People that live paycheck-to-paycheck struggle to make ends meet not because their income is too low, but because their standard of living has surpassed their means. This is why it’s more important to save money than it is to earn more.
If you save a dollar, that’s a dollar less than you need to get by. By focusing on reducing expenses, it helps you to be more disciplined in your buying and that helps to create better spending habits. That way if you get a bump up in salary you aren’t just spending it on more stuff, you’re able to take that increase in salary straight to the bank.
That’s why I’ve never been a fan of saving a certain percentage of your income, because then it encourages you to spend more as your income increases. If it wasn’t a necessary expense when your income was lower, then it’s likely not necessary just because you’re making more.
However, people like to accumulate stuff, and that just adds expenses to your pocketbook that you could otherwise do without. The less you need to get by each month, the less pressure there is for you to need a high income to have stress-free life, one that doesn’t require being stuck in the rat race.
There will always be opportunities to earn an extra dollar or to do an odd job to get cash, but the discipline you’ll gain from saving money and being frugal will allow you to more easily grow your savings.
