There are many overnight success stories about people who make six figures in one month. And some even make millions of dollars in one year. So a story about how I saved $1000 in 2 years may not sound that spectacular. But that’s actually one of the main reasons I chose to share my experience.
How I saved in 2 years
I was 14 years old and back then my parents gave me a daily allowance of $15 (the currency is irrelevant). But know that transportation cost was $8 daily and each day I would have $7 left in my pocket to do whatever I liked. Of course, the most obvious expectation is that a boy that age would just spend the rest on snacks or drinks. Well, each day I spent $2 on food and saved $5. This became much more doable due to the fact that my mom made sure to pack lunch for me on most days.
And I had no shame eating sandwiches if it meant I would get to save my $5. In fact, getting that daily allowance and knowing that I would be able to save $5 from it motivated me; it gave me an extra incentive to want to go to school … even on the days I didn’t actually want to.
Some people would just look at the negatives and say things like, “Lucky him. I got no extra cash from my parents when I was his age” but this is not the point. Sometimes people get opportunities to make their lives better handed to them and they don’t make proper use of them. Sometimes you may also have to consider that some things that happen to you may actually be blessings; these things you do not question. Because quite frankly, mentioning the $1000 saved over 2 years is not that much about the money; it’s about the discipline it took as a 14 year old without parents being on my back about to save anything. I just naturally wanted to save and remain focused, regardless of what anyone else thought.
I made mistakes
Even though I did manage to save the $1000 through the $5 a day method, my plan and productivity was not executed 100% flawlessly. There were days I felt like eating something extra and gave in, so I saved less than $5 on those days; I senselessly walked around with $5 more in my pocket on most days than I had on previous days; and I focused more on saving than investing. Had I the complete knowledge I have now back then I could have easily turned that $1000 into $10000. Nevertheless, having that intrinsic patience and discipline has trickled over to several aspects of my life. And the results have consistently been showing.
Imparting knowledge
Now I actively encourage others not to just focus on making money but on finding success through personal missions. If you set particular objectives and stick to them, money can eventually become the least of your worries. But you have to find ways to motivate yourself; and you have to find ways to do all the good things that the majority of the population refuse to willingly do. If you happen to be someone with big dreams, forget the naysayers and the complainers and just start accomplishing something.
Not sure where to start? Perhaps you can start the same way I did by saving just $5 a day. And if you’re already well past this stage, you can simply share your knowledge with as many people as possible. The world already has enough millionaires. What we can use more of are people with stronger minds and stronger financial discipline to not just save, but learn how to invest.
