Comments on: Pay Yourself First, and Last

By: Jett Brenner

Jett Brenner — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 21:47:48 +0000

Another way to pay yourself is to save all of you change. Switch to cash. Only use 20 dollar bills to buy anything. Once a 20 is broken, all of the change goes into the bank. This trains your mind to think that only 20s can be spent. You will end up saving everything that is not a 20.

By: Jett Brenner

Jett Brenner — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 21:38:12 +0000

I was sick of living paycheck to paycheck. My money was all gone and I had nothing real to show for it. I discovered the concept of “Pay Yourself First”. This is a powerful, new way of thinking that starts you on the path to personal wealth.

I started treating myself like an employee. I would save 10% right of the bat. The rest of my paycheck would still disappear, but at the end of the month I had that 10%. Over time, it grows and grows.

By: Sam Li

Sam Li — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 17:11:32 +0000

I prefer to deduct amount from my pay cheque. As deeper I’m getting into saving habits it’s more obvious becoming to me that it’s all about discipline. Now if you really have problems with holding you self from that saving account, you have to come up with type of account that is very difficult pull money out of at least until you will acquire saving habit and it will become part of your character.
“Thoughts create action,
actions create habits,
habits create character,
character creates your destiny”

By: Amy

Amy — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 15:46:52 +0000

We have always made an effort to pay ourselves first–tricky, as we both work freelance. Over the years, this hasn’t added up to the college tuition for our kids or the retirement fund we’d hoped for, BUT it has enabled us to pay all our “emergency” expenses–root canals, furnace breakdowns, new (used)cars, a new roof–as well as two advanced degrees, without having to borrow. My advice is put a healthy chunk of any money you are paid in the savings account first thing, THEN draw from that as necessity dictates. I’ve learned that if there’s one thing you can expect in this life, it’s the unexpected.

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Sun, 19 Oct 2008 13:29:37 +0000

[...] Pay yourself first by saving and investing a portion of your income automatically before it lands in your bank account where you will most likely spend it. [...]

By: Sunday Reading - Oct 19, 2008 | Million Dollar Journey

Sunday Reading - Oct 19, 2008 | Million Dollar Journey — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 10:31:41 +0000

[...] Frugal Dad tells us to Pay Yourself First, and Last. [...]

By: My Favorite Destinations This Week « Mom Must Write

My Favorite Destinations This Week « Mom Must Write — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 14:51:48 +0000

[...] Pay Yourself First, and Last at Frugal [...]

By: Tammy Brackett

Tammy Brackett — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 13:20:07 +0000

Frugal dad always has great advice! Because my income varies from month to month and I am self employeed, I’ve had to find unique ways to save. When paying cash I never use change. Therefore, I always have pocket change which goes into a piggy bank. That bank provides extra cash for making ends meet. I also save 10% of each client check I receive during the month. I’ve never had an employer, so matching funds and employee saving programs have never been a part of my life. My saving plans are DIY! Thanks Frugal Dad. YOU ROCK!

By: Amy Snyder

Amy Snyder — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 07:08:25 +0000

Hey FrugalDad! Love your site. I’ve been hooked on it for the past few weeks (found it through Simple Mom).

Saving for the reason of purely saving is a tough one for us, for the reasons you said — there are so many things that our money goes toward each month! It’s hard to squirrel money away each month when you know it’s going to be tight. I do like the idea of “paying yourself first” however, and I really would like to implement this in our finances.

Thanks to your advice, we have set up our first account with ING Direct and we are looking forward to having a high-yield savings account for purely saving. Their automatic transfer plan is great — not having to think or worry about saving sounds pretty awesome!

By: DavidK

DavidK — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 01:41:45 +0000

That’s a good way to put it FrugalBachelor. I would guess many people have the same problem with “paying themselves last”. You just never get around to actually paying yourself. Taking that into account, for most it is best to “pay themselves first” and make the mental compartments to have savings and then spend the rest. That’s why the 401K contributions work so well — they are just taken right off the top without you ever seeing them. If people make it automatic to contribute X dollars to the savings account, then it never becomes an issue to stress about.

@FrugalDad, since you’re more than halfway done, then that means you’ll basically be mostly debt-free by the end of next spring. Way to go! Will you be making huge mortgage payments after that or will it all go into the 401K and Roth?