{"id":86809,"date":"2020-03-15T15:00:36","date_gmt":"2020-03-15T21:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/renewsblog\/?p=86809"},"modified":"2024-01-27T11:41:48","modified_gmt":"2024-01-27T18:41:48","slug":"earning-vs-spending","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/earning-vs-spending","title":{"rendered":"What Should I Focus on When Saving Up to Invest: Spending Less or Earning More?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Today we\u2019re talking about whether you should spend less, earn more\u2014or both. The answer to that question would be <em>both.<\/em><\/p>\n<h2>Spending Less<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Considering how much debt this country has, from credit cards and student loans to car loans and mortgages, I really think it would be wise to start by spending less.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">My philosophy is that $100 in your pocket is, well, $100 in your pocket! What I mean by this is that you get to choose what you want to do with that money. It\u2019s entirely in your control.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So, you have to start off by spending less. Save money, be frugal, don\u2019t get into debt, and don\u2019t do any stupid things with your funds. You can just stick it in a <a href=\"https:\/\/wallethacks.com\/best-online-high-yield-savings-account-banks\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?hl=en&amp;q=https:\/\/wallethacks.com\/best-online-high-yield-savings-account-banks\/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1499268157252000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFP7C4u4xnXnUecH1YkR8PbrR-dcQ\">reputable savings account with no fees<\/a> and you&#8217;re still better off than spending it frivolously. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/K6EWfT0mfHo?ecver=1\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h2>Earning More<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One of my favorite quotes from a man worth $150M is:\u00a0\u201cWake up before everyone, go to sleep after everyone, work harder, work smarter!\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I am a big believer that many real estate investors are very, very lazy. They\u2019re all looking for a quick pill to get rich overnight. It doesn\u2019t work like that. You have to work hard.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While getting started, you&#8217;ll likely work your 9-5 job to cover your basic necessities to live day to day. If you have to get another job and work all night, do it. Be prepared to do whatever you have to do to get the starting capital needed to go into real estate.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Related:<\/strong> <a href=\"\/renewsblog\/2014\/07\/30\/4-side-incomes-for-real-estate-investors\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">4 Side Income Streams to Sustain You as You Pursue Real Estate Full-Time<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Once you get the money, you can start building your portfolio, <a href=\"\/renewsblog\/2014\/01\/07\/flipping-houses\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">flipping<\/a>, <a href=\"\/renewsblog\/2015\/01\/31\/ultimate-beginners-guide-real-estate-wholesaling-2\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">wholesaling<\/a>, or pursuing whatever strategy you want to utilize. I am a big believer that money makes money! Remember that some things you do before 9 a.m. or after 5 p.m. are where you\u2019re going to be making more money. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Still, some tasks like doing research or working on a business venture won\u2019t give you a direct ROI. Don\u2019t get discouraged by that; always look at the big picture. Focus on yourself, chase your dreams, and watch them become a reality.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>Keeping Costs Low<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We spoke about spending less and how to potentially earn more. This last piece of advice is from my own experience. You have to keep costs at a minimum. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I can\u2019t tell you how important it is! <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Over the last four years of my business cycle, there were times when I was down to the last $1,000 in my operating account. That is the reality of being a business owner. The way we survived was by being very frugal. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So, you have to:<\/span><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Minimize expenses.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Keep costs at an absolute minimum.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Grind it out yourself by working around the clock.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Wait to\u00a0employ anyone else. <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Once revenue allows you to spend to make more, then spend it wisely. In my opinion, every dollar you spend should give you $3 back.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To review, I think you should do both. You should focus on spending less. You should also focus on earning more. And then when you do start your real estate business. you must keep costs at an absolute minimum. And when you do spend money, make sure you get $3 back.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/biggerpockets\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-114268\" src=\"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/6.jpg\" alt=\"ad-youtube-channel\" width=\"706\" height=\"125\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/6.jpg 706w, https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/6-300x53.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/6-702x125.jpg 702w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 706px) 100vw, 706px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>What do you think is most vital when saving up to invest\u2014spending less or earning more?<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Leave your comments below!<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When starting out in real estate investing, is it more important to focus on being frugal or upping your income streams? Get insight here!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1672,"featured_media":114104,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7396],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-86809","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-budgeting"],"acf":[],"comment_count":0,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86809","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1672"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86809"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86809\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/114104"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86809"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86809"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86809"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}