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this post was submitted on 15 Jan 2024
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Asklemmy
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As 2023 was beginning I set a goal that I would have $5k in the bank no matter what.
Up to this year I’ve been living paycheck to paycheck. But resolving to save up $5k pushed me out of that for the first time ever.
I never did hit $5k. But I stopped living paycheck to paycheck. I haven’t checked my balance before paying rent since february of last year. I always have enough, and I just pay the bill.
The amount of stress that immediately goes away when you are able to stop the paycheck to paycheck cycle is priceless. Nice work!
It also helps that I’ve got a little financial system going.
I get paid every two weeks. My rent is about 1200. Each paycheck is about 1200 - 1400. Paid every two weeks. Each paycheck, 1000 goes into my “bills” account, and the remainder into my “spending” account. So each paycheck I get about $300 for groceries, coffee, entertainment, whatever.
All the bills are on auto-pay to draw from that bills account, and the 1000 per paycheck is enough to cover all my bills plus save some. So my savings is accumulating in the bills account.
I also got myself a credit card for the first time in twenty years, and now my phone bill’s being auto-paid from that, with the CC being auto-paid from the bills account.
That structure helps too. But I wouldn’t have been able to start it without a lump of cash on hand
You didn't mention if you were already doing this, but it's a good idea to have your credit card be tied in to some kind of rewards.
Example: I have a credit card that I use for all online purchases. I don't even carry it with me, it's just in my desk drawer at home. This card gives me the option to choose a category for rewards (groceries, restaurants, online, etc.) I chose online purchases and I use it to pay for everything I buy online -- Amazon, Chewy, Steam and other gaming platforms, anything PayPal, etc. I get cashback rewards for every online transaction, and every month I get the total accumulated cashback rewards deposited into my account that is set up to automatically pay for the credit card.
I get cash back on the other types of purchases too but the greatest amount is for the category that I've chosen.
Sorry if that was long-winded.