Become a Power Saver by Adopting the Frugal Habits of People Saving $10K a Year
When it comes to tracking your dollars, it just makes sense to set your financial goals for the biggest possible payout down the line.
Like a lot of people, you may even think saving big money requires extreme budgeting, side hustles or a giant salary, which, to be fair, don’t hurt, but aren’t necessarily must-haves. In reality, the difference between people who save around $1,000 a year and those who save $10,000 or more usually comes down to a few quiet habits that compound fast.
Don’t be fooled by flashy or trendy wealth hacks; these tried and true, everyday behaviors more effectively change how money flows and over time, they create a massive lead in savings. Here are four frugal habits that separate low‑savers from high‑savers, even when your incomes look similar.
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1. Big Savers Get a Handle on Their Fixed Costs First
People who save $1,000 a year usually focus on small wins like making coffee at home instead of buying it at a café, or clipping every coupon they come across. However, those who save $10,000 a year go straight for fixed expenses, because that’s where the biggest money lives.
Like them, if you take consistent audits of your regular expenses such as rent, car payment, phone bill or recurring utilities, there may be more wiggle room to save than you previously thought. For example, if you negotiate $50 off your rent at your next lease signing as well as cut $50 worth of streaming services you don’t use — that’s $100 a month in savings off the bat.
Sure, cutting $100 a month from fixed costs doesn’t feel dramatic, but it’s $1,200 a year before you even touch discretionary spending. Just because something is on autopay doesn’t mean the convenience of it is getting you the best deal.
In other words, low‑savers chase discounts, whereas high‑savers redesign their baseline.
Total saved so far: $1,200
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2. They Nip Lifestyle Inflation in the Bud
When income rises, many people let spending rise automatically. Whether that’s better clothes, more frequent food deliveries or upgrading your living space, just because you’re making more doesn’t mean you should be spending more. Living beneath your new means can lead to huge jumps in what you’re able to save or invest.
Instead, take a beat, think about just living off your original salary, as you’ve already been doing and automatically investing the rest in your future. Instead of giving into lifestyle creep or inflation, you now have a surplus. For example, if you get a pay bump to the tune of $250 a month, that's $3,000 a year directly in your savings, plus interest. Investing it for even modest returns can make a huge difference in your future wealth.
Total saved so far: $4,200
3. They Treat Convenience Like a Premium
Treating convenience like a premium cost makes sense because that is what it is. If you are always paying for food delivery, rideshare apps, same‑day shipping, subscription stacking and more, you could be hemorrhaging cash. These should be once-in-a-while luxuries, not everyday necessities.
High‑savers don’t eliminate convenience, but they do price‑check it mentally. When everything is digital, it can be easy to forget just how much you’ve spent per week, month or especially year. Here are some example takeaways for a month of convenience spending:
Average cost of food deliveries (Uber Eats, DoorDash, GrubHub, etc.): $152
Average cost of rideshare (Uber, Lyft, Waymo, etc.): $120
Average cost for streaming services (Hulu, HBO, Netflix, Apple TV, etc.): $69
Average cost for priority shipping (Amazon, Walmart): $15
As these are just averages, you can imagine how much some people are paying per month on these options. With just the examples listed above, you would be spending $356 a month, which is $4,272 a year. Think of what you could put $4,000 toward other than convenience, such as paying off student debt or funding an emergency savings account.
Total saved so far: $8,472
4. They Debate What They Automate
Low‑savers often just divvy up what’s left at the end of the month. High‑savers save first, automatically, and adjust their lifestyle around it. For example, they pay themselves first, such as putting 20% of their paycheck directly into a high-yield savings account each week or a retirement account each month.
Automation turns saving into a default instead of a decision and removes emotion, guilt or human error from the process. For simple math, if you get paid $4,000 a month and devote even just 10% of that to your savings, that would be $400 a month or $4,800 a year.
So you can see where the gap between saving $1,000 and $10,000 a year usually isn’t income, it’s structure. Spending and savings habits quietly create space for thousands of dollars, without making life feel smaller.
Total saved: $13,272
This article was provided by MoneyLion.com for informational purposes only and should not be construed as financial, legal or tax advice.
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