June 30 Days Writing Challenge - Life Hack - Day Twelve: Save 10% Of Your Income - No. Matter. What.
Hello and welcome to the twelfth day of the June 30 days writing challenge. If you want to know all the details about this specific challenge, have a look at the introductory post. In short, I will be posting every day a short tip, or technique, or opinion, something that you can call a "life hack". Feel free to join the challenge and post your own life hacks. I will do my best to upvote each day at full strength (about $3 at the current STEEM price) 3 posts tagged #challenge30days (leaving a link to your posts in the comments will also help).
Save 10% Of Your Income
Since the financial life hacks seems to be appreciated by many of my readers, I decided to share another one today. It's one that was quite difficult to implement for me, but probably the best of all, at least until now.
So, it goes like this: save 10% of your income, no matter what. That means that each and every income that you get, should be instantly "shaved" by 10%. This money is to be put in a separate place (a fund, a vault, call it what you want) that you will never, ever touch, unless there is a very, very serious emergency - a life and death situation, a fundamental change in your life, like moving abroad, and so on and so forth.
It may feel very difficult in the beginning, especially if you're struggling to make ends meet. Seeing that money piling up in a fund so accessible, while you are struggling, is very tempting. But try to resist the temptation, it will really pay off in the long run.
This life hack - or, to better call it, this financial habit - will pay off especially if you are in debt. Again, it may seem very counterintuitive, but that's exactly when it should be applied, when your financial situation is dire. This cushion will protect you better than anything else. Believe me, I've been there. I've been really deep in debt and, apart from discipline and hard work, the most important element that helped me get back to flat was keeping 10% of my income outside the normal spending circuit.
I'm really curious to read about your life hack today. Leave a comment with a link to your post, if possible.
Previous Posts In The Challenge
- June 30 Days Writing Challenge - Life Hack - Day Eleven: Set - And Keep - A Monthly Personal Expense Budget
- June 30 Days Writing Challenge - Life Hack - Day Ten: Set A "Main Task" For Each Day
- June 30 Days Writing Challenge - Life Hack - Day Nine: Keep A Journal
- June 30 Days Writing Challenge - Life Hacks - Day Eight: Keep An Activity Log
- June 30 Days Writing Challenge - Life Hacks - Day Seven: Implement A New Habit With A 30 Days Challenge
- June 30 Days Writing Challenge - Life Hacks - Day Six: Put It In Front Of The Door
- June 30 Days Writing Challenge - Life Hacks - Day Five: The Pomodoro Technique
- June 30 Days Writing Challenge - Life Hacks - Day Four: Keep A Clear Mind By Unloading Ideas Immediately
- June 30 Days Writing Challenge - Life Hacks - Day Three: Intermittent Fasting
- June 30 Days Writing Challenge - Life Hacks - Day Two: The "2 Minutes" Time Management Rule
- June 30 Days Writing Challenge - Life Hacks - Day One: Avoid Fighting With A Simple Visualization Technique
- Announcing The June 30 Days Writing Challenge - Life Hacks
I'm a serial entrepreneur, blogger and ultrarunner. You can find me mainly on my blog at Dragos Roua where I write about productivity, business, relationships and running. Here on Steemit you may stay updated by following me @dragosroua.
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I've always liked the idea of pay yourself first. There is no future if you don't plan for it. Economics is somehting I am really interested in and it baffles me how much of the worlds population is in debt. Whether this is due to the education system not preparing students properly for the real world or the medias fault for deceiving the public, or the publics fault for being obsessed with consumerism.
10% is too static for me, I think it should be case by case, but ALWAYS put aside something each time you are paid.
On top of that, always pay down your credit card before you do anything else as it is likely the highest interest rate and you will save more money buying paying it down than you will earn by putting money in the bank.
Great topic Drago
We started doing this when we were in debt @dragosroua and, apart from the mortgage, have never been in debt since.
I did the same thing for my children an then taught them to do it themselves when they are old enough.
My son is now about to buy his first car with the money he's saved over the years. 😊
That's just wonderful, thanks for sharing this, Gillian :)
Good Financial habit. If it is too hard to resist the temptation to use the savings, just put them on 1-year treasury bonds. They will yield a nicer interest rate and the fact that you can not take them out automatically will be a barrier to the temptation.
In the event of an emergency, you can still sell them at the secondary market and cash out but is an extra step that highly reduces the temptation to use it.
Good suggestion, I like it :)
Very practical hack but 99% fail to do so because they try to save money once they have done all the expenses. An easy way to do so is separating the 10% as soon as you get some payment and then manage the expenses accordingly. I really liked this one @dragosroua. Good job.
181 upvotes, you are getting popular, Dragos! I haven't been so active lately, and it is nice to see how things evolve from outside :)
It;s a good idea to save some thing for rainy ays. I also do the same. Honestly speaking 10% is a little bit low but it is a good initiative to start with this number. If you save 10% at the end of month. At the end of year you may save 120% which is 1.2 x than monthly income. Thanks for sharing such a nice idea @dragosroua
Hi Dragos,
Here's my post for your #challenge30days:
https://steemit.com/challenge30days/@acesontop/june-30-days-writing-challenge-life-hacks-day-twelve-never-go-shopping-for-groceries-on-an-empty-stomach
Have a great day!
It can be more, but I always advise starting with 10% so as not to put too much pressure on your budget. It is like going to Gym, you get used to it and it becomes easier as time goes on.
I love the idea of this post. I will love to participate if it is not late.
It's not too late :)
It is indeed an easy one to explain but a hard one to actually do!
I do something like it, but in stead of placing it into saving, I do invest them into cryptos. This won't go on for ever, but for sure I will invest some more when this months paycheck will arrive!
I know that it could be a big gamble, but with the bargains out there this days, we have to take a shot and try to bring down the average book price!
Cheers,
Peter
My motto on money is quite simple - spend some, save some, and give some. I don't have a rigid number to that but it usually falls around the 20% range.
I haven't participated in this contest, maybe today will be my fit entry
Go ahead, it's never to late.