How I Socked Away $100K In Savings In Just Over A Year

My Corvette-driving ex-boyfriend used to sneer at my old Toyota. Good thing I remembered this advice from financial adviser Allan Roth: You can save $1 million or more over a lifetime by buying a modest-priced car and keeping it for a decade. To rid myself of bad juju, I sold nearly all my other possessions, except my awesome dog, and rented a room (versus an apartment) — saving over $24,000 in a year.

<strong>4. Risk yourself — and take stock of your real friends.</strong>

Early on, I stumbled on this quote from Buddhist teacher Jack Kornfield: “The person who, already on the way, falls upon hard times, will not turn to friends who encourage their old self to survive — [but] rather someone who will help them risk themselves.” Do your friends offer tepid encouragement? If the answer is yes, forgive them — forgive yourself — and move on. Plus, unfollow Facebook friends. Who wants to see pics of their engagement rings and vacations from your new one-room digs?

<strong>5. Embrace “good enough” — and work weekends.</strong>

I’ve interviewed enough C-suite executives to know you don’t have to be an uber-genius to make money. By contrast, I used to work hard, but not smart, crippled by “perfection paralysis.” Once I started cramming my weekends with side consulting gigs, I strove for “good enough,” and saw my productivity — and earning potential — grow. Never work for free, either.

<strong>6. Make your bed — every day.</strong>

Writer Flannery O’Connor said, “Routine is a condition of survival.” I bought a daily planner. I prayed. I also took advice from unlikely places, like the Navy SEAL who said in a famous speech: “If, by chance, you have a miserable day, you will come home to a bed that is made — that you made — and a made bed gives you encouragement that tomorrow will be better.” So I made my bed. Every. Single. Day.

<strong>7. Get in where the growth is happening.</strong>

For the longest time, I knew nothing about the stock market, and then feared investing after the 2008 financial crisis. Now I take the long view: From 1980 to 2016, average wages rose just 14 percent, w¬¬hile the S&P grew by 502 percent. I got in the game. Plus, I discovered the magic of compound interest — and here’s the crazy part: Once you see how front-loading your savings can pay off, you’ll be more glued to nifty calculators like this than your OkCupid account.

<strong>8. Set up automatic savings transfers.</strong>

It’s never easy to part with money. Setting up automatic transfers made it easier for me to max out my 401(k) contribution and contribute to a Roth IRA, too. (If you’ve exceeded the yearly Roth income limit, consider a back-door conversion.) On the flip side, I disabled all automatic payments. Plus, I canceled all automatic subscriptions, like my gym membership and Pandora (I can live through the commercials).

<strong>9. Maximize deduction opportunities. </strong>

After all these years of simple conversations, my accountant and I are finally talking to each other in ways I never dreamed possible. The tax code says you can deduct expenses that are “reasonable and necessary.” Whether your business is a sole proprietorship, partnership or corporation, are you using all the tools you can to maximize your income and reduce your tax liability? Not only did I keep a close tally on expenses related to business operations, such as phone, internet and office supplies, I charged all purchases on a credit card that generates a detailed end-of-year summary — handy come tax season. I also discuss with my accountant the role various tax-deferred employer-provided retirement plans can play in planning for the future.

It goes without saying, pay down your debt first. The day I reached my $100,000 goal, it wasn’t just the money I gained; it was the knowledge of what I could achieve. I still had a long way to go, but reports say Gen X is set to see the biggest increase in share of national wealth, growing to nearly 31 percent by 2030. And from where I’m sitting — behind the wheel of my old Toyota — the road ahead looks a whole lot brighter.