Two Ways to Grow Your Savings – Earn More or Spend Less

Want to grow your savings but aren’t sure where to start? You have a couple of options — earn more or spend less. Both can help you reach your financial goals faster, but they come with different trade-offs in time, energy, and lifestyle. The best solution might not be choosing one over the other, but finding the right balance for your season of life.

When we talk about saving money, the conversation almost always turns to ways to earn more — get a raise, pick up a side hustle, work extra hours, build another income stream.

And while earning more money can absolutely improve your financial situation, it’s not the only way.

If you have a goal to grow your savings account, build your investment portfolio, pay off lingering debt, or secure an emergency fund, there are two different approaches to consider…

1. Work more so you can earn more… and eventually save more.
2. Spend less so you can keep more… and eventually save more.

Both can help you reach your goals. But they come with very different lifestyles, trade-offs, and long-term effects.

Let’s look at each one.

1. Earn More So You Can Save More

This is the approach most of us naturally gravitate toward.

It makes sense on paper: if you bring in more money, you can save more money.

You might:

• Work overtime
• Start a side business
• Pick up freelance work
• Sell products
• Pursue promotions or higher-paying jobs

More income creates more options. You can save more, invest more, pay off debt faster, and still maintain your current lifestyle.

This approach can be incredibly effective, but it comes with a hidden cost: your time and energy.

Working more often means:

• Less time at home
• Less margin in your schedule
• More stress and responsibility
• Less rest
• Less flexibility

Sometimes it’s worth it. Sometimes it’s necessary. And sometimes it’s even enjoyable if you love the work.

But earning more doesn’t automatically relieve financial stress, because it often comes with a temptation…

Lifestyle creep.

When income increases, spending often increases too. A nicer car. More convenience. More eating out. More subscriptions. More upgrades.

Before long, the extra income doesn’t feel like extra anymore… and it might not make it into your savings account.

2. Spend Less So You Can Keep More

The second approach is quieter, less glamorous, but has the potential to be incredibly powerful.

Instead of focusing on increasing your income, focus on reducing your expenses.

And not just the big things like moving to a smaller home or a lower cost-of-living area… but the small things too.

• Canceling subscriptions you don’t use or don’t need
• Choosing simpler vacations (or no vacations)
• Driving an older vehicle
• Buying used whenever possible
• DIYing more (haircuts, pet grooming, car washes, landscaping, painting)
• Packing lunches and coffees at home
• Cooking at home
• Challenging yourself to a no-spending week or month
• Being more intentional with everyday spending

Each change may seem small. But together, they create space — in your budget, in your schedule, and in your life.

Here are a few examples from my own life:

• We save roughly $800 per year by grooming our dog at home(I use the FurMe)
• We save over $1000 per year by cutting everyone’s hair at home (I use this trimmer)
• We save over $2000 per year by not buying coffee or other expensive drinks ($20 per adult per week)
• We likely save $3000-$5000 per year by packing all our lunches at home 
• We save even more by rarely ever eating out (unless we have gift cards)
• We save thousands each year by regularly shopping for used items first.

These seemingly little expenses each day, week, and month add up significantly over the course of a year (and a lifetime!)

The way I look at it, every dollar you don’t spend is a dollar you don’t have to earn. Which means you may not need to work more to reach your savings goals. In fact, you may be able to work less!

The Freedom Trade-Off

The concepts of “earning more” and “spending less” both have the potential to grow your savings, but they create very different lifestyles.

Earning more often increases your financial capacity, but also increases your dependence on a continued high income.

Spending less reduces your financial needs, which increases your freedom.

• You don’t need as much income to survive
• You can save even on a modest salary
• You have more flexibility to reduce hours if needed
• You feel less financial pressure
• Your money stretches further because your life requires less
• And perhaps most importantly, you gain something that money can’t buy more of: TIME!

But You Don’t Have to Choose One

I’m generally in favor of “reducing expenses and working less” for my own life, but this isn’t an all-or-nothing decision — you can use both approaches during different seasons of life.

Sometimes you work more for a season to pay off debt.

Sometimes you reduce expenses so you can work less and enjoy more margin.

Sometimes you increase income and keep your expenses low, which accelerates savings dramatically.

The Real Question is Lifestyle

Do you want a life that requires more income to support more spending?

Or a life that requires less income and allows more freedom?

Both can build savings, but only one automatically builds margin into your life.

And in my opinion… a little extra margin is often the greater wealth!