How To Save Almost All Your Income In 1 Month

 

Mo’ Money March.

That’s what we called it.

Why?

Because if we were going to stick with something, having a kitschy name made it feel much more doable.

If you’re interested in what it actually looks like to save about 90% of your income for a month, you’re in luck. Keep reading.

Money seems to have wings, doesn’t it?  It flies in and flies right back out and round and round we go.

Most of us in the US are living paycheck to paycheck and usually, it comes down to two reasons:

      1. Not enough money coming in

      2. Too much money going out

If your combined household income is under 50K per year, chances are you probably don’t have enough money coming in.

And if your combined household income is upwards of 60K you probably have too much money going out each month.

Want good news if you’re in the first camp?

We live in America. The land of opportunity! Yep, totally still is.

You can make more money.

 

Here are a few ways:

• Deliver Pizzas

Do you know you can make an extra $800 dollars per month delivering pizzas two nights a week?

• Use your skills to start a side hustle

If you can teach, tutor someone on the side.

If you can take photos, start a photography business.

Most of us have a skill we could utilize to make extra cash on the side.

 

You don’t have to be content living paycheck to paycheck. That’s normal. And you’re better than that.

 

Also, I have more good news.

If you make over 60,000 dollars per year, with a little discipline and the dreaded “B” word ie budget, you can have less outgoing expenses. I know. That doesn’t sound fun, does it? But you know what is less fun? Feeling out of control with your finances. So there’s that.

One great way to have less going out is to create a monthly budget for your finances. I wrote a whole post to help you with that here.

Another great way? Try a one-month experiment like Megan and I did.

Last March, we had a mission. We went on a spending freeze and severely limited almost every one of our monthly expenses. Now, obviously, there are things like your Mortgage and utilities and other bills you have to pay. But we decided whatever expenses were within our realm of control, to try and cut the entire month. No spending on anything except essentials.

Here’s how we did it.

 

1. We ate what we had in the house.

We eliminated the need to buy groceries by eating all of the food we currently had in our pantry, refrigerator, and freezer. It wasn’t easy, and at the end of the month, we ate some pretty “inventive” combos. BUT, we were able to go the entire month without doing any major (see note) grocery shopping!

 

*Side Note* We padded the pantry and fridge a little extra by shopping sales at the end of February. And gave ourselves a minimal budget each week for Almond Milk and whatever fresh produce was on sale.

 

2. We didn’t go out to eat.

We may have invited ourselves over to our parent’s house for dinner once or twice though. What’s family for, right.

 

3. We said no to sales.

We used all of the toiletries we currently had, even if we had to dip into our travel toothpaste. There are some GREAT sales in March but we said no and saved way more money in the long run.

 

4. We found a bunch of free things to do.

We went to the park on dates, we went for walks, we rode bikes, we made coffee at home instead and used travel mugs instead of going out.

 

5. We kept each other accountable.

There were times we wanted to give up because the food in the pantry wasn’t always what we preferred to eat or we just wanted to dial it in for convenience sake and get take out or not pack lunches. When Meg was weak, I stepped in to help. When I was weak, Meg remained strong.

Side note* I was weaker than her.

 

6. We said No.

It’s amazing how many things come up in a month that cost money. And we decided, just for this one month to say no to any invitation that did.

This included turning down invitations and meeting up with friends after dinner or inviting people over for game night instead of going out.

 

I won’t lie, it was challenging. But by doing these 6 steps, we were able to save almost all of our income for one month.

 

Obviously, you can’t do that every month. Maybe only once a year. But just think of how much you could save if you got determined for just 30 days?

 

Here is what we found:

 

Personal finance is more about behavior than it is about math.

Most people just don’t feel like creating a budget

Most people just don’t feel like tracking their finances

Most people just don’t feel like cooking or eating at home

Most people feel like driving a new leased car instead of driving an older used car.

Most people buy now and worry about the cost later instead of saving now and buying later.

Most people take that dream vacation on credit now, instead of saving and paying cash later.

Most people make decent money, but claim to be broke and live paycheck to paycheck.

 

Here’s what I’ve learned the hard way. Feelings are dangerous, they lie to us all of the time.

 

Most of the time when we live our lives based on how we feel, it leads to pain and regret. I really believe if we exercised a little bit of self-control & self-discipline, we could have more money coming in and less money going out.

Remember your life is NOT small. You don’t have to let your money make you feel that way. This is the year you can decide to win with money. You have that choice friend and you can make it a good one.

Part of rising above the circumstances that make your life feel small is learning how to excel in practical day to day living. When you take control of your finances, you will feel SO MUCH BETTER about your life and yourself. What do you have to lose?

I have a question for you…

What could you do with more money coming in and less going out? Can’t wait to hear your answers!

Until next time,

Chris

 

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