How To Save 50% Or More Of Your Income

Hello! If you are new here, welcome to my post detailing the ways you can learn how to save 50% or more of your income. I suggest that you read my welcome page (which lists my most popular and helpful posts) and my latest monthly blogging/online income report. Before I started blogging, I thought a good percentage…

Michelle Schroeder-Gardner

Written By:

Michelle Schroeder-Gardner

Last Updated: January 27, 2025

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning if you decide to make a purchase via my links, I may earn a commission at no additional cost to you. See my disclosure for more info.

Hello! If you are new here, welcome to my post detailing the ways you can learn how to save 50% or more of your income. I suggest that you read my welcome page (which lists my most popular and helpful posts) and my latest monthly blogging/online income report.

Before I started blogging, I thought a good percentage to save each month was anywhere from 10% to 20%. I have even read an article where a “finance expert” recommended 5% for retirement savings because they said it was good enough.

Now that I look back on those figures, that is just not nearly enough.

However, that’s what many news articles will tell you. They will tell you that anywhere from 5% to 20% is all you really need. That might work for some, but that’s just not good enough for me.

Recently, I was talking to someone who told me that they save around 85% of their after-tax income each month. I thought that was absolutely insane, but I was a little jealous.

This person goes a little to the extreme in order to save this crazy amount of money each month, but they are happy and that’s all that matters, right?

Right now, we save around 60% of our income. That amount could be a little bit higher but we recently had our wedding (and shoveled a lot of our money towards that), we have been traveling more (we have bought a fair amount of camping and hiking equipment in the past 2 months), and a lot of my business income each month goes towards taxes.

Saving a decent percentage of your income each month can mean that you can reach your financial goals quicker. I was able to pay off my $40,000 student loan debt because of my savings habit!

Here are different ways to save 50% or more of your income:

 

Make more money so that you can save half your income each month.

Making more money can really help you reach an income percentage goal of over 50%. This is because there is usually only so much money you can save, but the amount of money you can make is endless.

You could work a part-time job, a full-time job, multiple jobs, start a business, freelance, and so on. You could also search for passive income and bring in more money with minimal effort.

There are so many things you can do out there to try to make more money.

Some side gigs you may be interested in may include:

  • Blogging is how I make a living and just a few years ago I never thought it would be possible. I made over $150,000 last year by blogging and will make more than that in 2015. You can create your own blog here with my easy-to-use tutorial. You can start your blog for as low as $2.95 per month plus you get a free domain if you sign-up through my tutorial.
  • Becoming a virtual assistant.
  • Survey companies I recommend include Survey Junkie, Pinecone Research, Opinion Outpost, Prize Rebel, and Harris Poll Online. They’re free to join and free to use! You get paid to answer surveys and to test products. It’s best to sign up for as many as you can as that way you can receive the most surveys and make the most money.
  • Become an Uber or Lyft driver – Spending your spare time by driving others around can be a great money maker. Read more about this in my post – How To Become An Uber Or Lyft Driver.
  • Swagbucks is something I don’t use as much, but I do occasionally earn Amazon gift cards with very little work. Swagbucks is just like using Google to do your online searches, except you get rewarded “Swagbucks” for the things you do through their website. Then, when you have enough Swagbucks, you can redeem them for cash, gift cards, and more. You’ll receive a free $5 bonus just for signing up today!
  • InboxDollars is an online rewards website I recommend. You can earn cash by taking surveys, playing games, shopping online, searching the web, redeeming grocery coupons, and more. Also, by signing up through my link, you will receive $5.00 for free just for signing up!

Related articles on how to save 50% of your income:

 

Lower your budget so that you can save half your income each month.

Okay, one of the reasons for why I am able to save so much money each month is because of the amount of money I make. I am not going to try to hide that.

However, just because you make less money does not mean that you can’t save money as well.

The person who I mentioned above who saves 85% of their income makes around $3,000 a month. Yes, so that means they spend $450 a month. I know this isn’t possible for everyone, but if this person can cut their budget then I’m sure others can save more than 20% of their income.

There are many different expenses that you can probably cut out of your budget or at least lower. Just because you are lowering your budget doesn’t mean that you are going to hate life.

Some expenses you can lower or ways to save money include the below. Like I said, everything isn’t for everyone, but even a small change can help you out.

  • Lower your cell phone bill. Instead of paying the $150 or more that you spend on your cell phone bill, there are companies out there like Republic Wireless that offer cell phone service starting at $5. YES, I SAID $5! If you use my Republic Wireless affiliate link, you can change your life and start saving thousands of dollars a year on your cell phone service. I created a full review on Republic Wireless as well if you are interested in hearing more. I’ve been using them for over a year and they are great.
  • ATM fees. Why do people do this to themselves?
  • TV. Cut your cable, satellite, etc. Even go as far to go without Netflix or Hulu. Buy a digital antenna and enjoy free TV – this is what we do!
  • Sign up for a website like Ebates where you can earn CASH BACK for just spending like how you normally would online. The service is free too! Plus, when you sign up through my link, you also receive a free $10 gift card bonus to Macys, Walmart, Target, or Kohls!
  • Restaurant spending. Start eating at home more! Become an amazing at-home chef and make your family love your new found skills 🙂
  • Bring your lunch to work. When I had my day job, I always brought my lunch. This was to save money, but also because I hated wasting most of my lunch hour driving somewhere to get food.
  • Cut your travel budget. There are plenty of ways to travel on a budget. One way is to start earning credit card rewards.
  • Use a programmable thermostat so that you can heat and cool your home efficiently and more affordably.
  • Pay bills on time. The goal here is to try to avoid any late fees.
  • Shop around for insurance. This includes health insurance, car insurance, life insurance, home insurance and so on. Insurance pricing can vary significantly from one company to the next. When we were shopping for car insurance last, we found that our old company wanted something like $205 to insure one car for one month, whereas the new company we have now charges $50 a month for the same exact coverage. INSANE!
  • Save money on food. I recently joined $5 Meal Plan in order to help me eat at home more and cut my food spending. It’s only $5 a month (the first four weeks are free too) and you get meal plans sent straight to you along with the exact shopping list you need in order to create the meals. Each meal costs around $2 per person or less. This allows you to save time because you won’t have to meal plan anymore, and it will save you money as well!
  • Fuel savings. Combine your car trips, drive more efficiently, get a fuel efficient car, etc.
  • Trade in your car for a cheaper one. For us, we are car people. Cars are one of our splurges. However, if you only have a nice car to keep up with the Joneses, then you might want to get rid of it and get something that makes more sense.
  • Live in a cheaper home. I’m not saying you need to go live in a box, but if you live in a McMansion then you may want to think about a smaller home. This way you can save money on utility bills and your mortgage payment.
  • Learn to have more frugal fun. We don’t spend anywhere near the same amount of money on entertainment as we used to. There are plenty of ways to have frugal fun.
  • DIY certain projects. I recently did a post about DIY wedding ideas and whether they were worth it or not. Read it! 🙂
  • I highly recommend that you check out Personal Capital (a free service) if you are interested in gaining control of your financial situation. Personal Capital is very similar to Mint.com, but 100 times better as it allows you to gain control of your investment and retirement accounts, whereas Mint.com does not. Personal Capital allows you to aggregate your financial accounts so that you can easily see your financial situation, your cash flow, detailed graphs, and more. You can connect accounts such as your mortgage, bank accounts, credit card accounts, investment accounts, retirement accounts, and more, and it is FREE.

I spend less money than I used to and I am happier than ever.

Are you trying to save 50% or more of your income? Why or why not? What is your savings rate right now? What are you doing to reach your goal of saving more of your income?

Filed under:

Michelle Schroeder-Gardner

Author: Michelle Schroeder-Gardner

Hey! I’m Michelle Schroeder-Gardner and I am the founder of Making Sense of Cents. I’m passionate about all things personal finance, side hustles, making extra money, and online businesses. I have been featured in major publications such as Forbes, CNBC, Time, and Business Insider. Learn more here.

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  1. Holly@ClubThrifty

    We save around 50%- sometimes 40% and other times 60%. It just depends. I always think of how much more I could save if I didn’t pay taxes! My tax bill eats up so much of my productivity each month/year.

    Reply
    1. Michelle S.

      Yes, our percentage varies as well. The month of our wedding I think we were at 0% haha!

      And yes, I always think about how different it would be if it weren’t for taxes, that would be the life!

      Reply
  2. Retired by 40

    Saving 50% of our income is our goal. It’s definitely going to take some time, but we’ll be out of debt in under 3 years! Yipee! There are definitely a lot of perks to saving that much, not just retirement! So, right now we’re paying off debt and learning to make more money 🙂

    Reply
    1. Michelle S.

      Less than 3 years is great. Good job!

      Reply
  3. Anne @ Money Propeller

    Yup – I am in the save-half facebook group. We actually aim higher than that, but tend to measure it in dollars, instead of percentages. We figure we need to make hay while the sun is shining, and the sooner we can treat work as an option, the better.

    Reply
    1. Michelle S.

      Yes, I am working towards financial independence!

      Reply
  4. MomCents

    I want to hear more about the person that only spends $450/mo?! Specifically, do they own their home outright? That would barely cover rent in the Midwest!

    It may be a while before I can save 50%, but one way to get there over time is to avoid lifestyle inflation. When there are raises…save that money instead of spending it…I mean…you’ve done without it before.

    Reply
    1. Michelle S.

      Hey!

      This person lives with other people and almost lives for free because of this. Like I said, their method isn’t for everyone haha.

      Reply
    2. Rachel R.

      That would NOT cover housing here. We have a mortgage — because it’s actually LESS to pay EXTRA on a mortgage than to pay rent — and we pay twice that for our house alone.

      I honestly can’t fathom saving 50%. I can’t fathom saving 5%, unfortunately.

      Reply
      1. Bren

        Rachel, I completely agree. My mortgage in FL and my mortgage in NY combined is almost 5 times that. Let’s not forget utilities, vehicles, car insurance…. yeah. 5%/month is not even do-able at this moment every month.

        Working towards it tho…working towards a 20% within the next 5 years, then I should be able to dramatically increase to 40%. it’s hard. And it needs to be taught wayyy earlier in life.

        Reply
  5. kammi

    I save about that pretty much a month; a little around 60. And yes, I’m the one who takes public transportation, brings my lunch to work, cooks at home. I’m picky about food so I’m usually angry when I eat out because the food is usually too salty, too sweet, too much butter, etc. And I”m lactose intolerant, so that doesn’t help, either. I literally spent $20 eating out this entire month. Don’t have cable, etc. My water/gas etc bill is $40 for three months. It’s really not that difficult, especially if you keep the right company. The WORST is having friends who fritter money away and are always complaining that they are broke. Many of my friends like reading or going places (hiking, going to the park or a museum for free, etc). You basically decide if you’re going to be a builder/ someone who makes (whether businesses, family relationships or actual products) versus someone who consumes, and we’re ‘trained’ to be consumers via ads, etc. Also, if you have a student ID (I’m constantly learning so I have one) it’s great because you get discounts 🙂

    Reply
    1. Michelle S.

      Yes, I still use my student ID too 🙂

      Reply
    2. Rachel R.

      “It’s really not that difficult, especially if you keep the right company.”

      …and live in a reasonably inexpensive part of the country. 😉 Really, there’s only SO much a person can do to cut housing costs, utilities, and food. Transportation, too, depending on where/how you’re situated.

      Too many people make the mistake of assuming that what is possible for THEM is possible for EVERYONE, when living situations vary wildly. Then they get a bit presumptuous about what everyone else “must not be doing.”

      Reply
      1. Genie

        I totally agree! I also notice a lot of people who are writing these “just do it, it’s SOOOO easy” articles are not single, self-supporting people with one income, and a lot of them don’t really say what their husband does to allow them to live on just his income. It’s a little insulting sometimes but I’m trying to look past that to the advice itself. Not all tips will work for everyone, but something will!

        Reply
  6. Deb @ Saving the Crumbs

    My husband and I give 20% of our gross income to charity and then live on 50% after that (which is about $1500, including a mortgage). We save on utilities by installing energy saving light bulbs, toilet flushers, and faucets. Only eat out when we get birthday freebies, of course. And grocery shop around sales (our average food budget for the 2 of us is about $60/mo). Still trying to find ways to increase earning power, but that seems a bit harder. 🙂

    Reply
    1. Michelle S.

      Wow sounds like you are doing very well Deb!

      Reply
  7. Darian

    I am married with 3 kids. My wife is a stay at home mom. We are trying to make more money by starting this errands business and also we have used cars that we own. we do not have cable my job pays part of our cell phone bill. So we only pay about 35 dollars a month on our cell phone bill.

    We have a long way to go but we are on our way.

    Reply
    1. Michelle S.

      Sounds like you are doing very well Darian. Good job!

      Reply
  8. Michelle S.

    Hope you get there Mike! 🙂

    Reply
  9. Little House

    I’d love to save 50% of my income. However, living in Los Angeles, it’s a little more difficult. But…I’m working towards saving 30-35% of my income come this fall – after I pay off a couple of things. 😉 I started working on a side project, selling my teacher lesson plans on TPT, to make some extra cash to SAVE. If this goes well, that extra income could potentially push my savings closer to 50%.

    Reply
    1. Michelle S.

      Good job! Luckily I live in the midwest so it’s much easier to save money.

      Reply
  10. Cindy @ GrowingHerWorth

    I’m still in the debt-payoff club, but hope to graduate into the 50% savings club in the next couple of years. I’m slowly working on both sides of the equation: Cutting spending and earning more. I’m always jealous of people who have made better choices than I have, and who are further along in their path to FI. But I’ll get there someday!

    Reply
    1. Michelle S.

      Yes, I’m working on both as well. It’s the best way for me!

      Reply
  11. Michelle S.

    Yes, MMM is definitely a great blog to read for those wanting to save a ton of money. His family did very well with that!

    Reply
  12. nicoleandmaggie

    Nope! We have lived on less than 50% in the past, but now we have a lot of savings and two kids and no desire to retire so it’s time to loosen up a little bit. Currently I think we’re only putting 20% away for retirement, and prepaying the mortgage another 10%, so I guess we’re living on 70% of our income right now. Oh, I forgot the 529s, so make that 65% of our income. Yay auto-deductions. We’re living on 65% of our gross pre-tax income.

    We’re starting to do some much needed deferred home renovations with some of that money. (Got any thoughts on what to do with the 30K we’ve saved up?)

    Reply
    1. Michelle S.

      Sounds like you are doing well 🙂 Sounds like there are a lot of things that you want to change in your home, I hope you figure out what to do with the $30K!

      Reply
  13. Kayla @ Shoeaholicnomore

    i’m not saving much right now (except for the retirment savings I was talking about yesterday), but after I get some debts paid off, I will be saving much MUCH more!

    Reply
    1. Michelle S.

      I bet you can’t wait Kayla!

      Reply
  14. Jason B

    I’m actively looking for ways to increase my income. You can only cut so much. I want to start saving between 40-50% of my income before the year is over.

    Reply
    1. Michelle S.

      Good luck Jason!

      Reply
  15. Edwin @ Cash Syndrome

    Wow I couldn’t possibly save that much. But kudos to those who are able. Maybe when I’m done paying my mortgage I can give it a shot.

    Reply
    1. Michelle S.

      Are you trying to pay off your mortgage quickly? Just wondering 🙂

      Reply
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