Can everyone spend less than they earn Can you Do you think it would be possible for you to save 10 percent of your income What are some examples of expenses you might be able to eliminate?

Answer 1

In theory, yes everyone can and should do this. In reality though, a person's situation is going to dictate how much they can reasonably save. For example a single mother of two that makes $300 a week is going to have a much more difficult time setting aside a 10% savings than would a bachelor earning $1000 a week. So a person's overall income and responsibilities are going to be the biggest factor, unfortunately we live in a society where it isn't feasible for everyone to do this.

As for eliminating expenses, creating a monthly budget and itemizing your expenses is the best means of determining what you can live without. This allows you to see every item and more importantly your spending habits. From there you can really ask yourself, do I really need to spend my money on this or can I live without it? Or, is there some cheaper alternative that I can put my money towards to eliminate this other expense?

If you can't put away a whole 10%, then just save as much as you feel that you can. An important part of this is having the money separate from your regular savings account so that you cannot touch it, ideally in an investment/retirement account. Another important part is setting up the savings to be automatically deducted from your salary when possible. If you aren't used to seeing the money upfront on payday, you can never miss having it not saved elsewhere.