It's not how much you make, it's how much you spend!

[backseatjuan]

Where the money goes? Into smoke pipe!

I finally, after two years of work, began writing down into excel spread sheet my income. That was last month. It turns out I make good money. Only problem is that I never have any money. I began thinking where my money goes. Just a small calculation, every day I buy water and cigarettes, just in a month it is more than 100 bucks. And I for some reason find it expensive to buy an electric kettle and drink tea and coffee. Now, from this day on I am writing into another spread sheet all my expenses, so that I could see where I can save money.

Fvck boyz, I spend too much!

 

[taiyuu_otoko]

Delayed gratification (of which living within your means is one example) is the secret to success.

 

[zekko]

To be fair, it's how much you make AND how much you spend. I kept myself to a reasonable lifestyle for years so I could build up my income streams. I could have blown all that extra money and spent it on trivial things. Instead I "paid myself first" and all that stuff. But how much you make is still important, because some people only make enough to get by. You have to have some disposable income if you want to save or invest. Lowering your cost of living is one thing to look into, but some people are living at the bottom already.

 

[dustmuffin]

Always save or invest at least 10% of your income. Pay yourself first. Spend less that what you make. That isn't always easy to do if you earn a modest income. You can always adjust the formula to suit your income. The point is to save or invest something. The beauty of compounding will reward you in the future.

 

[backseatjuan]

I realized, at that recently, that small things you buy -- a drink, cigarettes, hot dog -- compound with time and eat up a major portion of your income if you do it daily. I pay as much money for small things as much as I pay for my office, well at least it appears that way with extrapolation, I have no real data yet. I can save by buying an electric kettle, and bringing food from home, not drinking beer, and smoking less expensive brand cigarettes. I have a house which I don't live in, I can move into it and stop renting.