When it comes to living below your means is hard if you’re low income. We know, because thirty-seven years ago, we were broke, in debt, and living paycheck to paycheck, and each making $1 and hour over minimum wage.
After We became determined to learn how to lThen, just a few months later, things started to change, but not always in the ways we expected.
What we were really doing (even if we didn’t fully realize it at the time) was living below your means. And yes, it helped financially—but some of the biggest changes had nothing to do with money at all.
1. You stop living paycheck to paycheck
After we realized we were broke, this became our very first big goal. But we quickly realized that in order to get there, we were going to have to find every resource we could on personal budgeting and frugal living.
So we went to the library, found that section, and started reading every book. We literally started with authors whose last names began with “A” and worked our way through the alphabet. As I read, I took notes.
We started tracking our income and expenses every single month, and before long, we made it to the end of the month with money left over.
2. You build an emergency fund faster than you would expect
An emergency fund felt completely out of reach when we started. Even that first $2,000 sounded like a huge number to us. But once we got into the habit of tracking everything and saving something every month, it started adding up faster than we expected.
It was not overnight, but it also was not as slow as we thought it would be. For the first time we had money set aside and did not have to panic when something came up. That was a turning point for us.
3. You finally get some breathing room
This is where things started to feel different for us.
Once we were consistently making it to the end of the month with money left over, there was just more margin in our budget. Things were not quite as tight as they had been before.
This is where a lot of people can get off track, because you start to feel that extra room and think it means you can spend more money. But for us, it was a sign that what we were doing was working, and it gave us the motivation to keep going.
4. You stop counting the days until payday
This was a bigger shift than we expected.
Before, we were always counting down to the next paycheck. Not in a good way either. It was more like trying to make it until then.
But after a few months of doing this consistently, that feeling started to go away. Paydays did not feel stressful anymore, and we were not dreading them like we used to.
That relief is real, and it is something you actually feel once you get a little bit of traction.
5. You stop increasing your spending every time you make more
This is called lifestyle inflation and not giving into it was a big mindset shift for us.
Before, any extra money coming in would have just gotten spent without much thought. But once we had a plan, that started to change.
When we got extra income, a raise, or made extra money with a side gig, we did not automatically look for ways to spend it. We started looking at how that money could move us closer to our goals.
Instead of it disappearing, it had a purpose. The interesting thing about this change was that it felt effortless. It was as though we had become so intentional with our money that using it as a tool became our first response. It’s a happy byproduct of consistently living below your means.
6. You are not scrambling when bills are due
This was another big change for us.
Before, it always felt like bills were showing up at the worst possible time, and we were constantly trying to figure out how to cover them.
But once we started planning ahead, that changed. We listed out all of our bills and spread them out throughout the month so they were not all due at the same time. Then we started sinking funds, setting aside a little bit each week toward those bigger bills.
So when they came due, it was not a scramble anymore. We already had a plan, and the money was there.
7. You actually have money left at the end of the month
This was a huge turning point and it happened relatively quickly after we started budgeting.
Once we started making it to the end of the month with money left over, things that came up did not automatically feel like emergencies anymore.
We used to call it “life getting lifey,” when something unexpected would happen and completely throw us off. But as we built that margin into our budget, we realized that not everything unexpected is actually an emergency.
It just became something we could handle, because the money was already there.
8. Delayed gratification becomes a strength
At first, delayed gratification did not sound like a good thing to us. It just sounded like going without. Honestly, even saying the words made us feel “icky”.
But over time, that really started to change. We began to see it as taking our time, doing the research, and making sure we were spending our money in a way that lined up with our goals and values.
It became less about what we were not buying and more about what we were choosing instead. Choosing to save that money. Choosing to pay cash for something later.
Once we started looking at it that way, it stopped feeling like a negative and started feeling like something that was actually working in our favor.
9. You feel more in control
This was another shift we really noticed.
Before, it felt like things were just happening to us financially. Bills would come up, something unexpected would happen, and we were always reacting.
But once we had a plan and were consistently following it, that started to change. We were making decisions ahead of time instead of in the moment.
This is really what it comes down to. You start making decisions from a place of strength instead of desperation.
10. You start to feel confident about your future
When you are in debt and living paycheck to paycheck, it is really hard to look past where you are right now. Everything feels very immediate.
But once we started making progress, we found ourselves thinking ahead more. We even started doing our budget as if the debt was already gone, just to see what that would look like.
It helped us start thinking about what that money could go toward next, instead of just focusing on where we were. And that gave us a lot more confidence in where we were headed.
11. You stop comparing yourself to others
This was a big one for us.
Before, rather than being happy for our friends because they got a new couch, it actually kind of ticked us off that we were still sitting on the dull, brown, worn one that was 15 years old.
Okay, self-pity is never attractive.
Once we realized that if we really wanted a new couch, we needed to figure out a path and a plan to pay cash for one, everything shifted. And as it turned out, we decided we did not even want one that badly.
That was a big change for us. We stopped looking around at what everyone else had and started focusing on what we actually wanted and how we were going to get there.
12. You get really intentional with your spending
We stopped spending money “because it was there.”
Once we were tracking everything and giving every dollar a job, we started to realize how much more control we actually had over our money.
We were not just spending without thinking anymore. We were deciding ahead of time where our money was going to go, and that changed everything. It made us a lot more thoughtful about our choices, because we knew every dollar had a purpose.
It was a simple shift, but it made a big difference. It’s also one of those changes that naturally happens when you are consistently living below your means.
13. You build strong self-discipline
This was not something we set out to do. It just started to happen as we stuck with the plan.
The more we tracked our spending and made decisions ahead of time, the easier it became to follow through. We were not constantly going back and forth on whether we should spend money or not.
We already knew what we had decided, and that made it a lot simpler.
Over time, that consistency built discipline. Not in a restrictive way, but in a way that supported what we were trying to do.
14. You stop trying to keep up with the Joneses (or anyone else)
This was another shift that happened as we went along. We stopped letting others control our spending.
We realized that the plan other people were following was probably not our plan in the first place. Once that really sank in, it changed how we looked at our money.
It actually motivated us to save more and set even bigger goals, because we were focused on what we were trying to do, not what everyone else was doing.
We were not being sucked in by societal expectations or advertisements for the latest “new thing.” We had a plan, and we were sticking to it.
15. You start trusting yourself with money
When you have made mistakes in the past, it is easy to start believing that you are just “not good with money.” So, you end up acting that way. It becomes like a self-fulfilling prophecy.
But once we had a plan and were actually following it, that started to change. We could see that we were making better decisions.
Over time, we started to trust ourselves. Not because anything magical happened, but because we had proven to ourselves that we could that we could learn new skills, implement and stick to frugal habits, and create goals that were both reasonable and reachable.
16. You realize you need less to be happy
Society teaches you that spending more money on more things will make you happy. It is not true.
We were not depending on spending money to enjoy life. Instead, we found a multitude of ways to have fun without spending a dime.
That took a lot of pressure off, because we did not feel like we needed more and more in order to be content. This could be why minimalism and frugality often seem to go hand in hand.
17. You enjoy simple, everyday things more
We realized at some point that we just do not need a whole lot to amuse us. We are pretty happy just doing normal, everyday things and spending time together.
We were not constantly looking for something to do or somewhere to go that required spending money. A lot of the time, the things we enjoyed most were the simplest ones.
The more we leaned into that, the more content we became.
18. You create more time for what you actually enjoy
This was something we did not expect at first.
Because we were not constantly spending money on everything or trying to do all the things, we ended up with more margin in our time.
We were not running from one thing to the next or filling every moment. We had time to do the things we actually enjoyed, without feeling like we had to spend money to do them.
That made a big difference, because it gave us more flexibility in how we lived day to day.
19. You have more options
This was one of the most important changes for us.
Once we paid off our cars and decided we were going to live this way moving forward, things really started to open up.
We were able to pay cash for things. We were not tied to debt anymore. That gave us options that we did not have before.
What really stood out to us was that people making the same amount of money we were making did not have those same options, because their money was already committed.
That freedom came directly from consistently living below your means.
20. Your life actually expands
This is what most people get wrong about all of this.
There is this idea that if you are living this way, your life is going to feel smaller or more restricted. But that was not our experience at all.
If anything, the opposite happened. We had more flexibility, more options, and more freedom to do the things that actually mattered to us.
Living below your means did not shrink our life. It expanded it.
Your turn
So here is our question for you.
What is one small change you could make this month to start living below your means? Tell us in the comments.
