Just Start Saving (Part 1 of 3)
Stop waiting to track every expense or find the perfect savings rate. Discover why starting small beats waiting to be 'ready'.
Most financial advice suggests tracking every expense, creating a detailed budget, and analyzing your spending patterns before you start saving money.
That tried-and-true advice works great for certain people, but not for most. For most, it’s backwards.
It’s like telling someone who’s never exercised that they need a personal trainer, workout clothes, fitness apps, and a detailed exercise plan before they can take their first walk around the block.
You wouldn’t wait to be “ready” to start moving your body. You’d start walking.
The same principle applies to building financial independence. Start small, simple, and scheduled.
Why Starting Beats Optimizing
Financial experts love debating the “right” savings rate. Should you save 10%? 20%? Should you prioritize retirement or emergency funds? Should you pay off debt first?
These questions matter eventually. But they’re the wrong starting point.
It’s like debating whether to run 3 miles or 5 miles before you’ve even started walking. The debate keeps you stuck in planning mode instead of action mode. Worse, anxiety begins to set in as we recognize we are biting off more than we can chew.
The initial step in demonstrating to yourself that you can save money and have control over your financial future is realizing that money doesn’t just vanish. This understanding creates something even more important than the actual amount of money you save.
It builds financial confidence while reinforcing sustained success over time.
The Identity Shift That Changes Everything
When you go from saving nothing to saving $50 per paycheck, you’re not suddenly financially secure. You haven’t solved all your money problems.
But you’ve done something that changes how you see yourself.
You become someone who saves. Someone who plans for the future. Someone who has a financial cushion, however small.
This identity shift matters more than the actual dollars in your account. When you see yourself as “someone who saves,” you start making different choices across your entire financial life.
By saving regularly, such as with each paycheck, you build a habit and prepare yourself for the steady uphill battle to build emergency funds and beyond.
Skip Tracking (For Now)
Most financial advice insists you track every expense before you save. In practice, we would all track savings and expenses together. The logic seems sound: you need to know where your money goes so you can identify areas for cutbacks, resulting in increased savings and funds for debt payoff.
However, what actually happens is that people spend weeks or months tracking their expenses, feel overwhelmed by what they discover, and give up before establishing a savings habit.
Tracking is essential eventually. But it’s not the starting point.
Starting to save—even without tracking or optimization—creates immediate momentum and emotional benefits. It builds the confidence that makes tracking feel possible later.
Someone who has never exercised doesn’t need a heart rate monitor before taking their first walk. They need to start walking. The data comes later, after the habit exists.
How to Start Right Now
Pick a number that feels almost too easy. Don’t save what you “should” save. Save an amount that is manageable enough for you to do consistently. $25, $50, or even $10 per paycheck counts.
Make it automatic. Set up an automatic transfer from your checking account to your savings account the day after you receive your paycheck. Remove the decision from your daily life.
Don’t touch it. Treat your savings as if they don’t exist for everyday expenses. This isn’t money for wants—it’s your security cushion.
Celebrate small wins. When you hit $100, acknowledge it. When you reach $500, take a moment to recognize your accomplishment. These milestones matter psychologically even if they seem small financially.
Resist optimizing too soon. You’ll want to research the “best” savings account or calculate the “right” percentage. Don’t. First, save consistently for three months.
While you aren’t tracking your expenses, you are aware of your bank account balance. You will notice a little spending power is gone, and your self-preservation instincts will kick in to cover the difference of what you’re stashing away.
Start Where You Are
The specific dollar amount matters less than the fact that you start at all.
$50 per paycheck is $1,300 per year. That might not seem like much compared to advice telling you to have 6 months of expenses saved. But it’s infinitely more than $0.
And it builds the habit and confidence that eventually gets you to those bigger goals.
Start small, simple, and scheduled.
You’re not just saving money. You’re building a different relationship with your future.
This content is for educational purposes only and should not be construed as financial or therapeutic advice. Consider speaking with a qualified professional for personalized guidance.