Am I the only one that can't save much of my paycheck?

I might sound stupid but I just can't stop spending unnecessary amounts of money.

As an example, I never had a watch, except the cheap plastic digital casio, and now I love them and bought 2 automatic ones after finding out what an automatic watch was. Same with suits.

However, I have always been good with managing my money and I mostly keep the same habits of cheap grocery shops that I have always had.

How much do you guys really save and invest (%)?

19 Comments
 

Always pay yourself first before buying more want items (obviously have to pay for rent, food, base level clothes, etc.). Max out your 401k (last time I checked it was $19,500 per year; $812.5 per bi-weekly paycheck), max the $6,000 annual contribution to your roth (backdoor roth if you make over the income treshold), and have an emergency fund of $5,000-$10,000 in a liquid savings account. Think of these as mandatory expenses that are needed to be paid before spending anything else. It helps if you just have work direct the payments so they don't hit your bank account. 

Once you have those started, begin by adding a few more $100's each check to a brokerage account. That's what I do

 

I get paid twice and month and 1 of those paychecks goes towards rent. The other goes towards eating and drinking out on the weekends. Besides maxing my 401K, I’m barely saving anything as an A1 in NYC. Once my bonus hits that’s where I’ll save the money.

So I don’t think it’s a problem so long as you save a good chunk of your bonus. $110k base in NYC doesn’t go as far as people think.

 
Most Helpful

This comment is out of touch with reality. This person describes maxing out their 401k and going out eating and drinking every weekend (and I’m sure spending some money on trips and luxuries). This is as a 21-22 year old employee with their first job. This isn’t a cost of living problem or a “sad” thing, it is what starting a career feels like. You don’t just graduate and have all the luxuries, while the cost of living has gone up, this is a small deal thing with the amount of money first years are getting paid. You could be arguing a work life balance point, but to make it sound like this is a hard life (financially, not about the hours worked, etc) is a bit of an exaggeration. 

 
apetrynamakeit

$110k base in NYC doesn't go as far as people think.

I am in the process of moving to NYC right now. I make more than double your figure and even with that I don't know how I'm going to manage to live there! Taxes, COL, etc, is just so high there. Making 110k would make me feel homeless in NYC :) 

 

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