The best way to save money?

Personal Finance
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The best way to save money?

Kaylee WalterbachPro Member
Rental Property Investor · Norman, OK · Member since 2018 · 158 posts · 529 votes

Yet another chance to be featured in the next issue of BiggerPockets Wealth Magazine!

Calling all finance savants: What money-saving strategy do you swear by?

By responding here, you're allowing us to print your name and response, if chosen, in the next issue of the magazine. We're excited to hear what you have to say!

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Matthew Irish-JonesBusiness Member
Real Estate Agent · Buffalo, NY · Member since 2017 · 2k+ posts · 2k+ votes
4y

@Kaylee Walterbach Shut down your Amazon prime account

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  • Soraya Bloom
    Specialist · Monterey, CA · Member since 2021 · 7 posts · 1 vote
    4y

    When saving, honestly, as small as this may sound but living within you means, setting daily, weekly, and budgets, small sacrifices (Starbucks once a month rather than once a day), and holding yourself accountable. Put aside money from each check or whatever financial source (It might seem minimal but adds up over time). People can give you hundreds of tips and methods but ultimately it's up to you to create and stick with habits  to be financially responsible.

    1Reply
  • Bud Gaffney
    Rental Property Investor · Boston, MA · Member since 2019 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    4y

    Go to the bank and put your $ in a savings account.

    0Reply
  • Rebecca Guthrie
    Member since 2022 · 1 post · 1 vote
    4y

    Wait 24 hours on small purchases.  Example, I see a super cute purse and really want it but I don't need it.  Wait 24 hours and if you still wait it and can afford it then go get.  If not transfer that amount of money into a savings account and watch that account grow. 

    1Reply
  • William Arrington
    Gainesville, VA · Member since 2021 · 82 posts · 72 votes
    4y

    Its not something I do anymore but when I made very little money I would change the price to hours of my life I trade to own it.  Ill use a real-life example from the other day to explain better.  I saw someone wearing a Gucci tee-shirt so I looked up the price.  Did you know they cost $650?  That's $650 for a tee shirt with a tiger on it.  The average hourly rate in the united states is $26. Not including taxes it takes the average person 25 hours to pay for that shirt.  

    There are some areas where quality is worth the price.  I enjoy woodworking and tools in general and after years of trying to save money, I learned a valuable lesson.  Cry once.  All of a sudden that extra $100 for the better power tool doesn't seem so bad when you're replacing your third battery for the cheaper tool in 1 year.  

    1Reply
  • Mike Eichler
    Realtor · Pocono Pines, PA · Member since 2019 · 183 posts · 108 votes
    4y

    The first and most obvious way is of course, "budgeting" this can help you save money and reconsider going out to eat or going to the park instead of some kind of expensive attraction. another great way is cooking at home, you can save a TON of money by simply buying food to cook at home instead of ordering door dash or going out to the restaurant. For you guys with girlfriends, a simple movie at home with some home cooking will make her just as happy as an expensive movie at the IMAX and of course, you have to the XL popcorn and candy with drinks. These are just some simple easy-to-do things that can be done to save more money to get you into your first or next deal just that much quicker

    1Reply
  • Jamel Brown
    Real Estate Agent · Jacksonville, FL · Member since 2020 · 37 posts · 28 votes
    4y

    An easy method to save money is through Credit Card Hacking. Unfortunately we live in an economy where debt is king. Thus we are incentivized to use credit cards and apply for loans. With that being said most credit cards can give you 1.5% - 2% cash back. So instead of using debit cards or cash I use credit cards for all my personnel and business transactions. This on average each year yields me approximately $500 - $600 cash back. This money was generated simply through buying goods and services on a credit card. Put your new found cash into a high yield savings account each year and repeat the process. If you follow these steps you would have increased your savings account each month/year without having to change your lifestyle. !!!WARNING!!! This method only works if you know how to budget your money and live at or below your means. Let me know if you have any questions.

    0Reply
  • Jill F.
    Investor · Akron, OH · Member since 2016 · 2k+ posts · 4k+ votes
    4y

    My husband is the king of saving. The man has never made an impulse purchase in his life. If he's thirsty, well he'll just wait a couple of hours until he gets home and drink a glass of water. Whatever he has, he wears it out. Spending money makes him sad. He saves by never spending money. I'm so glad he saved all that money because I like to buy apartment buildings. :)

    3Reply
  • Terry Miller
    Akron, OH · Member since 2015 · 178 posts · 189 votes
    4y
    Originally posted by @Account Closed:

    I would recommend starting with rich parents, and when you’re old enough make sure you marry rich.

    My undergrad was at The College of Wooster. I have been around people like that. Later, when I was a tutor, I had a few female students who straight up said that they were looking for a Mrs. degree.

    1Reply
  • Jeff Koval
    Member since 2021 · 17 posts · 22 votes
    4y

    Live off your W2 (until rental properties supplement that income) and get side hustles. I pay people to run a summer camp in my area, flip surfboards on Craigslist for fun (I now get to buy a lot more surfboards because of this), and we are now renting out our RV. We are saving/investing all of our side hustle money, commissions from my W2 sales job, and our current rental income while just living off of my salary from that W2 job. No real loss in quality of life and the snowball is starting!

    0Reply
  • Aaron Mazzrillo
    Investor · Riverside, CA · Member since 2011 · 2k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    4y

    Stop buying stuff you can't afford...

    1Reply
  • Mitchell E Weinzinger
    Investor · Phoenix, AZ · Member since 2021 · 1 post · 1 vote
    4y

    I am a huge advocate of the envelope system. Last year, my wife and I moved to a different city after I got hired by a large company. The bump in pay with the new job seemed so significant to my wife and me, that we thought we could spend more on eating out, traveling, and buying stuff online. However, months went by and I kept noticing that we would have to dip into our savings every month in order to pay the bills. 

    So, after researching a bit, we decided it would be best to get on the envelope system. Here's how we implemented it:

    1. We create a budget together using a free budget app. We like to use EveryDollar.

    2. We identify the categories that have variable expenses such as eating out, groceries, fun money, etc... and label an envelope with that category. 

    3. At the beginning of the month, we withdraw the amount we've determined for each category and put the cash in the envelope. 

    4. Whenever we plan to spend money, we make sure to take the appropriate envelopes with us. That way we know exactly how much we have to spend until the end of the month. This has helped us to not buy impulsively because paying in dollar bills is a whole different experience from paying with a card.

    Nowadays, we save several hundred dollars every month and only have to dip into our savings when something truly unexpected happens.

    1Reply
  • Manan Patel
    Investor · Seattle, WA · Member since 2021 · 16 posts · 8 votes
    4y

    The simple trick that worked for me without compromising my lifestyle (for the most part). My philosophy - live below your means. These are some general practice that has helped me and anyone can follow/adapt to fit their needs. I hope I continue to follow these and probably get better at managing overtime

    1. Keep savings out of your sight - Luckily, I am landed a good decent paying W2 to secure my goal to get into REI. For the past two years, I saved 100% of my sign-on bonus that I got every month and an additional 10%-15% of my regular compensation. I opened a couple of bank accounts and set up a schedule (automated transfer) to move my savings to another account. I do monitor the account from time to time but I don't actively use it. The other account is all the funds that I have to live, eat, and breathe. I manage all my living and recreational expense through the remaining funds. And few times I was able to save an additional 5%-7% additional from these active checking accounts. If you see more funds available, you will make that unwanted purchase.

    2. Buy half of what you can afford -  I pick quality over brands. I don't need to wear or possess the most latest fashion. As long as I get the value for the money, I am happy. If I have to overpay I rather do it for my food than other possessions. Good quality does last longer, and expensive doesn't always guarantee good quality. There is no one standard rule but I say spend 50% of what you want or can afford (doesn't fit all the scenarios). I love performance cars (who doesn't). Even though I could afford a nice ride that I have always wanted for all these years, I settled for a Honda. The only thing my Honda doesn't have are those leather seats, ambient lighting, and the couple hundred horses. But, it does put a couple hundred $$ back in the pocket every month. For my clothes, I shop primarily at Outlet stores, Target, and Kohl's. You may not find the latest trends and styles but I am sure you can find good quality products if you look around. Additionally, I do my best to buy things that I know for sure about using. I don't buy extra stuff to fill my house (furniture, electronics, kitchenware, etc.) I am sticking strongly to what I need while staying away from nice to have stuff.

    3. Feed your brain - buying books is the best use of Amazon gift cards. More than half of the time we end up buying things that we don't need or we don't use with gift cards. What I am trying to say is to use the free money wisely. Invest in educating yourself to manage your wealth better. Understand why managing your wealth is important and how can you get better with it. Managing wealth doesn't mean savings. Understand the psychology behind doing it and align it with your values and purpose in your life. If you think - it's about putting together an equation that aligns with your long-term goal. Take your time to learn about the subject you are passionate about. One can never be perfect and hence, one should never stop learning. The things that I mentioned above are nothing but shifts in the mindset. How you think is VERY important and it takes a bit of effort to shift your thought process to align with your intentions. 

    1Reply
  • Jessica Pearl
    Investor · FL · Member since 2021 · 15 posts · 6 votes
    4y

    Not very practical or replicable, but my fastest periods of saving were when I was working overseas with my housing and vehicle provided :-). Tax free income (up to a certain amount). If you live in a place with a low cost of living you can save very quickly. 

    Otherwuse, our rule is: If we couldn't pay for it in cash, we don't buy it.

    1Reply
  • William Wright
    Chicago, IL · Member since 2019 · 15 posts · 13 votes
    4y

    Automate saving by setting up recurring transactions every paycheck to an external savings account.

    This does 2 things: 1) since it's in an external account, you have to wait 2-3 days for a transfer and can't impulse spend with it and 2) since they're savings accounts, you can only withdraw 6 times per month before getting hit with excess withdrawal fees - a firm deterrent.

    I like having external accounts for Gifts, Car Upkeep, Housing Expenses, and Investing in a no-minimum balance savings account.

    1Reply
  • Nikki Yankowski
    Huntsville AL · Member since 2021 · 44 posts · 30 votes
    4y

    I have found the MINT app very helpful. It breaks down your spending by category. 

    0Reply
  • Georgie Flick
    New to Real Estate · St. Petersburg, FL · Member since 2022 · 2 posts · 2 votes
    4y

    It may sound simple but stop eating out! When my husband and I tracked our spending we found we were spending close to $600 a month on eating out, Uber eats and those late night sweet runs. We currently take turns cooking both lunch and dinner and allow ourselves 1 night out a week with a cheeky brunch thrown in here and there. We know it wont be forever and love that our savings are growing for our next property.

    1Reply
  • Tim SharkeyBusiness Member
    Real Estate Broker · Roswell, GA · Member since 2020 · 18 posts · 4 votes
    4y

    I believe following a monthly budget and allocating a percentage of your income to savings, automatically, is a very good way to ensure you are saving consistently.  Aside from having a liquid emergency fund of at least 3-6 months expenses, finding a good high-yield account is a great way to grow your savings account.  Check out iBonds, they currently pay a 7% yield.  

    [email protected]770-843-9586
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    1Reply
  • Marci Stein
    Rental Property Investor · New York, NY · Member since 2011 · 956 posts · 510 votes
    4y

    Save 10% of every penny you earn . pretend it doesn’t exist ,regardless of how much or how little . 
    if you can save more , that’s great . but don’t even think about touching that 10% ever.
    Have it come out automatically into a separate account

    1Reply
  • Bhekizwe M.
    Bulawayo, Zimbabwe · Member since 2015 · 1k+ posts · 253 votes
    4y

    Set a savings rate that is percentage of your income.Each month automate that amount out of your current account into your investment/portfolio account.That is you to keep and fund your asset purchases.This is capital formation at the household level.

    Anthony Robbins in his book, Money Master The Game gives numerous examples of individuals who followed that formula.Sir John Templeton related that he would save 50% of his income to build his business.A UPS employee from his twenties put aside 20% of his income to purchase UPS stock.By his eighties he had a portfolio of over USD70 million of which he gave away USD35 million to charitable causes

    There is a warning on the illusion that wealth will somehow, one day fall into our laps.Each amount that passes through our hands is potentially seed capital, which can be used and allowed to go through the power of compounding then contribute to our portfolio growth.

    Bill Greene in his book "Think Like a Tycoon" suggests setting aside 95% of your income towards your portfolio to become a tycoon.Only spend 5% of your income on consumer items developing a way to expand your means until necessities fit in that  5%. Overall he suggests being an investor rather than a consumer

    2Reply
  • Parker Hardy
    Real Estate Agent · Conroe, TX · Member since 2022 · 17 posts · 3 votes
    4y

    Love it!

    0Reply
  • Gina SternPro Member
    Investor · Boca Raton, FL · Member since 2019 · 1k+ posts · 161 votes
    4y

    Try and put aside 10% of what you earn every month. It's so easy to waste money on a take-out or a coffee. If you do an automatic ACH debit into your account every month, I promise you won't miss it. Even if you can put away $25 a month it builds up!

    [email protected]561-430-2616
    1Reply
  • Robin Pentecost
    Investor · Powhatan Virginia · Member since 2022 · 14 posts · 8 votes
    4y

    The price of fresh, good healthy food is probably going to keep going up. Food is one of our largest expenses. My young kids and I are growing our own vegetables. We also picked up a few foraging books too and now eat many wild greens, nuts, morales, tubers, and high nutrient content plants for free…and it stops us from getting fat too so we will have less health care expenses in the future. 

    2Reply
  • Sophia Loren
    Member since 2021 · 2 posts · 1 vote
    4y

    In the first place, I like to fabricate esteem in my venture by considering the property to be what it very well may be by making more space inside the space, and afterward assessing the most beneficial leave procedure. Then, at that point, assuming it's a fix and flip or a purchase and hold I make the offering docs and set up the task, so all that looks spotless and basic. Then, at that point, I bid the venture out with the plan of observing the best worker for hire for the task, one who needs the undertaking the most (out of the blue). Then, at that point, I purchase out the agreement (importance having the project workers put forth a strong effort.

    1Reply
  • Neel BS
    Member since 2022 · 10 posts · 2 votes
    4y

    I ruthlessly focus on making more money. I got a job that pays me a bonus, consistently negotiate my pay, and do really well with my W2. Budgeting is easier when you have money.

    Other tidbidts:

    - Cars are paid off - we buy durable cars and have had them since 2010 and 2013 respectively 

    - My mortgage is less than 10% of my takehome 

    - No loans, paid degrees via cash (Worked while in school) 

    - Use travel points (Southwest Companion Pass) 

    - Eat at home (good, fresh food) 

    - Live off of one spouse's income

    1Reply
  • George Mastrosavas
    Real Estate Agent · Strongsville, OH · Member since 2016 · 87 posts · 26 votes
    4y

    How to Start Saving Money?

    You’ll only start saving money when you learn healthy money habits and let your future needs be more important than your current wants—aka when you make saving money a priority. So do it! You can stop the cycle of living paycheck to paycheck with a simple secret: Make a zero-based budget before the month begins. A budget is all about being intentional. It helps you create a plan so you can see where your money is going and find out how much you can actually save each month. When you make a zero-based budget, you’re giving every single dollar a name—or assigning it a job to do—before you save or spend it. Remember: It really doesn’t matter how much money you make—what matters is how you spend and save the money you make.

    0Reply
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