Ramit at I Will Teach You to Be Rich has announced his Save $1,000 in 30 Days Challenge. During the month of November, he’s urging people to get off the couch and actually take steps to reduce their spending. Here’s what he writes:
Right now, people don’t care about proper asset allocation or understanding average stock market returns. The people I’ve talked to want to know how to save money right now. [...]
Each day in November, I’ll post one suggestion to cut your spending. If you spend time each day working on the day’s post, the vast majority of you will save over $1,000 each month. Even if you don’t, saving $700 is sure better than nothing. I’ll post tips for the first 15 days. For the last 15 days, I’ll turn to I Will Teach You To Be Rich readers to submit your best frugality tips.
Check out this video introducing the Challenge.
This is an unusual move for Ramit. I Will Teach You to Be Rich — which is a great site — isn’t a frugality blog. In fact, Ramit’s an outspoken opponent of what he calls “stupid frugality tips” (e.g. use two tablespoons of cocoa powder instead of three). His site usually focuses more on boosting earning potential than cutting costs.
But in this sort of economy, every little bit helps. The “Save $1,000 in 30 Days Challenge” is a great way to stop thinking about frugality and to begin practicing it.
Note: The first tip in the challenge is to pack lunches for the rest of the week. The second tip is to turn your thermostat down three degrees.
GRS is committed to helping our readers save and achieve your financial goals.Savings interest rates may be low, but that’s all the more reason to shop for the best rate.Find the highest savings interest rate from Ally Bank, Capital One 360, Everbank, and more.
This article is about Frugality, Money Hacks
Disclaimer: This content is not provided or commissioned by American Express. Opinions expressed here are author's alone, not those of American Express, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by American Express. This site may be compensated through American Express Affiliate Program.
Discover is a paid advertiser of this site. Reasonable efforts are made to maintain accurate information. See the Discover online credit card application for full terms and conditions on offers and rewards.
SEARCH FOR RECENT ARTICLES
Thanks for all the comments. J.D. and I talked about how different the comments are here vs. on my site, and I definitely understand we have two different audiences.
A lot of the comments here have to do with the fact that some people may not be able to cut $1,000 of fat from their budget. True — which is why I wanted to add the “earn more” and “optimize existing spending” to the challenge. But as I said, lots of people may not be able to save $1,000. Still, $200 or $500 is still better than nothing.
And my site is definitely written for a different audience, hence the different language and the focus on entrepreneurship/earning money instead of frugality. There are plenty of excellent bloggers on frugality (including J.D. and Trent from SimpleDollar). I’m not one of them.
In fact, the challenge was designed for people who have a bunch of financial fat they can cut out of their lives (aka, a lot of my friends). If you’re frustrated that the tips don’t apply to you, I’m willing to bet you’re already frugal. In that case, the only suggestion I can think of is to earn more and optimize existing spending (which I’ll cover in a few days).
Btw, this has now become way too long, so I’ll just point you to 3 other commenters on this post who made my points better than I did: guinness416, Cathy, and Miss M.
loading....
Save 1000$ in a month. It can be very easy to very hard, it depends of course how much is your income to start with…When single, it was easy. Now a family man, how can be cut on stuffs we have already cut on?
loading....
I actually just did this same thing this past month. I worked a full time, minimum wage job in Alaska. I earned lousy paychecks obviously but working as a waitress in a very “slow time of the year” in a restaurant still earned me over $1000 in LESS than 30 days.
loading....
Reading the comments, I’m really surprised by how people reacted so negatively simply because the tips don’t apply to them. Is it just me or is it obvious that not all his tips regarding saving money will apply to ALL people? It’s nothing to freak out about. If you hear something that may help, go with it. If not, move on.
I also wanted to say that in general, the more money people make, the more that they feel like they need to spend more lavishly. And once these habits develop, it can be quite costly and difficult to reverse. I just started working a year ago and I quickly learned that working life costs more than college life. While I have more income, I spent a decent amount on work clothes, shoes, and accessories this past year. My new friends go to nicer bars, fancier restaurants, and on better vacations. I bought real furniture for the first time (plastic drawers from Target don’t count) and had to start paying back my student loans. When I was in college, I was able to live off less than half of what I make now. Point is, making more money sometimes requires spending more and saving isn’t always easier(especially when you first start working!).
I’ve talked about wanting to save money but it hasn’t been until recently that I’ve really NEEDED to spend less. I got a wakeup call when my credit card (that has a relatively high limit and had 0% APR until a couple of months ago) got maxed out. I realized that I need to be a smarter spender and pay off my credit card debt.
I just turned down my thermostat by 5 degrees this past weekend so I’m going to count that as completing the second tip. As for the lunch part, it’s going to have to wait until next week because I can’t afford groceries until the 15th. *sigh*
loading....