If you have been around Personal Finance Blogs for any period of time you know two things, 1. You need to spend less than you make. 2. We don’t always agree on every financial decision we make, and thank goodness this is ok!
That goes directly with this topic as well. Spending less than you earn is a good thing and very true, but it goes way beyond just that! There is great debate on whether spending less or making more is more important in your financial journey.
So which do you think it is? What benefits you the most?
Here are the arguments for both
Making More
The more you make, the more you can save. If you actually want to have financial freedom having more money is the only way you can accomplish that. More money means more capital to invest in all sorts of ventures that can make your money work for you.
Spending Less
Anyone can spend less, and not everyone can make more. You need to spend less to fit within a budget. It does not matter how much you make if you cannot spend less you will blow $1,000,000 just as quickly as $20,000. It can solve a quick need for cash.
So which one is more important? Here’s my opinion.
The truth is they are both important as they each play a role in your financial journey but don’t worry I won’t be that blogger that just leaves it at that, I’ll give you my opinion ?
Once you have the basic understandings of a budget and how to cut costs. You really can only cut costs so much until you have to find some other way of bringing in money! In the personal finance blog world, I say everyone tends to lead to frugality.
But how much can you be frugal without making more?
While this is important and plays a huge role in how you manage your money. We can only be “so” frugal until there is nothing left, and frankly, I do want to enjoy life. ?
This is why I think on some level making more is more important, but only after you have the understanding of a budget, and how to keep following through with that budget!
It’s a good thing I like to save
I know for a fact I am a spender at heart. I have worked over the years to make saving my first instinct, and it still is not always the first thing I think about when I earn some extra cash. I love to give gifts, that’s one of my love languages, to family and friends and especially when I first started dating my wife.
My wife, however, would much rather save up and then spend the money when we know that is something we want or need. She also has expensive tastes, so it’s a good thing we save! She will probably kill me later for saying that.
We balance each other out which is a good thing. However, we can only save more money because we have made more money. If you were to look at our budget right now you would see that for the most part we don’t live an over the top life and have cut down on spending a lot! But at some point, there is nothing left to cut down on unless you want to eat ramen for the rest of your lives.
This is where side hustles and passive income come into play! We have more than a basic understanding of our budget, so now we are out to make more if we want to be financially free!
Just because we saved though did not mean we got where we are today! We worked and continue to work our butts off to do side hustles and find other places to earn income. This weekend I’m detailing a car to make some extra cash. But since we save while we make more, we keep more for later adventures than if we just bought the next shiny toy!