As the saying goes, the first 100k is the hardest to save. In reality I don’t believe this saying at all, I think it is definitely possible to save 100k . Saving money doesn’t have to be hard or difficult. Today, I’m going to share with you how I saved 100k before turning 30 years old.
This is my story and keep in mind everyone’s story differs. Use these valuable tips and tricks so you too can save 100k before the age of 30. Even if you have student loans, it’s still possible to save money and achieve your goals.
What are you Saving for / What is your Goal
The best way to stay on track and stay motivated is to have a goal, what is your end goal? Why are you saving this money? Are you looking to use this money for a downpayment on a house? Splurge on a vacation? Or Simply saving for retirement? Whatever the reason is, it’s good to have a goal in mind. For me, I’m looking to put a large down payment on a property. My goal was to save $100k before the age of 30.
Directly After College / First Job
Directly after college I made a few strategic moves. I moved back home with my parents. Yes you read that right, my first year after having 4 years of freedom living on my own in college I moved back in with my parents. Luckily I was able to land a job at a software company. Living at home my first year I was able to save $700 a month on rent. That’s $8,400 for 1 year I was able to put directly into my savings by not paying rent.
The software company I worked at was an hour drive each way. I was driving a 2002 honda civic at the time which gave great gas mileage but I still spent a good amount on gas. So what did I decide to do? Carpool. I carpooled with people who lived close to me. In total there were 4 of us, each person drove 1 week a month. Not only did time pass quicker but I saved money on gas. In addition, I packed my own lunch. Buying lunch every day or eating out can add up quickly.
Finally, the last thing that first year of graduating, is I participated in the company’s stock purchase plan. This was a plan that was set up, that automatically took out up to 15% of your salary to purchase company stock at a 15% discount. I believed in the company I worked for and the technology. That investment has doubled in value since I bought it.
| POTENTIAL COST | ACTUAL COSTS | TOTAL SAVINGS | |
| RENT | – $700 | $0 | + $700 |
| CAR PAYMENT | – $350 | $0 | + $350 |
| CARPOOLING | – $148 | $37 | + $111 |
| PACK A LUNCH | – $300 | $150 | + $150 |
| MONTHLY TOTAL | – $1,523 | $187 | + $1,311 |
| YEARLY TOTAL | – $18,276 | $2,244 | + $15,732 |
Identify Expenses that can easily be eliminated: For me it was, buying wine when going out to restaurants & avoiding big purchases
Identify what your big expenses were. For me, whenever I would go out to eat, I would get a glass or two of wine and that added up quickly on my bill. One thing I did was to avoid buying drinks when I went out to eat.
Am I telling you not to go out to eat if you enjoy it? Of course not, but skip on the drinks. Ordering alcohol or even soft drinks can be expensive. Your waiter might not like it, but your wallet sure will! A glass of wine on average costs $10 at a restaurant, and I typically had 2 glasses which was $20 additional on top of my food bill. By eliminating the wine, I was able to save $80 a month.
Negotiate, Negotiate, Negotiate!
Negotiating your raise or a salary is the easiest way to add to your bottom line and help you save more. Of course, you can’t just go into your boss’s office tomorrow and ask for a raise, you need to be strategic about it.
The best advice I can offer is to start 6 months prior to asking for a raise. Go into your boss’s office and ask your boss, what can I do to become a top performer? Then they will give you a list of items you can do to achieve this goal. Don’t only achieve these goals, outperform them. Then do market research on what your competitors are paying your position, then in 6 months go back to your boss and say that you’ve achieved these goals and think you deserve a raise.
The worst thing an employee can say is no when you ask for a raise. When your salary increases so does the amount you can save. This helped me on my path to how I saved 100k before the age of 30.
Create achievable goals
When you are saving for a big purchase it’s important for you to create achievable goals. I found it’s easier to make monthly goals, rather than saying I want to put 100k down on a property asap. What does that look like? How much money do you want to put into savings every month. I broke down my savings month over month. The first year, I was able to save more money by living at home. This gave me a jump start on my savings. My goal was to save 2k a month for 5 years.
Second Stream of Income
Find a way to have a second stream of income. Maybe it’s a blog, or selling items on poshmark, or even dividend trading strategy, whatever your strategy is make sure you have one. I always think back to speech that Jim Carrey made saying, “My father could have been a great comedian but he didn’t believe that that was possible for him, and so he made a conservative choice. Instead, he got a safe job as an accountant and when I was 12 years old he was let go from that safe job, and our family had to do whatever we could to survive.”
A second stream of income can not only save you in a time of crisis like the one we are facing today with Covid-19, but also could potentially turn into a full time job, or even you can use that additional stream of income to achieve your financial goals.
Recap on How I saved 100k before the Age of 30
When it comes to how I saved 100k before the age of 30 I followed these simple steps. Identify your goal, how much money do you want to save. When you graduate college, make decisions with your goal in mind, for me, I moved back home with my parents and carpooled to work.
One thing I spent too much money on was buying drinks when I went to my favorite restaurant, so I still ate at my favorite restaurant, I just avoided drinking anything but water. I negotiated my salary often. Finally my last step in achieving my goal on how I saved 100k before the age of 30 was to add an additional stream of revenue.