Comments on: Earning More vs. Saving Money

By: Ben - BankAim

Ben - BankAim — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 17:41:52 +0000

I’m glad I just found this article. My wife and I have been looking at cutting cost and decided to cut out our daily latte. Instead we will make our own coffee, which in a months time we will save roughly $100. Your number 1 point above is a good one to remember, ‘once we cut something out, we can’t cut it out again’. For us we have to learn to stick to our budget and even though we are saving $100/month we aren’t making more money, just saving more money. Its a good point, that my wife and I need to work on ‘making more’ money all the while saving along side.

You can’t cut and cut and cut and be happy, so that is where the budget comes in.

By: Early Retirement Extreme

Early Retirement Extreme — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 14:59:38 +0000

Prepare to be surprised! (not really, actually). It’s clear that certain sites appeal to certain demographics and Ramit certainly understands his spendthrift twenty-somethings pretty well. From that perspective it makes perfect sense to educate them on easy solutions like automatization and cutting fees which is something that is seen as amazing and awesome insights to them but which is something that the more savvy crowd already did ages ago, when they were in the pf101 class. Earning money is also far more appealing to the spendier demographics than not spending it (<- surprising insight there).

Another somewhat related thing, I've noticed (as it pertains to a paragraph in the linked post) is the tendency for "bloggers who launch products" to talk about how they recently increased earnings way above expectations. It usually goes like this:

Jan=$1000, Feb=$1000, Mar=$1000, Apr=$20,000 … where the $20,000 just happens to coincide with the launch month of the product they have been working hard on for the past year. This then, is sold as if they through sheer genius just increased their regular income by a factor 20. Well, not surprisingly, I'd like to see if that holds for the next month too.

By: Jessica Bosari

Jessica Bosari — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 19:32:06 +0000

This topic has been a strong theme in my life. I have tried it both ways and I can tell you that for me, cutting back was waaaay easier than making more money when I earned a regular salary. I think it’s that way for most people who are employed by someone else.

Now that I am self employed, it is easier to just make more money when I need it. When you do what you love, the extra hours don’t feeling like extra hours. It’s also easier to cut back now because I have more time to spend. Many people spend too much simply because they don’t have time to do it the cheap way.

It seems like all or none for me. Cut back and make less (but more when I really need it) or make the same money every week but never have time to cut expenses and make it go as far as I need it to. My life is more flexible and much less stressful now that I don’t feel the constant pressure to make more money.

By: The Best Money Blog

The Best Money Blog — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 22:48:12 +0000

Wow! I just wrote an article with an almost identical title that will be posted tomorrow, then after stumbling in financial planning found this article on my 3rd click. Small world I guess. I too got the inspiration from one of Ramit’s articles.

You brought up some good point here that I didn’t mention.

By: Jacq @ Single Mom Rich Mom

Jacq @ Single Mom Rich Mom — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 17:06:59 +0000

I don’t understand this fascination with low paying jobs like tutoring and dog walking. It’s been my experience that if you give yourself 110% to a decent career that your income can grow far more than by picking up menial labor work. Do that and live within the means of what you were making in your late 20′s or so and you’ll make out like gangbusters.

By: Lazy Man

Lazy Man — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 15:39:07 +0000

Well said, Money Obedience.

By: Money Obedience

Money Obedience — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 15:37:12 +0000

Earning more is not that easy for most people. But that is not the problem anyway. How many high-income earners do you know or have you heard of, who are in financial troubles? Living within your means is a basic attitude and not a matter of earning more or less.

By: Darwin's Money

Darwin's Money — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 04:01:33 +0000

I’m with you on the 80/20 pareto principle. There are tons of scammy “ways to make money online”, MLMs (which we’ve come to know and love) and other ventures that don’t pan out. And you can waste your life away trying to make a few extra bucks on the side to keep up with the Joneses. We know a lot of people that work side jobs, bartenders, servers at night, etc when they really don’t need to if they cut out the designer jeans and new car payments. But it’s their choice. To each his own I guess, but making a little extra while being reasonably frugal is the way for us.

By: benjamin bankruptcy

benjamin bankruptcy — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 00:33:08 +0000

In Australia we have a sliding tax rate, ie the more you earn the higher percentage of rate of tax you pay. Under 30,000 is 10% from 30 to 50 is 23% from 50 to 100 is 37% from 100 to 250 is 43% and every dollar after that is taxed at 47%!!!

For me this taxation system is not designed around earning more, in fact it punishes you for earning more! If you had a flat tax rate than yes I can see the incentive to earn more.

But if you earn 50,000 to have an extra 100 in income you need to earn 158, or you could just save 100.

Obviously both have their place but if there’s a sliding tax rate than the getter emphasis should be on cost cutting

By: Rich Credit Debt Loan

Rich Credit Debt Loan — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 22:30:54 +0000

Making more money can’t just be about trading time for money. Else you end up being self employed. Which in the end is no different than being employed by someone else.

The real goal needs to be building a business where you are not the main cog. Use your expertise to setup a business that runs itself.

Think about owning a McDonalds for example. The goal is to be the owner not the manager. If you are the manager your options are limited for expanded revenue. If you are the owner you can simply buy/invest in another one and hire another manager.

By: Invest It Wisely

Invest It Wisely — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 17:19:17 +0000

Depending on your goals, I think it’s important to concentrate on both. Specialize in something that you can be good in, to earn more, and save more by reducing spending in order to reap greater rewards, tomorrow. Because of tax structures, a dollar saved is worth more than a dollar earned, sometimes significantly so.