I'm 32. Got married over 4 years ago and have two kids under 2 years old (not recommended by the way). I graduated college with zero debt (scholarships plus family help) but only about $1000 in the bank. I got a good-paying job with a major O&G company that I am still with today.
Prior to getting married, in 2007 my net worth was about $300k. After getting married, I took an overseas assignment and worked in Australia as an expat from 2008-2012. Our current net worth is about $1.3M (30% retirement accounts, 70% in equity accounts/home equity/etc). Granted my wife brought about $250k net worth with her in the marriage, but she hasn't worked a day since. We are extremely blessed but a lot of our savings was through hard work.
A few random tips from our success:
1) We don't eat out - mostly due to wanting a healthy lifestyle, but now with kids it's just too tough. Wife cooks 4 days a week and we eat leftovers on the days she doesn't cook. Even when I was single, I used to grill chicken breasts, cook brown rice and veggies, and eat at home 6 days/wk. Sure I went out with friends and stuff on the weekends, but I was super tight during the week. I even made my lunch and took it to work (still do to this day - usually leftovers). You would be shocked at how much you spend on food if you are always eating out for lunch and dinner, so take one month and write down the price of everything you eat and drink (groceries included) then see where you can cut costs. Even those stops at Starbucks or Smoothie King add up.
2) Pay yourself first. Sure it's in every financial guide you read, but worth restating. Max out 401k, max out Roth, auto-save money into savings acct, auto-invest mutual funds in regular acct, etc. Do what you can but if you put it away first, you forget it ever was there. Every time I got a raise, I increased savings level and lived the exact same lifestyle as if nothing changed.
3) Cars are an expensive depreciating "asset". Buy a reliable one that you can drive for 7-10 years.
4) Don't pay for stuff that you can do yourself. I still wash and iron all my dress clothes. I cut the grass every weekend. Wash your own car, fix stuff around the house, etc. Some of this stuff is actually kind of fun if you think about it - I love getting on the riding lawn mower every weekend. (note: ironing is not fun but I suck it up and do it while watching TV)
5) Vacations are expensive so do stuff that is reasonably priced. We love the outdoors, so our vacations typically involve backpacking or exploring new countryside. Sleep in a tent or try a B&B in a small town. Use frequent flyer miles or hotel points if you have them. We've backpacked in New Zealand South Island for 2 weeks, taken road trips across Australia, cruised the Texas hill country, or taken random trips to California or Colorado when I get enough flyer miles. Sure we splurged on meals or activities along the way, but the point here is you don't need a $5k trip to the Carribean to classify as a vacation.
6) Look for opportunities in your career to make more money. For me, it was obviously the expat assignment overseas. For others, it could be going out on your own business, working overtime, doing other jobs on the side (my brother designs websites in his spare time as a hobby and makes an extra $3-4k per year), whatever.
7) Hard work pays off. Do your job to the best of your ability. Someone is always watching. Go the extra mile to help a customer or work on a report, help a colleague, mentor others, etc. I've had a lot of help along my career, and I take every opportunity to help out younger engineers. Believe it or not, this will correlate to promotions, bonuses, job opportunities, etc throughout your career.
OK, getting off my soapbox now. Sounds like everyone on here is doing a great job already or knows where they want to be in 5/10/30 years. Keep working hard and always look for ways to save a buck - every one adds up!
Prior to getting married, in 2007 my net worth was about $300k. After getting married, I took an overseas assignment and worked in Australia as an expat from 2008-2012. Our current net worth is about $1.3M (30% retirement accounts, 70% in equity accounts/home equity/etc). Granted my wife brought about $250k net worth with her in the marriage, but she hasn't worked a day since. We are extremely blessed but a lot of our savings was through hard work.
A few random tips from our success:
1) We don't eat out - mostly due to wanting a healthy lifestyle, but now with kids it's just too tough. Wife cooks 4 days a week and we eat leftovers on the days she doesn't cook. Even when I was single, I used to grill chicken breasts, cook brown rice and veggies, and eat at home 6 days/wk. Sure I went out with friends and stuff on the weekends, but I was super tight during the week. I even made my lunch and took it to work (still do to this day - usually leftovers). You would be shocked at how much you spend on food if you are always eating out for lunch and dinner, so take one month and write down the price of everything you eat and drink (groceries included) then see where you can cut costs. Even those stops at Starbucks or Smoothie King add up.
2) Pay yourself first. Sure it's in every financial guide you read, but worth restating. Max out 401k, max out Roth, auto-save money into savings acct, auto-invest mutual funds in regular acct, etc. Do what you can but if you put it away first, you forget it ever was there. Every time I got a raise, I increased savings level and lived the exact same lifestyle as if nothing changed.
3) Cars are an expensive depreciating "asset". Buy a reliable one that you can drive for 7-10 years.
4) Don't pay for stuff that you can do yourself. I still wash and iron all my dress clothes. I cut the grass every weekend. Wash your own car, fix stuff around the house, etc. Some of this stuff is actually kind of fun if you think about it - I love getting on the riding lawn mower every weekend. (note: ironing is not fun but I suck it up and do it while watching TV)
5) Vacations are expensive so do stuff that is reasonably priced. We love the outdoors, so our vacations typically involve backpacking or exploring new countryside. Sleep in a tent or try a B&B in a small town. Use frequent flyer miles or hotel points if you have them. We've backpacked in New Zealand South Island for 2 weeks, taken road trips across Australia, cruised the Texas hill country, or taken random trips to California or Colorado when I get enough flyer miles. Sure we splurged on meals or activities along the way, but the point here is you don't need a $5k trip to the Carribean to classify as a vacation.
6) Look for opportunities in your career to make more money. For me, it was obviously the expat assignment overseas. For others, it could be going out on your own business, working overtime, doing other jobs on the side (my brother designs websites in his spare time as a hobby and makes an extra $3-4k per year), whatever.
7) Hard work pays off. Do your job to the best of your ability. Someone is always watching. Go the extra mile to help a customer or work on a report, help a colleague, mentor others, etc. I've had a lot of help along my career, and I take every opportunity to help out younger engineers. Believe it or not, this will correlate to promotions, bonuses, job opportunities, etc throughout your career.
OK, getting off my soapbox now. Sounds like everyone on here is doing a great job already or knows where they want to be in 5/10/30 years. Keep working hard and always look for ways to save a buck - every one adds up!
