Cutting back is the most underrated way to build wealth. Here's how Millennials and Gen Z can start saving smarter—today.

Colorful homemade meal prep lunch bowls with vegetables, grains, and legumes in glass containers

If you're in your 20s or 30s and feel like your paycheck disappears the moment it hits your account, you're not alone.

Rent, subscriptions, delivery apps, Amazon deals—somehow, it all vanishes.

Most people respond by looking for higher income or the next investment opportunity.
But here's what I learned after years of trying to save, invest, and budget:

The first real move toward wealth isn’t investing—it’s cutting back.

What You Can Actually Control

According to the Financial Planning Association:

“Income and investment returns rely heavily on external conditions.
But spending is the one financial lever individuals can pull immediately.”
(FPA Journal, 2020)

Here’s the simple breakdown of personal finance strategy:
Earn, Save, Grow, Cut, Spend.

Only two of those are truly under your control today:
Cutting and Spending.

No matter how much you earn, if your expenses are leaking in every direction,
you’re not building wealth—you’re just keeping up.

The Month I Took Control

I was living in a $1,800/month studio in LA.
My paycheck was $3,200. After rent and bills, I had just over $1,400 left to survive, eat, socialize, and try to save.

One night, I looked through my Mint app and froze.
Over $140 had gone to coffee shops—Starbucks, Blue Bottle, and a local café down the street.
Another $200+ was gone to Uber Eats and DoorDash. That’s over $350 in small “just today” decisions.

So I started small.

Brewing my own coffee
Prepping lunch on Sundays instead of grabbing Chipotle
Skipping Nordstrom’s mid-season sale and mixing up my existing outfits

Six months later, I had saved $2,400.
That became my emergency fund—and later, my first Roth IRA contribution.

It Wasn’t Just About the Money

According to the CFPB:

“Planned spending reduces stress and builds financial self-efficacy.”
(CFPB, 2022)

That turned out to be true for me.
Once I cut back, the anxiety eased. I wasn’t just surviving until payday—I was making active decisions.
Eventually, that margin gave me the confidence to quit my job and go freelance.
Not because I was making more, but because I had learned to live on less.

A Different Approach for a Different Generation

Millennials and Gen Z face different spending pressures than our parents.
We live in more expensive cities. We’re surrounded by subscription culture.
And everything from Instagram to Spotify ads is designed to make us feel behind.

So our saving strategies need to be smarter.

Ride UberX Share or take public transit using Citymapper or Moovit
Replace Sweetgreen with your own $3 salad and a glass container
Keep one streaming platform per month, pause the others
Follow the 48-hour cart rule on Amazon
Unfollow influencer accounts that push impulse buying
Set a 30-minute daily screen limit on shopping and social apps
Commit to one No Spend Day every month

These aren’t drastic changes. But they’re intentional.
And that’s where wealth-building starts—not with luck or risk, but with quiet discipline.

Real wealth is built in the background.
It’s not flashy. It doesn’t go viral. And it definitely doesn’t need to be posted.

So—what’s one small move you could make this week to cut back, calmly?
If you’ve found a strategy that works for you, share it in the comments.
Someone else might need exactly what you’ve figured out.