13 Proven Methods to Build Wealth Without Feeling Deprived

To achieve any goal, you must make trade-offs. A world where you can focus on something new without giving anything up does not exist. To achieve financial independence, pay down debt, or boost your savings, you’ll have to spend less or make more.

This is one of the reasons most people fail. Not because there isn’t a wealth of knowledge and clever tips to help them reach their goal faster, but because they don’t find the journey pleasant. Somewhere along the way, the cost of what they gave up feels higher than what they’re getting in return.

In my nearly two decades of experimenting with ways to build wealth while raising a family, I’ve found one thing to be true above all else: there’s no secret sauce. You must intentionally choose to spend less or earn more. But… there’s a way to make it enjoyable. You can find ways to cut expenses without feeling deprived, and earn more in a way that’s consistent with your values.

The rest of this article draws from my own journey and the lessons I’ve learned. My hope is that you’ll find inspiration from my story, and maybe even a bit of encouragement that it’s possible to achieve your own financial goals with the right mindset.

Focus on low-hanging fruit first

There’s a logic in focusing on the financial wins that are easy and require very little effort or change to your lifestyle. If you have an insurance policy with a higher premium than you can find elsewhere, that would be an easy switch that saves you money.

Engage your frugal curiosity

If you adapt your current preference to prefer things that are cheaper, then you will save money without any trade-off in your own mind. For example, most of the time my wife and I don’t order drinks when we go out to eat— that’s just a habit we’ve gotten into and now we don’t even miss them.

Track your progress and feel good about it

One of the best ways to make the journey towards a goal more enjoyable is to track your progress. It feels good to see yourself moving in the right direction in an area that you’ve chosen to focus on. I’ve found that emotional boost to be a big motivation to stay on track.

Change your environment to support your goals

In a lot of ways, we are a product of our environment, so it only makes sense to shape that environment to support our goals instead of making things harder for ourselves. An example would be cutting up your credit cards if you constantly feel the urge to use them.

Adapt your mind to be grateful for the little things

There’s a reason why the rich and powerful often can’t find happiness— they are constantly seeking more and forgetting how far they’ve already come. If you want to be happy now and in the future, you must instill the habit of gratitude in your life.

Surround yourself with people who share your values

We are heavily influenced by the people and stories we surround ourselves with. One thing that has helped me in the past is to read blogs and books about people practicing frugality and downsizing their lives and realizing that it hasn’t made them miserable, it has often made them more grateful.

Sell things you no longer need

If you want to earn some extra money to help settle your debt or get one step closer to financial independence, then one of the easiest places to start is selling items that you no longer need or use. In fact, this is one of my favorite activities because I get a click out of finding a higher and better purpose for items.

Find a low-effort side hustle to earn more money

Another enjoyable way to earn more money is to find a low-effort side hustle as an outlet for some of your interests. If you’ve always wanted to learn about investing and love to research, then maybe individual stock picking could be a profitable hobby for you. Or, if you want to get involved in the crypto scene and like reading about that, there are even niches within niche hobbies like this.

Set up automations for your investments

How you practically build and sustain wealth is through long periods of holding and investing in appreciating assets. And one of the best ways to ensure that happens is to have some automation in place to ensure you keep putting money aside each month, and hopefully also invest those savings.

Plan free or low-cost experiences with friends instead of more expensive ones

One of the biggest costs in our lives is entertainment. We spend money on vacations, dining out, going to the movies, and much more. I’m not against spending money in these ways, but if you’re looking to save money, then a good place to start is finding free or low-cost experiences instead. There are times when my wife and I gather friends for a board game night, or go hiking, or even just explore new parts of town. These are all fun things that cost very little.

Cut out subscriptions you barely use or can live without

One of the easiest ways to save money is to cut back on subscriptions that you no longer use or can live without. But don’t just cancel those subscriptions that seem like a step down in status or convenience. Think about all the things you spend money on and ask yourself if they’re really worth it.

Make a game out of elements of the process

One of my favorite tips for just about any aspect of life is to turn things that you see as a chore into a game. This is something I did as a kid, and now do with my own kids. Making a game out of things can be as simple as timing yourself to see how fast you can be or setting arbitrary goals to try and achieve.

Avoid all debt, especially credit cards

If you’re in the beginning stages of your financial journey, then one piece of advice that I wish I could drill into your head is to avoid all debt, especially credit cards. This is a practice that I’ve learned from my parents, and it has served me very well so far. I am grateful to see my family debt-free with a home mortgage as our only obligation.

Don’t Give In to the Temptation of Get-Rich-Quick Schemes

If there’s one piece of advice that I can leave you with, it is to avoid get-rich-quick schemes. If something sounds too good to be true, it likely is. And while it may seem like avoiding debt and cutting back on certain areas of your life is hard, so many people have done it before and found success. Why not model your journey on those who came before you and found success, rather than trying to invent a new way of doing things on your own?