daily decision-making. Always make a plan before shopping. Tie your decision-making time to the size of the decision; don’t spend 10 minutes deciding on a coffee! Also, try to remove yourself from tempting situations such as browsing online stores.

With this article, I hope you can get onto your financial saving goals, save more money, and get on to living the life you want and deserve!

Thank you for reading 🙂

Saving money for a vacation, an emergency fund, or to just improve your financial situation is a great goal. In this post, you’ll learn how you can save $100 a week, and after a year, you will have saved $5,200!

Saving money certainly can feel like an intimidating challenge, especially if you currently save little to none of your income.

A great first step would be saving your first $1,000. But once you save up this small cash buffer, where do you go from there?

This $100 per week money saving challenge is a great way to start the habit of continuously saving. You’ll end up with $5,200 one year from now. Keep it up for 10 years (investing $100 weekly at a conservative 5% annual return) and you’ll end up with a grand total of  $67,396.73!

Why Save $100 Per Week?

Well, there is one main reason besides the obvious of $100 per week being a nice even number. It is a fairly reasonable goal for a household with a near-median income.

There is one slight issue when it comes to using dollar values in your money saving challenge. $100 a week, or $5,200 a year, may be too easy or too difficult depending on your household income and household needs.

The median household income in the US was $61,372 in 2017. Everyone’s tax situation is different, but a household with this exact gross income may generally see between $45,000 to $50,000 of net income.

Let’s pick a nice number in the middle: a net income of $47,500. Your net savings rate after completing the $5,200 money saving challenge would be:

Net Savings Rate = ($5,200 / $47,500) x 100

Net Savings Rate = 10.95%

Overall, a household with the median income who follows this challenge successfully would save about 11% of their take-home pay. 11% may not sound like a lot, but it’s reasonable and actually slightly above average. The average savings rate for Americans was just 8.1% as of June 2019!

You can calculate your own net savings rate to see how this money saving challenge works for you.

Setting a Money Saving Challenge That Works For You

$5,200 a year may not be the right goal for you if your household income is much higher or much lower than the median. There are other factors such as cost of living and household needs as well. It’s important after all to set goals that you can achieve!

If you are currently saving little to no money, a good starting point is to aim to save 10% of your net income. Taking your net income and dividing it by 10 will give you a personalized money saving goal if the $5,200 doesn’t feel like a reasonable goal to you.

Regardless of the amount you choose to strive for in this challenge, the principles you apply to accomplish it are the same!

The Gap Between Income and Expenses

In order to find more ways to save money, you must widen the gap between your income and expenses. You can then put this money away to save towards your goals.

This is why it’s important to have well-defined goals that can be broken up further. Remember the $100 per week goal? You can break that down to just $14.29 a day. From there, you just need to actually find that $14.29 gap daily.

Looking at Small Expenses to Save More Money

In David Bach’s book The Automatic Millionaire, there is an interesting concept coined as the “Latte Factor”. This term describes the small daily purchases that have the potential to add up to a huge sum.  We are talking purchases such as fancy coffee, take-out lunches, etc.

How much can you actually save with this method? Well, it all depends on how much you’re spending. If you’re buying a $4 latte daily, choosing to make that coffee at home will save you $3.50 at least. That already puts you a quarter of the way there!

Likewise, if you eat out on a daily basis, cooking at home can save you hundreds if not thousands per year. Did you know that 54% of American food spending is on eating out? If you find yourself spending more on restaurants than groceries, rebalancing this may instantly put you in a better position to save money.

Other small expenses that can add up include:

• Lottery tickets, one per week ($5 per week = $260 per year)
• Cigarettes, smoking three packs per week ($24 per week = $1248 per year)
• Banking fees ($10 per month = $120 per year)

The list goes on!

Tackling Large Expenses to Save More Money

There is another method which can either be used separately or in combination with the above; focusing on large expense categories can save you thousands a year without giving up small daily luxuries such as morning lattes!

This method involves managing the “big three” expenses: housing, transportation, and food.

We already discussed food briefly above. Small purchases of coffee and snacks may be included under the “Latte Factor”, but spending thousands per year on restaurants likely falls here. Cutting back to eating out just two or three times a month can help keep your food budget under control!

Housing is the biggest expense category for Americans and holds significant saving potential. Downsizing your home and finding deals on furniture both have the potential to save you hundreds every month, putting you well on track to complete this savings challenge.

Increasing Your Income To Help Save More Money

An increase in income is arguably the fastest way to succeed at this money savings challenge, however it is not easy.

The simplest situation is a promotion or new position that comes with a sizable salary increase. Say your net income increases by $6,000 per year with a new job position. Your savings challenge would be instantly completed, provided that your lifestyle cost doesn’t increase as well!

The vicious loop of increased spending/increased earning is why people with six or seven-figure salaries may still suffer from alarming financial problems. Getting out of it by boosting your savings rate after a pay raise is a game-changer.

The above also applies to increases in annual income through side hustles or passive income from investments.

Automate Your Finances to Improve Your Financial Situation

Want to know the best way to stick to this money saving challenge? Automate your contributions.

The pay yourself first mentality is a common psychological trick in the personal finance world. An automatic transfer to your savings account makes it one step harder for you to make discretionary purchases with the money that was meant for saving. It also is one less thing to think and worry about in general.

Make sure to run the numbers beforehand and make sure you can afford your mandatory expenses with the money left over from saving. If you can’t, then you’re probably saving too aggressively.

Where Should You Save Money and Put Your Savings

The act of putting aside money isn’t enough; it also matters where you’re putting the money.

There is no shortage of options when it comes to investing, and the proper allocation all depends on your goals. After all, personal finance is personal!

You likely have more than one goal, and you’ll want to contribute to them all simultaneously. However, it’s important to know the simple strategies for each type of goal.

Savings and Investment Accounts For Retirement

The importance of saving for your own future cannot be understated. Luckily, there are many different tax-advantaged accounts that are created to encourage money saving.

Maxing out your employer’s 401(k) contribution matching (if available) is one of the few no-brainer pieces of advice in the personal finance world. If you do not take advantage of this, then you are leaving your compensation right on the table!

An IRA is also a great choice for retirement savings. It is less restricted than the employer-sponsored 401(k), but doesn’t have the powerful benefit of contribution matching. Many people have a combination of both these accounts.

There are many other accounts to be aware of (notably Roth IRA’s) and far more strategies to learn. Check out this beginner guide to investment accounts for more.

Savings Accounts for Short Term Goals

Are you saving for a big purchase, or perhaps want to boost your emergency fund? Saving for short-term goals requires a different strategy. You’ll want to save your money somewhere where there is virtually no chance of losing money.

One place this is possible is in a high-yield savings account. Your money can earn 2% to 2.5% in interest, likely just enough to counter inflation. If you plan on using the money within a year or so, that likely shouldn’t matter to you! I like to check Bankrate to find the best high-yield savings rates offered at any given time.

Start Saving $100 a Week Today!

Taking on a money saving challenge can be a fun way to boost your savings. Making it a structured challenge of $100 per week encourages accountability on your part, especially if others are aware of your participation in the challenge.

Whether you are saving zero percent of your income or 10+ percent, there are many ways to further widen your income-expense gap.

Finally, remember the importance of breaking down your big goals into little chunks. The $5,200 may seem large and unattainable, but you’ll be there in no time if you succeed at saving $100 per week!

Are you looking to find some cheap and easy budget meal plans? In this post, you’ll find 21 delicious budget meals which you can cook in a short amount of time!

When you’re juggling a career, family, hobbies and a social life, it can be difficult getting a delicious meal on the table.

Sometimes it seems like there just isn’t enough time in the day to do everything we want – including making a healthy, from scratch dinner.

Fortunately, we’ve compiled a list of tasty, delicious meals that can go from kitchen to table in 45 minutes or less.

They’re as easy on your brain as they are on your wallet.

Here are 21 delicious, quick meal ideas for when you don’t have a lot of time (or cash).

I’ve split up the post into multiple sections – you can navigate to each one using the list below (or scroll):

• Breakfast
• Pasta
• Sandwich
• Taco
• Soup/Chili
• Stir-Fry
• Wraps

Below, you can click on the recipe images to go to the website with each recipe.

Enjoy!

Budget Breakfast for Dinner Meal Ideas

Breakfast is a wonderfully delicious way to have dinner.

Not only is it generally inexpensive, it usually comes together quick and uses ingredients most people already have on hand, like milk, flour, eggs, and butter.

Whether you’re whipping up some fresh pancakes or feeding a crowd with a casserole, having breakfast for dinner is a great way to save time and money.

Add some fruit or eggs to make it a complete meal!

Here are three breakfast recipes to make when you’re low on time and money:

 

 

 

Can’t get enough of warm, fluffy pancakes?  Check out these 55+ pancake recipes for when you’re looking to change things up.

Budget Pasta Meal Recipes

Pasta is one of the world’s most perfect foods – it cooks quick, is versatile, and can be as healthy or indulgent as you want.

Nothing seems to satisfy like a big bowl of hot noodles smothered in rich sauce. Topped with a protein like grilled chicken or meatballs, and it makes a hearty meal. For a convenient and nutritious option, you can see more and order healthy meals online from various services that offer balanced, protein-rich dishes delivered right to your door.

Here are three pasta recipes to try when you’re short on time but want to pack in the flavor.

 

 

Love pasta but hate cooking?  Here are 20 mouth-watering pasta recipes that can be made in an Instant Pot.

Budget Sandwich Meal Recipes

Sandwiches can be the ultimate comfort food – they’re also super easy to prepare, making them a great lunch or dinner.

Here are three wonderful sandwich recipes for when you’re craving that gooey comfort-food goodness and don’t have a lot of time.

 

 

Need more sandwich ideas?  Here’s a list of 85+ sandwich recipes that are great for lunch or dinner!

Budget Tacos Meal Recipes

Tacos are one of America’s favorite foods, and for good reason – they’re tasty, cheap, and come together pretty quick.

Whether they’re filled with chicken, beef, pork or fish, tacos are a delicious weeknight meal when you need to get something on the table fast.

Here are three taco recipes that can go from stove to table in 35 minutes or less.

 

 

Can’t get enough tacos?  Check out this list from Delish that has 50+ tacos recipes that are perfect for Taco Tuesday!

Budget Soup/Chili Meal Recipe Ideas

There’s nothing like warming up with a big bowl of soup or chili on a brisk Fall day.

It’s also the perfect dish for busy families, as all the ingredients can just be thrown into a pot and cooked while you’re at work or watching the kids, with minimal prep work.

These can all be made specifically in the slow cooker/crock pot for extra convenience. They also go great with sandwiches – another easy dinner idea!

Here are three soup and chili recipes to use when you’re short on time.

 

 

Want more soup?  Whether you need to cool down or warm up, Delish has you covered with over 100 soup recipes and ideas!

Budget Stir-Fry Meal Recipes

Stir fries are a great weeknight meal, as they don’t take long to whip up and are chock-full of veggies and protein.

The best part?  It takes less time to make than ordering take-out!

Here are three delicious stir fry meals to try when you’re craving Chinese take-out – without the waiting.

 

 

 

Can’t get enough Chinese inspired dishes?  Check out this list of 70+ authentic Chinese food recipes from Delish.

Budget Wrap Meal Recipes

Wraps, while closely related to the taco, have their own wide variety of mouth-watering flavors to try.

Wraps are perfect for when you don’t have a lot of time, as they can be made in under 30 minutes.

They’re also perfectly portable for when you need to take a meal or snack on the go.

 

 

Want more wrap recipes?  Check out this list of 22 sandwich wraps by Taste of Home!

Eat Great and Save Money at the Same Time!

Getting a delicious, healthy meal on the table doesn’t have to be complicated, time consuming or a chore.

Simply use one of these easy to make recipes, and you can have a tasty, hearty meal that’ll be on the table in less than 45 minutes!

Bon Appétit!

Investing money to build wealth is very important on the path to becoming financially successful. If you’ve waited a long time to start, don’t worry. There is always time for you to start investing money for your financial future.

Want to hear a scary statistic?

Almost half of all adults in the United States 55 and over have nothing saved for retirement.

It can be easy to prioritize other financial goals over retirement when you’re young, because retirement seems so far off.

Unfortunately, before you know it, retirement will be here – and you’ll either be able to pay for it or you won’t.

While this is a heartbreaking statistic, if you’re in the same boat, there’s good news; it’s never too late to start investing for your financial future – you just have to be more diligent about it if you’re starting later.

In this post, you will learn about the power of compounding and compound interest, and learn why it’s never too late to start investing for your financial future.

What is Compounding and The Power of Compound Interest

Before we get into some tips on how to save more to invest for retirement, it’s helpful to see an example of just why it’s so important to start investing as soon as possible.

Two words – compound interest.

Most people are familiar with the term interest – the money you get in return for loaning money to a bank, for example.

But compound interest is an even greater being.

Compound interest is the money you earn on your initial investment, plus the money you earn from accrued interest.

Simply put, it’s the interest your interest earns.

For example, let’s say you put $1000 into the stock market, and you average a 10% return every year. After that first year your investment gained 10%, or $100.

While this is an amazing thing – yay, free money! – even better is what happens a few years later when compound interest starts taking over.

After 10 years, you would have earned a total of $1,593.74 in interest without contributing anything more.

You can see how during the first few years, our investment returns don’t make us much.

But once compound interest starts to take over, it really starts to take off!

Even with an amount as small as $1000, over time, the interest you earn from your investment and the interest your interest earns really starts to affect your returns.

This is why it’s so important to start investing early – because compounding takes time.

The point of this example isn’t to make you feel bad – it’s to help you understand how much compounding interest can help you reach your financial goals.

The Impact of Time on Compounding and Time in the Market

Another important factor when it comes to investing is time. Time allows compounding interest to do the heavy lifting for us.

In order to drive the point home, let’s look at an example between two different investors: one with 15 years until retirement, and one with 25, with identical salaries, investment returns and contributions.

Investor A makes $50,000 a year, invests $100 a month, and has 15 years until retirement.

Here’s how much his account would be worth after that 15 years at 10% interest:

These investing results are pretty good!

Let’s compare that to investor B, who also makes $50,000 a year, invests $100 monthly, but has 25 years until retirement.

Here’s how much his account would be worth after that 25 years at 10% interest:

Even with both investors making the same amount of money, and contributing the same amount to their investments, investor B has almost three times the amount of money as investor A after only 10 additional years of investing, and only $12,000 additional capital invested.

This is a perfect example of why time in the market is more important than almost any other factor.

How to Save for Retirement with Limited Time

Let’s say you’re like Investor A, with not much time until retirement.

Is it even possible for you to retire with enough savings?

The easiest way to determine if and when you can retire is to determine how much you’ll need in retirement, then divide that amount by the amount of years you have until you retire.

For example, let’s say you are 50 years old and expect to retire at 65 with $500,000. You have no money saved and you don’t have access to a 401K.

In order to determine how much you’ll have to save for retirement, we have to figure out how much we need to save per year.

$500,000 / 15 years = $33,333.33 a year, or $2,777.00 a month.

That is a lot of money, but depending on your income and expenses, it can be done.
But in order to do that, you need to start saving more.

If you’re trying to play catch-up, here are some small steps that can yield big results.

The Impact on Retirement of Getting a 401k Match at Work

If you have an employee-sponsored 401k and you work for a company that will match your contribution up to a specific dollar amount, you need to take advantage of it.

Every dollar helps, and not taking a match is like throwing free money away.

Taking that match, whether it’s 2% or 5%, can have a drastic effect on your investment returns and timeline.

Let’s use an example.

Investor A makes $50,000 a year, has 25 years until retirement, contributes $125 a month to his retirement but gets no additional match from his company.

Investor B makes $50,000 a year, has 25 years until retirement, contributes $125 a month to his retirement and gets a match on his 401K contributions (an additional $125 a month, $250 total contribution).

Let’s take a look at the results:

Investor A:

Investor B:

While it’s not unsurprising that Investor B has more money at retirement, it is crazy to see how much more he has, just from an additional $1,500.00 being contributed to his account every year.

Obviously, if you’re getting any sort of match at all, you need to take it!

Increase Your Contributions Every Few Years (or as Often as you Can)

Another great way to beef up your retirement savings is to increase your contributions as often as possible.

Here’s an example.

Investor A contributes $125 a month to his retirement and does not contribute any extra over the course of his 25 years until retirement (and receives no company match for simplicity sake).

Here’s what he would be left with at the end of those 25 years if he started from $0 at a 10% interest rate (this is the same table from above):

 

Let’s contrast that to Investor B, who also contributes $125 a month to his investments, but who, every five years, increases his contribution rate by 2% (for the sake of this example, Investor B gets no company match either).

So at age 40 he’s contributing 3% ($1,500 per year), at age 45 he’s contributing 5% ($2,500 per year), at age 50 he’s contributing 7% ($3,500 a year), at age 55 he’s contributing 9% ($4,500 per year) and at age 60 he’s contributing 10.5% ($5,250).

*Because this information is harder to calculate by graph, I did it by hand.

Here are the results:

Investor B is left with almost $350,000 more dollars in retirement, just by gradually increasing their contribution rate over 25 years.

This is a perfect example of how contributing a little extra every month every few years will get you to financial independence much quicker than not raising your contributions at all.

After 50, You Can Contribute More to Retirement

You may not know, but if you’re over 50, you can actually contribute a little extra to your 401K and IRAs.

In 2019, the maximum contribution for a 401K is $19,000. If you’re over 50 though, you can contribute an extra $6,000 per year, for a total of $25,000 a year!

In 2019, the maximum you can contribute to an IRA (either Traditional or Roth) is $6,000, plus an additional $1,000, for a total of $7,000 a year.

This little extra contribution room can help bridge the gap between what you have currently saved, and what you might need.

Save, Save More, and Keep Saving!

If, and when, you get a raise, pretend you didn’t and take the extra to increase your contribution.

If, and when, you get a tax return, pretend you didn’t and take the extra to increase your contribution.

If, and when, you sell things around the house, pretend you didn’t and take the extra to up your contribution.

If you have a side-job and are earning some extra income, pretend you’re volunteering instead and channel those funds into an IRA and get the benefit of no tax when you withdrawal at the time of retirement.

For hourly employees, if and when you get overtime pay, pretend you didn’t and take the extra to increase your contribution.
If you ever receive an inheritance, pretend you didn’t and increase your contribution.

If you receive a settlement, take as much of those funds after you pay lawyers, and other bills to increase your contribution.

If you’re still trying to catch-up and have maxed out your 401k ($19,000 or $25,000 for employees 50 or over) and IRA ($6,000 or $7,000 for employees 50 or over), just remember that you can always contribute after-tax dollars to a brokerage account and purchase one of many low cost index funds.

It’s Never too Late to Start Investing

It’s never too late to start investing and contributing to your financial future.

While it may be more difficult for you depending on your age, your income, and your access to benefits such as a 401K, with time, it can be done.

There’s a wonderful Chinese proverb that is relevant to starting to invest:

“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.”

So start contributing to your financial well-being today, and get on the way to financial freedom.

The future you is depending on it!

Saving more money might seem like a tough thing to do, but with the right knowledge, you can save a lot of money in a short period of time. In this post, you’ll learn a number of ways to save thousands of dollars a year!

There are many ways to improve your financial situation: increasing your income, decreasing your spending, getting out of debt, etc.

One of the easiest ways people can improve their situation instantly is to cut costs and lower their expenses.  It doesn’t cost anything to stop spending money – just a little willpower.

Today, I will be sharing with you nine ways to start saving money – and all of these are strategies you can put into action today.

Let’s get into these 9 ways to save more money starting today.

9 Ways to Save Thousands of Dollars Starting Today

There are a number of ways to save money each and every day. I’ll give you nine in this article that you can take a jab at working on right away:

• Destroying your Debt
• Meal Prep and Eating in
• Couponing
• Planning Ahead for Vacations
• DIY Projects
• Using the Library
• Unsubscribe From Subscriptions
• Practice Smart Banking
• Taking Public Transportation

Let’s go into more detail for each of these money saving methods.

Destroy Your Debt

Debt is a huge expense for many people. For me, it’s my biggest expense: my mortgage payment is $1,702, and I need to pay it every single month.

For me to live in my house, since I’ve financed it with a mortgage, I’m paying around $20,000 a year to service the debt. That’s a lot of money each and every year for 30 years. Unfortunately, many people, including myself, currently have or have had student loans, auto loans, mortgages, and credit card debt.

The first way to save thousands of dollars is to destroy your debt. Pay a little bit extra on the principal of your loan and you’ll be able to pay it off earlier. Check out my these ways to get out of debt fast, and you’ll be on your way to debt freedom – plus, getting out of debt is pretty awesome psychologically speaking!

Meal Prep and Eating In

Eating out is really expensive. Baked in to the price is the cost of the food, the cost of the workers making your food, the cost of the property and all that entails, taxes, etc.

A meal for one person these days can easily run you $10+ a pop – and that doesn’t even include a tip.

Alternatively, meal prepping, bulk cooking, and eating in can help save a lot of money.

For example, in Minnesota where I live, I can get a dozen eggs for $1. I typically will eat 4 eggs, and add in a banana and apple and call that a meal. This “meal” will cost me about $2.

Now, if I wanted to go out for breakfast, this same meal would probably cost around $13. Added up every single day of the year, and all of a sudden that $10 meal becomes $3,650!

Try eating in just once more per week and see how much more money you can save.

Use Coupons

Saving a dollar on 10 items each week can add up over a year. Saving an extra $10 a week is over $500 a year!

Just the simple act of looking at a coupon book and seeing if there are any deals on what you usually buy can help save a few hundred bucks per year.

My mom is an avid couponer. She spends a few hours each week looking through ads to make sure the family can save a few bucks here and there. Over many, many years, these savings add up!

Plan Ahead for Vacations

It’s no secret that transportation, especially air transportation, costs a lot of money.

One way to save more money on vacations is by planning ahead and buying your airfare in advance – whether that’s many months or even close to a year.

I went to Las Vegas at the end of June.  It was a last minute decision on my part – and for that, I paid the price.

For a flight from Minneapolis to Las Vegas, on such short notice, I paid almost $650!

If I had been able to check ahead, say, six months in advance, my flight would have been far less – around the $200 figure. That’s a $450 difference!

Imagine the amount of savings if you had a family or partner.  It’d make this savings even more significant: $450 savings across 4 people is some serious moolah!

DIY Projects

Going to the store and buying a new desk, bench, or storage rack can be a little bit spendy. If you’re handy (or even into learning some new skills), why not go to the hardware store and buy a few 2×4’s and get the job done yourself for cheap?

I did this last year: I went and created a ton of storage space for myself with a few 2×4’s and just a few hours of work. There are so many ways to DIY simple projects, and even if you don’t know how YET, you can always learn something new, especially with things like step-by-step YouTube videos, books, and internet articles.

 

 

Use the Library

Going to the library, getting a library card, and using it to further your education can go a long way in saving money on books and learning materials.

Books from Amazon or Barnes & Noble typically cost anywhere between $10 to $20 a book.  Most libraries have any book you could ever want, including other forms of popular media like movies, television shows, ebooks, audiobooks, etc

This year, I’ve spent $250 on books from Amazon. While I’m happy to do it because it’s bettering myself, I also find myself thinking about how that money could be better served.

That $250 could’ve been put into the bank, or used to fund an investment!

Going to the library and renting your books and movies could help save a few hundred bucks a year.

You can also find other surprising ways to save more money by using the library; I’ve heard of libraries that rent out things like kayaks, cooking equipment, and even zoo and museum passes. Get to know what your library offers and you may find endless ways to save!

Unsubscribe

Monthly subscriptions are dangerous for someone trying to keep their expenses low. Each and every month, you are on the hook for another payment.

What is necessary in your life? Do you really need that subscription to your favorite magazine?  What about the $60 a month subscription for new clothes (something my old roommate had)?

Take a tally of your current monthly subscriptions, and make sure you’re not missing any! Figure out what is necessary and remove what isn’t.

Bank, ATM and Overdraft Fees

A recent study puts the cost of transacting in cash at $200 billion a year – because of different banking fees.

If you need cash, find an ATM that is in your network and take out cash for free. ATM fees typically are at least $3 per transaction.

If we pay attention to where we are, we can usually find an in-network ATM.  But what if you can’t?  It’s always worth calling your bank and asking for a fee to be reversed. They should understand, and if you’re nice and polite, they should do it for you.

Overdraft fees are another hassle, and they make the least sense to me – if you keep money in your bank account and you’re keeping track of how much you’re spending, you shouldn’t be overdrawing your account.

Finally, there are so many free checking account options out there, either through basic packages at banks or credit unions, that it doesn’t make sense to pay bank fees to use your own money.

Stop paying to bank, and remove a few hundred dollars in expenses over the next year.

Public Transportation

Cars are super expensive.

Not only that, but add in insurance premiums (especially if you have a nice car), maintenance, gas, and parking, and a person can easily spend $5,000 to $10,000 a year or more just in transportation costs.

I personally spend a little over $2,000 on my car a year just for check-ups, insurance, and gas.

Instead of driving to work each day, I take the bus. It costs me $50 a month but is much less stressful than driving – plus, no wear and tear on my car!

Another alternative is riding your bike to work – as many people of the frugality mindset do. Plus, it’s great exercise!

Ways The Mastermind Within Community Members are Saving Money

One of the great things about having readers is being able to ask them about their strategies for financial success.  A number of people contributed to the question of the best ways they save money.

Dylan, a friend and blogger at Trail to FI, saves money by staying home!  Here’s what he had to say about saving money:

Don’t go shopping! The easiest way to avoid temptation is to not put yourself in the situation where you might be tempted. I used to browse daily deal websites and end up buying gadgets that I didn’t really need. Now I just don’t visit those sites.

A number of people say they use automation and a strategy of paying themselves first.

Cynthia, an avid reader, says she can’t spend what she can’t access.

On the first day of the month, we transfer a specific dollar amount into our savings.  We live below our means and we drive modest cars. We use a budget and we save 10% in retirement accounts and 35% in after-tax accounts.

Another reader, Diego, does the same:

Save it before you see it. State specific quantities in your one-year​ and five-year goal planning. Monitor, track, and document these goals (very important!) and re-assess the quantities if needed. Check your progress for the yearly goals every 3 months and every year for the five-year goals.

It seems that there are many different ways to save money – I love hearing about what other people are doing to become better and improve their situation!

 

Save More Money Today With These Ways to Save Money

I hope you can incorporate at least one of these tips into your life and start saving thousands of dollars a year. Maybe, you will take all nine and look to cut costs and eliminate what is not necessary.

There are so many ways to either increase your income or decrease your expenses. Figure out which one you would prefer and you’ll be on your way to increasing your savings rate, net worth, and your financial situation.

Take a stand and start saving some more money today!