Saving on a salary: The golden rule

No matter how much you earn, saving money is hard. But, like anything, the more you do it, the better you become.

It’s getting started that’s the tricky bit; figuring out where you can scrimp a few hundred bucks a month from your out-of-control social spending.

Luckily as you climb up the ladder in your chosen career, there’s an easy way to save without changing anything about your current lifestyle. It just requires some sharp negotiation and a good slurp of self-control.

It goes like this.

1. Get some more money

This is the tense bit. To make this plan work you need to negotiate a bigger slice of the pie at work.

As we’ve explained previously, salary negotiations can be made much easier by tackling them in a level headed and well thought out way. In case you missed it, here’s how.

2. Don’t let it change you

Money changes people. In fact, our research shows that even fake money can make us behave like swine. Think Monopoly.

The secret to saving heaps of money is avoiding this phenomenon.

You need to live the same life as the person you were before the raise. If that was two minute noodles after riding the bus without a ticket, so be it.

3. Give it to someone else

Here’s where it all comes together. You’ve pinned down the boss for a few extra bucks and maintained your lifestyle at its old standard; now you need to give that extra money to someone else for safekeeping.

Set up an automatic bank transfer of the difference between what you used to earn and your new wage each pay cycle. Then, just keep on living your sweet old life while saving money you never even had before.

If you can do this from you first serious job to your fifth, you’ll have saved a small mint.

So, go on, sort it out and save heaps.

This article originally appeared on The Hip Pocket

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