Today we have another ask the readers segment and I’m to looking forward to reading all the answers to this one.
Do you focus more on earning or saving money?
In other words, do you spend your time and energy looking for where you can cut back or how you can make more money?
I’d love to hear in the comments below.
—
In the “personal finance” community there is so much focus spent on saving money.
- Using coupons.
- Cutting back on things you enjoy.
- Setting an budget.
There are so many blogs, essays, and articles centered on “saving money” that I’d love to hear what you work more on.
So, do you focus more on earning or saving money?
{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
I definitely focus more on saving money. For a long time I focused on earning more, but due to unemployment have been forced to focus on living with less. I find that I am happier now than when I was working. Things that you think you “need” become apparent that you don’t.
At the end of the day all anyone wants is to have the freedom to do what they want, when they want. I find that scaling back allows me to do that.
I’m working on a healthy balance. I don’t clip coupons, but I have been working on embracing minimalism. I try to spend my money where it matters. It’s more important for me to buy healthy food, for example, than to buy new clothes (unless my one pair of jeans rips… then I replace them. That’s about it.) Right now I’m also trying to earn more but mostly because I’m trying to transition out of my full-time job. I’m earning more now so I can save and be okay when I take a big paycut. I don’t know if this is ever an either/or question!
I definitely focus more on earning more. I think Ramit said it best before: there’s only so much you can cut back on to save money before a) it gets hard to cut back any more and b) life gets really miserable. I could surely save some money by eating only rice and beans, but I’d rather work to figure out how to earn more to afford better food.
Lots of the personal finance realm focuses on saving money, and I think that’s because it’s easier to teach people little tricks that work (like how to clip coupons) than it is to share ways to earn more money.
I try to focus on earning money, but I’m afraid I fall into saving money mode a lot. It’s easier for me to cut out spending than it has been to earn more, since I was already working 70-80 hours a week between two jobs. However now that I’m down to just one, I’m hoping I can switch back to earning money!
Yes, I agree. I think at the least, there should be equal focus in the fin. comm. about saving AND making money. What people fail to realize sometimes is that saving money takes some work and TIME. Take the time it takes to clip coupons, go grocery shopping at three stores (for the sales), etc. and compare the savings to how much you would of made during that time spent.
And as far as getting the cheapest price on everything, there’s something said about quality. Would you like to buy a crap lawnmower every season (like I did) or spend a pretty penny but not have to worry about for 10 years+.
I focus on both. The two perpetuate each other.
The more money I make, the more I try to save and simplify. It’s during the good times, that you can get ahead savings wise, and get rid of clutter.
When things are going well, I find more stuff to give away, while saving more and maximizing my income sources.
This way if the bad times cycle back around, it will be easy to live “light” and have a cushion, without feeling like you have to make a drastic changes. You’ve already made incremental changes over the years to get to a point of minimalism, savings and a different outlook.
I’ve only ever focused on saving and have only recently begun to start trying to earn more. I never had a mentality that I actually *could* earn more so it’s been an interesting switch. I’ve saved about all I can, and like Jeffrey’s quote of Ramit, you can only save so much but your earning potential is limitless.
I started with working on saving money. Once I felt we were in a good groove with that, which took about 3 years, then I changed my focus to making more.
Making more without having a base of spending less doesn’t grow wealth, it just grows consumption.
Totally agree, the foundation has to be solid first. Then earn more or diversify income streams to increase your / your families economic freedom.
Sadly neither, part of the reason I subscribe to your blog I suspect. However my thinking is that I should be focusing on saving, after all “a dollar saved is two dollars earned” according to The Wealthy Barber which makes sense. You don’t pay tax on money you don’t spend and you’ve already worked for it so no need to work again for it, better to make it work for you.
I used to be of the mindset of saving more.
Then, I had a bit of success online and was able to see that earning more was a hell of a lot more fun than saving.
My bit of advice…(for what it’s worth to the readers here)…
Start doing something today that will bring in $10 by the end of the week. Then, next week, focus on $20. And so on. Often we focus on earning a 50% raise in one shot. Try doing something that is manageable…and build from there.
David D
I agree with Jeffrey, earning more is my focus. You can’t save your way to being rich (at least not for a long time). But I think saving is a good habit to get into, even if just to avoid spending on things we don’t need.
Its most accessible to the general population to focus on saving money. Most of us spend money multiple times a day, so focusing on getting the best deal, making something yourself, etc. are topics that most everyone can understand and apply to their life.
But for those who have already gone down that path and really understand their spending habits and priorities, there is a natural inclination toward learning how to make extra money in the world, be it through investing, freelancing, passive income streams, etc. It’s like AP Personal Finance.
I fall into the later camp, but it can be tricky to find the “extra income stream” that is worth my time, costs and effort.
We do both -
Saving/Cutting back:
- weekly cash budget
- eat at home, picnics
- no cable/watch netflix
- pre-paid cell phones
Earning More:
- we both have home-businesses w/unlimited income potential
Concepts we are adopting:
- from Man vs. Debt - what’s more important to us is having freedom, not things
- from 4 Hour-Workweek - it is possible to take back control of your life
- from Business of the 21st Century - we no longer want to trade our time for dollars
I agree with the both.
As an entrepreneur, I have more fun earning more/reinvesting more.
It definitely has an exponential feel to it.
Yet, when I look back at the last decade+ of my entrepreneurship, I see a lot of thrifty sell-made years, worktrade interns, budget home office, and nose to the grindstone foundation that got me to a place where I can earn more/spend more.
{ 2 trackbacks }