分类： Financial Planning

Sometimes I get a question how much an hour is 40000 a year?

I will tell you shortly how to find out your pay per hour

Is it enough or not? “It all depends on where you live”

First, when looking for a new job opportunity, it is a huge mistake to take the net salary before taxes and divide it by 2000

Bear with me, I will tell you where the 2000 came from?

In this post, I will discuss how to calculate 40000 salary hourly in the right way

How much is 40000 salary hourly?

Before we start, it is common to assume and generalize working hours as 40 hours per week with 2 days as weekend

This is 8 hours a day excluding half an hour or an hour break times 5 days a week

So, 8 x 5 is 40 hours, multiply it by 52 weeks per year, we get 40 x 52 = 2080 hours

The 2000 mentioned above came from rounding 2080 to make it easy to do the division process

Plus the fact that all companies give 2 weeks vacations so it is not rounding issue

How much an hour is 40000 a year is in fact 50 weeks of work during the year

For example, if I divide 40,000 over 2,000 you can come up with the result without using calculator

You remove the 3 leading zero, so it becomes 40 / 2 = $20 an hour

In fact, even if I do 40,000 / 2080 = $19.23, this is not the correct amount, why?

Because we ignored the taxes and it varies vastly from a state or province to another

In Canada, it can be an average of 19.5% so you earn $40,000 annual salary but there is $7,792 cut from source

It end up that your take $32,208 in your hand – deposited into your bank account

Is 40000 a good salary?

How much an hour is 40000 a year depends where you live, I live in Canada in the GTA (Great Toronto Area)

It is very minimum and it barely hard to live with but why?

Simply because it all depends on the cost of the basic shelter needs like rent/mortgage, food and transportation

The latter represented in car insurance if you own a car and car loan payment if any

$32,208 in Ontario, particularly in GTA means you get 26 biweekly payment each is equal to $1,238.76

It is hard to find a cheap rent like $800 unless it is a basement

Realistically expect to pay around $1,400 in rent so this means you have to deduct $700 from each paycheck

Leaving you with around $538.76 and if you drive a used car, you need around $250-$300 as a car insurance

That’s another $125 from each paycheck leaving you with $413.76 for the food and gas in your car – I know I neglected the entertainment and miscellaneous expenses

On the other side, in Montreal, a different province you can earn the $40,000 but still pay way less in rent like $500 and like $50 for car insurance

So, if I deduct $275 from every paycheck $1,238.76, you still have 963.76

I cannot believe it, you save $550 in every paycheck – that’s really unfair

How to budget $40,000 on monthly basis?

Again, it is hard to budget generically as I proved above that location matters

Since I don’t know where you live, I will assume your rent/mortgage is $1200 which is almost 40% of your monthly income $2,477.52

Keep in mind, I stretched your rent to the maximum of 40%

Savings of 10% = $247
Rent/ Mortgage= $1,000 (40% of income)
Utilities= $180 – I deducted it $20 dollars to adjust the total
Car Payment= $200
Car Insurance= $100
Health Insurance= $200 – no health insurance in Canada so this number goes to Car insurance in province like Ontario
Cellphone= $50
Internet= $50
Gas= $100
Groceries= $250
Personal & Misc= $50
Entertainment= $50

Total = $2,477

It took me a hard time to tweak all amounts to fit in the $2,477

Good news, you will get 2 extra payments during the year because you get paid biweekly, usually on Friday so you got 26 weeks

If you deduct 10% automatically from every paycheck, what we call it pay yourself first

In my opinion, even $40,000 in a city like Montreal looks like you have enough room for other things like increasing your savings but it is still minimum wage

Everybody deserves to live better life, it is OK if it is your starting job

Definitely go for $40,000 as a start up to gain experience but don’t stay on that level for too long

Actually the 70000 a year is way better in budgeting

How to live with $40,000 salary a year?

It is not a matter of how much an hour is 40000 a year, what really matters is how are you going to live with $40,000 salary a year

You can live with $40,000 only if you apply the below methods one by one – these are mandatory not optional to guarantee that you stay out debt

1. First create a budget and stick to it – no kidding here
2. Force yourself to save money and live frugally
3. Do your best to lower your bills and reduce expenses
4. Start building your emergency fund
5. If you follow step 1 to 4 and still not able to cope with your salary, then you must follow the cash envelope method

Finally, if you like this post then you may like this post about 28 dollar an hour and how much per year?

Conclusion on how much an hour is 40000 a year?

How much an hour is 40000 a year breaks down to approximately $19.23 per hour, assuming a standard 40-hour workweek and 52 working weeks in a year.

While this may be a comfortable starting point for many, understanding your hourly rate empowers you to make smarter financial choices, budget with confidence, and explore opportunities to grow your income.

Wealth accumulation is one of the topics that require many years to kick in

That’s why I convince people who are debating that those wealthy ones around us inherited their money

I reply with if you invest 15% of your income into mutual funds with 8%-12% dividends and reinvest your dividends within the next 15 years you will be wealthy

Of course, I prove my theory with calculator

Usually it ends up with a conclusion it is to late to start especially if they are not investing any money yet and I accidently depress them

Also one more thing you can do right now, if you as individual or a couple invest your money into a rental properly

You can join with another person or couple, just pay the down payment and mortgage the remaining amount – do it in a way that your rental amount pays your mortgage

You are accumulating a wealth as the value of the property is saved for you at the same time the properly itself is increasing in price year after the other

That’s why in this post, I will discuss wealth accumulation in details

What is wealth accumulation?

Wealth accumulation is simply a process of building up your net assets and wealth over time

A recent survey shows that there are 11.8 million households with $1 million net worth and that’s equivalent to 3% of U.S.

Again, it doesn’t happen overnight as this survey above does not reflect how long it took them to accumulate their wealth to the one million

Is wealth accumulation important?

Imagine you and your wife spend all of your income

What would happen when you retire?

Either you end up selling your home and move to a cheap city and rent a humble property with barely minimum to survive

According to Yahoo Finance 64% of Americans are not ready for retirement

You are not only building wealth for your retirement but also to pass it to your next generation

Any accumulated invested money in mutual funds that yield decent dividends will always stay intact as you are spending the profit and not the principal

You can pass it to your children and believe it or not, they will appreciate the fact that you did not live for yourself but you thought about them

Is it possible to accumulate wealth quickly?

This topic is controversial especially for those who postpone saving money and investing it

But to accumulate and build wealth fast like really fast, you have to consider investing in mutual funds and ETFs (Exchange Traded Fund) under one of the following accounts

Either under Roth IRA as called in the U.S. or TFSA (Tax Free Saving Account) in Canada, both Roth IRA or TFSA will let you invest money where your earnings are tax free, hence you can reinvest your profit

Other option is to invest your money into retirement saving account for long term investment

Keep in mind that both Roth IRA or TFSA is limited to a certain amount annually

I believe it is a fixed amount and not a percentage to your income

That’s why to boost your wealth building process, I suggest to invest while your cut your spending and build a budget for your household income

Does investing in real estate build wealth?

People ask me if they are building wealth within their living home

I always tell them, as long as you live in a home you cannot consider it an investment

You have to have a shelter and even if you sell it, you will buy another one

The only exception to this rule when you sell you home when you retire and downsize or rent an apartment

Back again to the question if investing in real estate build wealth, short answer is yes

But there are few types of real estate investment, I only like one type which I consider the best wealth accumulation option

Purchase property for rental

This is my favorite type because when you buy a rental property your tenant is paying your mortgage through your rent

If the house market crash, whatever your rental property is worth, its value was paid for you

Flipping houses

Flipping houses is simply buying low and selling high

It is risky but in some states like New York, New Jersey in U.S. and in Great Toronto Area in Canada, houses are always on the rise

House hacking

Similar to flipping house but you buy a duplex where you live in one and rent the other

REIT

REIT stands for Real Estate Investment Trust where you invest your money in real estate stocks similar to mutual funds

How do you build wealth from nothing?

I heard this percentage but not sure about its source, around 67.7% of millionaires are self made

To effectively build your wealth, here are the steps to follow

1. Educate yourself about money and acquire financial knowledge
2. Get a regular income as you don’t want to waste your hard earned money to cover your unemployed periods
3. Stick to a budget
4. Insure yourself against the unexpected like dental and life insurance
5. Cut your spending and practice saving money
6. Build an emergency fund
7. Work on your skills to seek higher income
8. Explore passive income ideas that can make you money while you sleep, like renting part of your house

What is the best way to accumulate wealth?

Although what I list below is similar to the above

I will use this opportunity to elaborate more on the best way on building your wealth

1- Start with the concept of creating a budget

I give credit to my first budget which I made with with wife

The end result, I found 2 bills I completely not using

I discovered many ways to cut my expenses like I started using VOIP phone which costs me $2.5 a month

I also replaced my cable which used to cost me $25 a month to $30 a year

Start now by building your budget

2- Pay off your debt fast

I believe what is the point of paying interest and leaving the principal

You will end up paying interest for infinite time

Take an action now and start with paying high interest debt first and use the same energy to keep the debt ball rolling

3- Build an emergency fund

After paying off your debt, it is time to think about build your emergency fund

You don’t want to fall in debt again and the best way is to have a reserve to pay any unexpected sitiuation

4- Seek high income jobs

I always recommend job seekers to stretch their income opportunities and look for the highest income for your skills

I know it is hard for many to ask for raise at their work

But if you find a competitive opportunity you can take it to your employer either to match it or you leave

5- Invest your saved money

Investing part of your income into mutual funds and ETFs under your retirement saving account

You not only build wealth but you also get a good tax deduction when doing your taxes

Actually in U.S. and Canada you get a tax deduction for the amount invested from your taxable income up to 18% in Canada of your total income

For example, if you annual income is $60,000

You can invest $10,800 in mutual funds and ETFs under your retirement saving plan

When you do your taxes, your taxable income drops down to $49,200

You get back a refund of your taxes paid on $10,800 (something around $4,000)

6- Choose the right insurance

Choosing the right insurance whether a medical, dental or life will protect you against inevitable life emergencies

I was hospitalized in 2017 for what is called one day operation

I know in Canada medical is covered by the Government but at least all the miscellaneous expenses like drugs were covered by my insurance

Bottom line, you don’t want to spend the rest of your life paying a medical bill

7- Have a will for your next generation

Imagine you have done all the above but with no will

GOD forbids you don’t want your hard earned wealth to go to the Government

In fact, without a will, part of your wealth will go to the Government

But why you that if you are a good citizen paying taxes

How do you calculate accumulated wealth?

The formula is very simple

Your wealth = your net wealth which is equivalent to Assets – Liabilities

What is Asset

Asset is anything that puts money in your pocket

Your income for example is an asset

What is Liabilities

Liabilities on the other side is anything that takes money out of your pocket

That’s why car loan is a liability that can stay with you even after selling your car

Do you know your car loses its value day after day?

If you sell your car earlier before you pay all your monthly loans, your selling value will not be enough to pay the remaining monthly loans

Final thoughts on wealth accumulation

Buildiing wealth is an ongoing process, you cannot start investing and stop

As long as you work and save money, you have to invest your money

Also it is not a quick process, it takes long time to reap your rewards

This is the power of compound interest

Learning some financial wellness tips for personal knowledge is not going to help you

These are not fairy tales you read to enjoy and waste your time

You learn and apply them in your financial life so taking action is crucial

I have to admit it took me long time to become what I am right now

A person who doesn’t care to carry the latest mobile phone or wearing brand names

It comes to the end of willing to live frugally and I had the will to do it

In this post, I will list all my financial wellness tips I know and apply

What does financial wellness mean?

Financial wellness in simple words is about your relationship with money

It is also a plan to deal with financial pitfalls that could impact your financial life

Why is Financial Wellness important?

Having good financial wellness means no stress – who wants to be stressed?

According to study by APA one third of American under extreme stress

While 48% claim that there stress increased in the last 5 years

That’s why applying financial wellness tips like building your budget, saving for emergency fund and saving for retirement and kids’ education will reduce your stress dramatically

At the same time, if money is an issue as with lot of couples

Then having financial wellness will guarantee a stable relationship and long lasting marriage

What about self confidence and peace of mind?

Yes these are also signs of good financial wellness

Does financial wellness affect health?

I can say confidently yes to a high degree

If you suffer from stress due to not managing your financial life properly

Then what do you expect, stress causes high pressure and insomnia and a major cause of many heart diseases

How can I improve my financial wellness?

By following my below financial wellness tips, you will not improve your financial life

But you will take your life financially to the next level

I like Dave Ramsey and most of his quotes, he said onceWe buy things we don’t need with money we don’t have to impress people we don’t like. (Dave Ramsey) Click To Tweet

Now let’s focus on the most financial wellness tips and I will start with

Reliable income

Expenses are always a recurring money going out of your pocket

The only thing that can pay your expenses is your steady stream of cash as known as Income

That’s why you should have a steady and reliable income every month

I remember during the financial crisis of 2008 – I tried hard to work in my IT field

Accepting the fact that I was not that competitive to my peers – this caused me to lose so many interviews

I decided I have to work even it is a simple minimum wage and so I worked at Walmart

I had an income and according to that I adjusted my life accordingly

Choosing suitable medical and life insurance

One of the best financial wellness tips to follow today is to look for a suitable medical insurance – who knows what will happen tomorrow

A high percentage of those who fell in debt happened because of a medical emergencies and they couldn’t pay the bills and so debts occurred

Life insurance is not less important as you don’t want your next generation to suffer unless you have a wealth to pass away to them

Spend less than you earn

It doesn’t matter how much you earn

The key to any financial success is to spend less than you earn

Do you remember my Walmart story?

My life had changed and I accepted this fact

I had to cut so many things I used to buy or do when I was working in my career

Pay yourself first – one of the best financial wellness tips

This is one of the best financial wellness tips

If you are going to apply one financial tip then go ahead with this one

But wait a second, I have to tell you what does it mean to pay yourself first

It is a term to deduct (preferred automatically through your bank) from every paycheck a specific percentage or an amount if like

By doing that you force yourself to save

Assuming you don’t go back and take part of this money if you are tie with your hand

Budget is like a compass

I always do this challenge and I know I will win all the times

I will ask you what is the percentage of your mortgage or rent to your income?

Don’t feel bad if you don’t know the answer

Only those who build a budget can answer that

A good budget like the one in my image below can instantly calculate the percentage of your spending

Anyway, you can use my free budget sheet to achieve something like the above

Build emergency fund

Nothing is better than making sure that you have money set aside to pay for emergencies

For example, you roof top started to crack or your car suddenly stopped

That’s why smart financial people suggest to build emergency fund and save money there

Only borrow what you can afford

First you have to know what is your affordability

Well there is a percentage called DTI which stands for Debt To Income

Simply it is a ratio of how much debt you owe according to your income

Usually a DTI of 35% is a good sign that you can somehow be able to pay your debt

Again this percentage means you have to cut 35% of your income monthly to pay your debt – I hope it is clear

Set financial goals for yourself

Those who managed to reach their financial goals admitted that they have them written on paper and hanged near a place accessible and visible to them

Below is my financial goals roadmap, you can find it on my download page

Learn basic financial knowledge

That’s right like the difference between assets and liabilities

Asset is anything that puts money in your pocket

While a liability is a thing that takes money out of your pocket

I have a detailed topic about personal financial literacy

I would leave it up to you to read it

Focus on your needs and not your wants

Most of us spend their income buying all the things they can buy

Few of us can differentiate between their needs and wants

Well, what you need is what is very essential to your life

You cannot live without like your shelter, food and transportation

While your wants are what you buy because you want to do so

Like your clothes, a new watch or cell phone

Anyway what I want you to learn is before buying anything

Ask yourself is that a need or want

Avoid falling into debt

One of the best financial wellness tips to learn is to know what makes you fall in debt

It is easy, I would tell you – you go to a car dealership and you buy a car with 5 years loan with whatever an interest rate – the interest rate here is not an issue

You are now putting yourself in debt as you have a commitment of 5 years to completely pay your loan

Who knows what would happen in 2 to 5 years

I am not against buying cars but think about any loan before you commit to it

Beside I am a big fan of buying used cars of high reputation using saved cash or little money from my home equity line of credit

Invest your money

Inflation rate in north America is 1-2% so the whole point of saving is to make your money grow for retirement

With the magic of compound interest, if you invest your money in well managed mutual funds with 12% dividends, you cannot image how much you will make in 10 years

For example, if you invest $5,000 annually with 7% interest after 10 years you will get $100,000

Make sure to have a will

Keeping a will is not expensive at all but it will protect you from getting the government to seize part of your wealth

How much money do I need to be financially free?

Well, before I answer that question

I would like to know the timing of when you need to be financially free

Are you aiming to be financially free at retirement age or before retirement

if you are spending $50,000 annually exclude what you pay for mortgage, I will tell you why shortly

Now you have $50,000 and this is your expenses

When you retire, you need to multiply your expenses by 25

But why 25 specifically?

Well, your invested money are producing let’s say around 7% for low risk stocks or mutual funds at the age of retirement you switch your investment to low risk

You need to withdraw 4% and keep 3% of your dividends to be reinvested to cover the inflation rate

So $50,000 by 25 = $1,250,000 so 4% of that amount $1,250,000 x 4% gives you the $50,000 annually

What? do I need to save one million and 250 thousands to retire financially free

Not really, because we forgot about your government pension

If you consider you government pension is dedicated to pay your rent

At the same time, you would have your home fully paid

This is a lump sum good amount to help you in your retirement plus your spouse pension too is not taken in consideration

Now if you need to be financially free before retirement like you quit your job then the amount mentioned above is what you need to save

What are some examples of financial wellness?

It is very easy to tell if you applied all the financial wellness tips or not

A true indication of a financial success in your life is to have the following

Have control on your day to day finances

Sure you can do that with a balanced budget that make sure you apply 20% to your savings

You can read about the 50 30 20 rule

Have enough cushion to handle financial emergencies

By making sure you have the emergency fund with at least $1,000

Some people they start saving 3-6 months of expenses in case they get laid off

Being and staying debt free

It is a nice condition to have all of your debt being paid and staying like that

On track to meet retirement and saving goals

Always review your stocks and mutual funds which you have for your retirement saving plan and making sure you saved money for your kids’ education

I saw few days ago a funny money meme that cheered me up during a stressful day

Dealing with money like budgeting your income and paying your bills can be challenging

It is nice to break your anxiety and look at money memes or read comics about money

That’s why I collected a bunch of money memes about money which I liked

What is money meme ?

A money meme is a funny, relatable, or satirical image, text post, or video that revolves around money, spending, saving, debt, investing, or financial struggles.

It uses humor to express the everyday emotions we all feel about money — from payday highs to “I’m broke again” lows

A Quick Timeline of the Money Meme Evolution

Early 2000s (Forum Era):

• Money jokes started appearing in imageboards and forums like 4chan and Something Awful.
• Humor was basic but hit themes like: “I’m broke,” “student loans,” or “can’t afford rent.”

2010s: Social Media Boom

• Platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Reddit, and later Instagram became the home of relatable broke life memes.
• The rise of Millennial financial struggle made money memes a cultural staple.
  • Think: “Can’t afford a house, but I have 6 streaming subscriptions.”

2017–2021: Crypto & Stock Market Memes Take Over

• r/WallStreetBets (Reddit) gave us:
  • “Stonks”
  • “Diamond hands”
  • “To the moon”
• Meme stocks like GameStop (GME) and Dogecoin exploded.
  • Meme-driven investing became a thing.

Now (2020s):

• Money memes cover everything:
  • Digital wallets, budgeting apps, inflation panic, side hustles, passive income, and more.
• They’re a core part of financial education + humor on TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts.

---

Why It Matters

Money memes are more than laughs — they’re a reflection of how we feel about money in a digital world.
They help people cope, connect, and even learn financial literacy in a fun way.

Below is a money meme about someone who is intense frugal, people are making fun of him as being stingy

There is a huge difference between being frugal and stingy

Being frugal and caring about your income doesn’t mean you’re cheap

How devastating people want to make money but they don’t care about saving or investing that money

I cannot imagine someone his wallet is full of debt – it is funny expression

Getting rid of debt like closing all open popup screens under Windows

Similar to show me your money – do you have an income budget?

It reminds me with someone who complains of not being able to save money

When you tell him, do you pay yourself first? cut your saved money at the beginning of every paycheck, he tells you no I don’t

If you are unhappy being broke, why don’t you pursue a side hustle

This reminds me with so many con artist internet marketers who promise you with get quick money program

Don’t be fooled by such programs

If you are not sure how money works and how to many it

Go ahead and check force your income to obey you

Everybody says we’re gonna save dat money but how to save money

You want to make a good investment more than the increase of prices every year (as known as inflation)

If you are not sure how to do that? check force your income to obey you

Check funniest money meme below poor but caffeinated quote

Conclusion

And there you have it — proof that even when our wallets are crying, our memes are thriving.

Whether you’re broke, budgeting, or ballin’, money memes remind us that we’re all just trying to figure it out one coffee-fueled impulse purchase at a time.

So the next time your bank account hits single digits, just remember: laughter is free… and so are memes.

Got a favorite money meme of your own? Drop it in the comments — let’s laugh through the financial chaos together!

Financially sound is the term equivalent to financially secure

But what does it mean to be financially secure?

Well it is a state of reaching good financial state and taking the best financial decisions

For example, you are taking a financially sound decision when you decide to fight your debt and pay it off fast

What does financial sound mean?

Financial sound is the financial decision you take that makes you proud of yourself for the rest of your life

I consider myself taking a good financial decision when I started saving for kids’ RESP

RESP stands for Registered Educational Saving Plan in Canada

This saving decision is accumulative I save $5000 each year for my 2 sons

I cannot start saving when they are 14, it will be too late to catch up the necessary amount for both kids

Tips to become financially sound

Now you understand what financially sound mean

Let me tell you that these below tips are the best financial decisions to make

1- Create a financial plan

A financial plan is like a map

How do you expect to do to your destination without a map?

If you decide let’s say to save for your retirement you have to decide how much you want to get when you reach your retirement age

Any financial advisor can help you reverse engineering the numbers for you and tell you how much to save every month

My financial advisor recently told me that investing getting $100,000 after 10 years that requires to invest $5,000 annually with 7% interest

Just focus on your destination and you will be able to find where to start from today

2- Pay yourself first

A very good financial decision is to save money before you spend your income on all expenses

What is going to happen you will adjust what is left to cover all your spending

3- Pay off your debt

Taking the decision to fight your debt fast is very rewarding

I know it might be intimidating and you would feel you won’t make it

Once you start never look back

4- Build an emergency fund

It is very frustrating when you switch on your car and you discover it is not working

What make the situation worse is not having the emergency fund to fix it

Building your emergency fund is a wise decision only those who use it appreciate how financially sound it was when they saved money for that purpose

5- Invest in your retirement plan

Don’t ignore the fact that one day you will have to retire

Please do yourself a favor and plan for that moment

I knew many examples of people who started in their forties – I know it was too late

Good news is they were committed and saved the right amount to retire in their 65

6- Practice living frugally

It is very hard to explain living frugally as people confuse it

They think about it as living stingily

Actually there are many things you can do in life to express how you can live frugally?

Like using your own bags while doing for grocery shopping

Buying a family portion from the menu when dinning out and many more things

7- Buy insurance policy

Buying life insurance is one of the wisest decision to make

Although some people think of it as wasting your money

I see based on what you pay monthly on many life insurance policies a little compared to the unknown God forbids that can happen anytime

8- Beat your financial literacy

Nothing is best than educating yourself with the basic financial literacy

I recommend you read my post on teaching yourself financial literacy in an hour

Knowing the basics can save your life from taking bad financial decisions that can cause you to fall in debt

Is there a recipe on how to stop being poor?

If yes, I wish everyone to know it to put an end to their poverty

You hate being poor and perhaps you may wonder “Why am I poor?”

Luckily I experienced the condition of being poor to feel those who are currently poor

This occurred during the 2008 deep recession where I was laid off

I realized that my knowledge in my career was very shallow and I was not up to date

That’s why I couldn’t land a job till mid of 2011 so I had to work at Walmart with minimum wage

I still remember the same emotions I passed through as if they happened yesterday

That’s I will discuss below how to stop being poor and broke

Why are you poor?

There are so many reasons why you are currently poor

I will discuss here what is so obvious

There can be hundred reasons but main one are

1- You come from unequipped family

Actually I was hesitant about the above title

I did not want to say you come from poor family

Because there are poor families but educated ones

I cannot forgot Richard Kiyosaki in his famous book Rich Dad Poor Dad

I cannot forget this book, I recommend everyone to read it

The book’s slogan what the rich teach their kids about money that the poor and middle class do not

I felt the word unequipped or unprivileged both fit better

Unequipped in teaching you how to pursue your dreams

Or may be you lack the ambitions as you don’t see your parents successful

And so you don’t have a model to follow

2- You are poor because of your location

You are poor due to where you were born

I know an acquaintance who is a Vet

Back in his mother country where people there are poor

Only few of the rich people own pets so his career is completely useless

He immigrated to Canada and worked hardly on himself

Nowadays he is working in his career as a well known Vet

He is the same person but he just changed where he lives

3- Unfortunate tragedy struck your life

This can happen to anybody discovering a disease that can bleed all of your hard saved money to cure yourself

Medical expenses can cause bankruptcy to anyone

GOD forbids any unexpected health condition thing to occur that makes you spend all your money in hospitals

4- You made bad financial decisions

I have to admit I committed few bad financial decisions

Luckily I learned from my lessons and I moved forward

When I recently got married, we purchased a new car with 5 years car loan

I remember my car on the third year was not worth the full price

Meaning if I decide to sell it, its sales value will not cover the remaining installments

What do I do if you are poor?

I considered myself being poor one day

But I did not surrender

I believe what I will mention below is verified on myself

When I was looking for a solution on how to stop being poor

1- Educate yourself – horn your skills

I knew I was not up to date with my IT skills

Take myself as an example, any job requires certain skills

I worked on myself in a way that I used to record in my memory or on my cell phone the entire interview

Even when I was good at the technical questions, it wasn’t enough

I had to practice the human resources questions

2- Attend a college or diploma but don’t do it accumulating debt

I will not be practical if I tell you to go study 4 years of college

Look for a certificate, one year college or diploma that takes your career to the next level

3- Look for competitive opportunity

I heard a lot of stories of people working with minimum salaries only to find that they are worth more than that

Someone told me once that he got doubled his salary and his employer beat this offer by 10%

4- Always buy what you need and not what you want

You have to differentiate between your needs and wants

What you really need is something you cannot live without

Like Shelter, food and transportation, you need them to survive

But you won’t want Apple watch to survive – I think you got the idea

5- Fight falling in debt by all means

If it takes you to cancel your GYM membership and not to charge it on your credit card – I would ask you to do so

The debt cycle can drag you into poverty

All of your extra money will be sucked to pay your debt

6- Find a side hustle to make more money

There is nothing wrong if you look for an extra side hustle to make more money

You can drive Uber or Lyft or even join skip the dishes

I recommend to read the below

How to Make an Extra 1000 a Month From Home Doing Easy Side Hustles

How do you survive being broke?

Again I remember my experience when I was really broke making just minimum wage

What I learned when I decided to stop being poor helped me a lot nowadays

I would like to share with you what I did to survive being broke

Never give up and keep fighting

I have to admit living 3 and half years working with minimum salary kept me thinking

Am I going to live the rest of my life like that

I realized I am the same person who never used to face this kind of crisis

It was just the circumstances and not being ready for situation like that

When bad things happen to you, keep faith that you would be able to restore yourself

Sell belongings you don’t need

There is nothing wrong if you sell things you don’t need

If you look around you, you may find a rug or a watch you can get rid of them

I love Facebook Marketplace as my number one resource to sell and buy used items

Also I tried Craigslist and eBay but Facebook Marketplace can attract local buyers in your neighborhood to pay cash

Live below your means

Sometimes it happens that you lose your job or get bankruptcy

You have to assess your current situation and adapt yourself to live below your means

Mortgage or rent is number one issue to look at

It doesn’t make sense to pay high rent or mortgage with minimum wage

Also GYM membership would not be suitable if you are working paycheck to paycheck

Cut from your expenses

I am not referring to the fixed expenses that you cannot decrease like mortgage/rent and insurance

Here I refer to flexible cell phone plans or discretionary expenses like your morning take away coffee

You have to make few sacrifices to survive while being broke

Get rid of your debt

I know few will wonder how can they pay their debts despite being broke

Actually if you don’t decide to get rid of your debt

You are still be broke

The only way to break this cycle is to waive the debt that suck your income

Increase your income with side hustle

You may be working full time with minimum wage

It drains you and thinking about working another part time job is a nightmare to you

But you can look for a side hustle to make few bucks where you decide the time you want to work

I wrote a post on how to make 200 dollars a day with lots of ideas of income you earn from home

How to stop being poor and broke?

If you are serious to stop being poor and break the broke cycle

Then follow the steps below and have a strong will to change your life

Be positive and keep your faith

I know you may not like what I will say now but this is what I believe

Acting positive and believing in yourself is the only difference between rich and poor

Spending 3 and half years working with minimum wage could have made me stay like that for the rest of my life

Only I was acting positive and kept faith in GODThe only difference between a RICH person and a POOR person is how they use their time. (Robert Kiyosaki)Click To Tweet

Be accountable and take responsibilities for your actions

Before blaming circumstances or your family for not saving money for you

Perhaps you may be born from a poor family but take a look at your past actions

You should be accountable for any action you should have done it to improve your situation

The difference between any two human beings in their lives is the actions they take

Taking no action is an action by itself to stay where you are

Learn some financial knowledge

You have to learn what is liability and why it makes you lose money

Liability is anything that takes money out of your pocket

Also asset is anything that puts money in your pocket

I recommend you read my post about personal financial literacy

Once you understand difference between assets and liabilities

You try your best to increase your assets and decrease your liabilities

Set clear financial goals

Without a clear and written financial goals, it will be hard to achieve what you aim for

But why written goals, well without writing down your goals you have less chance to achieve them

We as humans are able to process things visually hundred times than imagining them

When you write your goals

• It helps you boost your motivation
• Helps you to stay focus
• Also it will reduce your stress level as you don’t have to keep everything inside in your memory
• You will be able to track your progress
• Aim to achieve bigger goals

The above is financial goals roadmap which comes with a bundle of all what you would need for managing your budget from my download page

Make an assessment of how poor you are

I was hesitant to talk about this solution as it would be useless if you use it without changing your situation

The solution here is to make assessment of how poor you are

Some people they discover they are not that poor

They possess gold and diamond jewelries to sell and make some money right away

As I said earlier if you are not planning to change your current situation then selling your possession will not stop being poor but it will make things even worse

Also beside your physical possession, assess your skills and talents

Perhaps you have a talent to make money from like painting or playing a musical instrument

Stick to a budget

Building your own budget is not an option here

You have to know and sort out your expenses and all sources of income

I always recommend budgeting for couples to help them save money

Now if you are looking on how to stop being poor then budgeting is a must do thing

Pay your bills on time

Paying your bills on time will avoid you unnecessary penalties and interest

For hassle free, I always use the below control your bills sheet and mark all my bills that are due on calendar as shown on the bills on calendar

I have the above sheets in my ultimate budget binder product page

If you really need these 2 sheets and you don’t want to pay for them – just email me and I will send them to you

Get rid of your credit cards – use envelope system

Unfortunately I realized it is impossible to track how much I spend when paying with credit cards

I know it is hard for many to abandon their credit cards – I heard stories that some decided to tear down their credit cards and replace it with cash envelope system

I am not here to judge if you should switch to the cash envelope

You have to decide if you are uncontrollable with your credit cards or you can tame yourself and force your spending to fit under your budget

Fight your debt

I call it here fight your debt as you have no other option

You have to list an item under your budget for the amount of money you want to assign to your debt every month

You know what, you pay this amount every paycheck and not at the end of the month

By doing that you guarantee to pay the assigned amount toward your debt

You can survive if you skip your grocery for one week or buy only the bare minimum

What will be worth is you lose confident in yourself being able to finish your debt

Cut expenses and practice living frugally

I though it was hard to cut expenses as everything I spend money on I cannot sacrifice losing it

But I was wrong, I was able to cut the cable and replace it with IPTV paying $30 annually

I gave up home phone and replace it with VOIP paying $2.5 monthly

Even I can get rid of it and keep my cell phone

I know it takes time to practice living frugally but it is really worth it

Because once you start to increase your income, the same man inside you will keep thinking frugally every moment in your life

Evaluate how worth you are in today’s market

Be honest to yourself and see how much you’re worth in today’s market

If you don’t judge yourself, others will judge you

I was very cynical to myself when I get an interview with written exam – I hated it as it was proving how I was delayed compared to my peers

It took me lot of time to work on myself and I was glad I did that

Time is money so stop wasting time

That’s really true especially if you have 3-4 hours after getting back from work

What you would use your spare time for

Are you going to watch TV? or hang out with your friends?

Or you would rather use some of your spare time to work on a side hustle

I am not against relaxing and meeting your friends

What I am asking is to be reasonable and give some time to improve your condition

Final thoughts on how to stop being poor

Working on the decision to stop being poor is the best thing you can do to yourself

Don’t ever think accepting your condition is a good behavior

Or according to your belief you show GOD that you are not chasing money

And you accept your fate thinking that this is what GOD wants you to be

That’s not true, GOD wants everyone to be successful

Remember what the bible says about the man who travelled and gave his three servants different talents

He gave his first servant 5 talents and to the second servant 2 talents and the third servant one talent

Even if you have only one talent, don’t hide it in the ground, go make profit out of it

Living stingy is hard to practice in our current modern life

I really find very few families live frugally the right way

While all the rest believe they live the best time of their lives

Why? everybody nowadays carry multiple credit cards in their wallet

This means it is very easy to fall in temptation when it comes to killer vacation or buying luxury bags, clothes or whatever

All you do is swipe your credit card and you’re done

You think you will take care of paying your accrued pending amount later on

Even if you are able to make it and pay off your debt quickly

Is that the life you want to live?

Squander your money then worry about what will happen next later

Or learn few financial tips to help you live a balanced life a mix of spend, enjoy and save for the future

That’s why below, I ‘ll show you that living stingy is not what you thought of

What does stingy mean?

Stingy or another synonym parsimonious is the act of having money

But unwillingly spend it on himself or on others

Also he is not willing to spend it on essential things as well

It is a very hard feeling to imagine

Because if you deprive yourself from essential things how can you do that to your kids

Don’t worry I am not teaching you to be stingy that’s totally not what I meant by living stingy

I meant to live frugally and spend your money wisely to enjoy your moment and also plan to save for future

Is living stingy a bad habit?

Living stingy is not a bad habit

I know it draws a bad image of someone who collects coupons like crazy or whatever

This is not true at all because

• Being mindful of your money doesn’t mean you are stingy or generous person, you just practice spending money towards your needs than your wants
• Living stingy means sticking to budgeting where you develop a sense of where your money is going and making thoughtful decisions on your purchases

Difference between being stingy and living stingy?

Being stingy is the fact of having the money but you deprive yourself from spending it on anything including even essential things for your living

Unfortunately most of those who are being stingy don’t have a financial goals on how to invest their money

If they had a plan on how to grow their kept money, they would be in a better situation

But of course, this is not the rule for every stingy person

Anyway on the other hand side, living stingy is a matter of buying all what you need wisely or frugally

While deferring your wants till you are convinced it will add value to your life

Here is an example, it is kind of relevant to what I discussed above

My watch is Michael Kors brand, my wife bought it on discount

Its price after the discount is the same to any regular watch

I’ve been thinking to buy an Apple watch but I am kind of waited sometime till my watch started to break down

Pros and cons of living stingily

Yes there are cons too when it comes to living frugally

Let us start first with the Pros of living stingy

Appreciate the value of money

Once you start to live stingily you will start building a sense of the true value of money

I cannot describe it but what I can tell you is

You will experience it as you practice saving first before you spend your income

Financial knowledge and wellness

Financial knowledge is really a common sense knowledge

Unfortunately not everybody knows all basic tips like difference between assets and liabilities

But if you are keen to live stingily you will be open to read more on financial area

Anyway I will leave you to read my personal financial tips

Staying within your income due to budgeting

Those who are living stingily know they wouldn’t be able to achieve that without relying on what they call it a budget

Budget is a simple word but it requires what I call a budget planning

It is an amazing feeling to realize that you have full control of your income

Force it to where it should be spent and save money towards to your financial goals

Being content with what you have

The good thing about living stingy is you start to enjoy life with whatever your current income as long as you are budgeting it

It is indescribable feeling to be content with what you own

And not compare yourself with others

Being satisfied with your used car and not look for friends who own luxurious cars

This feeling will not be fading as long as you’re working hard towards your financial goals

Staying debt free

Those who became debt free know how it feels to overcome debt

They surely recall the before and after feeling of living in debt

Where before they were experiencing insomnia, stress and anxiety

And after paying their debts in full, a new feeling come to the horizon

A feeling of lifting a heavy hard rock from their shoulders

A lot of those who paid their debts prefer to be living stingy life

You would be crazy after fighting your debt to go back and put yourself in a new one

Second the Cons of living stingy

Most around you will misunderstood you

If you are living stingy I will ask you to keep it for yourself

I am afraid once someone starts mixing what you do with ignorance to being stingy

Rumor starts to spread and people will start thinking of you as being stingy

It is hard to explain that you’re not stingy but you’re living stingy

At the end who cares if you care then keep it for yourself

Remember it is your live and you have full control of it

Going to the extreme

There is a chance that you end up going to the extreme

I don’t want you to do that to yourself

Nowadays those who are living stingy in our modern life can still enjoy so many things without wasting time and effort

Like old days those who were obsessed about couponing can use lot of apps to show all offers and discounts in your area

You can also get cashback using many apps too

I will leave it for you to read quick cash websites or app under desperate for money

12 smart ways to live stingy

Actually this list can go longer than that

But I want it to make it concise so you can remember it

And so you can start implementing them one after the other

Trust me, these tips below will impact your life dramatically

Set your financial goals

Some financial goals are short terms in nature while others are long terms

Short terms like saving for the deposit for new home or replace your existing car

While long terms are saving for the retirement

Unfortunately we as humans cannot have strong will kept in memory

Almost all of those who managed to achieve their financial goals had written them on paper and hanged on a nearby place

If you are serious about achieving your financial goals you have to write them

I highly recommend to print and hang them on a place you see it often

Read it from time to time and think about it

Create a budget and stick to it

I will ask you a question, why I ask you to create a budget ?

Simple answer, budget is a tool you build to know where you money go

And how much it goes in each category

I will prove it to you now

If I ask you what is the percentage of your rent/mortgage to your income?

It is impossible to know it if you don’t maintain a budget

I recommend to read my post about how to create a budget ?

Ask yourself if this is a need or want?

Your need or want is not a new term

It is a well known term for those who practice living stingy life

It is just a face that you never thought about it

In simple words, your need is all the essential things you buy to keep you alive

Like your shelter, food and transportation

What about your wants?

Well wants are all the things you can skip or postpone and it won’t make a difference

If you buy a new brown shoe while you have a black shoe

You would think, well I want a brown shoe to go with my brown pants

I cannot wear black shoes with brown pants, they won’t match

This is an example, please don’t take it literally

I am just emphasizing the fact that not anything you pay money for is necessary

Save before you spend your income

Of course it would be feasible to save first as I call it pay yourself first

Why? OK whatever income you have, it will be spent at all if you don’t control it

Wait a second, how can you control it?

Well, by budgeting your money you will be able to control how you spend your money

But, what if you get some deficit in your budget

That’s why I ask you to save money first before you spend your income

Be productive with your time

If you want to live frugally find a way to increase your income by pursuing any side hustle

Number one reason for not pursuing that is your excuse about lack of time

In reality, it is not the lack of time but it is the proper allocation of that time

If you check your daily routine, how much you spend watching TV?

Or how much time you spend on social media like Facebook

If you have poor time management, I suggest to read Steven Covey‘s book called First Things First

This book will teach you how to manage your time as time is money

Get rid of unnecessary subscription bills

I don’t want to say that the only way to catch those sneaky bills is to have a budget

But if you are not planning to start your budget yet

I recommend to get all your credit and debit cards and check all of your recurring bills

Definitely there is a chance that you may find one or more bills to get rid off

Declutter your home and sell what you don’t need

I was wondering one day what I could sell and get rid of from home

Then I read someone saying to start from your home door and look around

Move slowly and think about any item your eyes sees and go through all your rooms

Try it and count how many items you can get rid of

When it comes to listing and selling your items Facebook Marketplace is my best

It is free to use and there are thousands of hungry buyers in your local area

Also Craiglist and eBay can be an option too

Join cash back websites

If you prefer living stingy then join cash back websites and download apps

I have compiled a list of all the apps and websites

Starting with Swagbucks that gives you 5$ bonus for signing up

You can earn cash back from any purchases you make online from their website

Rakuten is an app that gives you $10 bonus when you sign up plus cash back percentages that vary from one store to another

MyPoints is similar to Swagbucks as both are sites rewarding points redeemable to cash

You will get a bonus of $10 bonus just for signing up

TopCashBack is another site rewarding with points similar to MyPoints

Honey is also similar to Rakuten, Paribus and TopCashBack

Qmee and Shopkick are cash rewards sites that make you money for shopping online

Paribus is an app that gives cashback when you shop for online purchases another competitive app similar to Rakuten

ShopAtHome is a cashback app available in US with more than 2,000 retailers

Ibotta is an app available in US which gives you a sign up bonus of $20 and cash back on groceries

Storewards and Receipt Hog are competitor to Ibotta where the latter is available in US and Canada

Cashout 51 is similar to Storewards and Receipt Hog but it rewards you for only products shown on their app only

Fetch Rewards gives you $2 for signing up and rewards you with cash back when you scan and upload your receipts

Dosh is a cash back that links your debit or credit within the app to track your purchases and rewards you with cash back also it gives you $5 bonus for signing up

GetUpside is a cash back gas app rewarding you 25 cents on every gas receipt

Eat left over dinner in lunch

Actually before living stingy I was buying lunch at work

I used to spend a lot of money buying lunches

That was because I wasn’t into cooking and used to be a junk guy

Anyway, I saved a lot when I got married as my wife is good cook

Buy grocery in bulk

Keep in mind there are so many grocery items that don’t expire

For example, dry seeds, rice, sugar, flour and spices they can stay longer

Buy the above items in bulk if they go on sale

Also I found paying for Costco membership especially with the executive plan will save me money but How?

Well, there are 2 types of membership, first one you pay $60 and the second type you pay $120

With the $120, I collect 2% cashback that collects me $80 pay year so I paid less than the first $60 membership type

One more thing buying from membership club stores will let you save money with bulky items as they are way cheaper than buying them from grocery stores

Buy some items from dollar stores

There are so many items you can buy from dollar stores to save a lot of money

Like greeting cards, party supplies, notebooks, gift boxes and wrapping papers, storage containers, Christmas ornaments, mugs and glasses, picture frames, bagged and boxed candies, plastic food containers and some toys

Actually there are many more but that was on top of my head

Buy gifts from your own gift cards

Before I even started living stingy, I used to keep all gift cards

Sometimes I give the gift card as is and other times I buy gifts with gift receipt

Does It Work to Live frugally?

Yes, it really works well living stingy

I have written so many articles about how to save money with multiple ways

Read all my money saving articles and you will see I am not talking about few dollars

But you can see I am showing you significant savings

Wondering 28 dollars an hour is how much a year?

No worries, let us find out – I am here to over this topic

I think you’re trying to come up with an estimate if $28 an hour is good enough as an income

You will not like my answer because I will tell you It all depends on where you live

But the good news is 28 dollars an hour is decent income for one person and hard for a family

I discussed before $40,000 a year so I will do the same for 28 dollar an hour

28 Dollars an hour is how much a year?

Before I start making any calculations

I will lay down a fact and not an assumption

There are 40 hours per week that are considered as working hours divided into 8 hours a day for 5 weekdays and 2 days off as weekend

Since entire year has 52 weeks and most employees take 2 weeks as a paid vacation

These 2 paid weeks are included in your salary

So to calculate your annual salary you have to multiply your hourly rate times the number of hours per week times the number of weeks

Annual salary = hourly rate x hours per week x weeks per year

And so annual salary = 28 x 40 x 52 = $58,240

Keep in mind this is a gross amount before taxes

Usually taxes in North America ranges between 10% to %37 in US and 15% to 33% in Canada

Assume your taxes is 20% roughly so you pay taxes around $58,240 x 20% = $11,648

Your net annual salary = $58,240 – $11,648 = $46,592

How much is 28 an hour per month?

There is obnoxious mistake every one falls into when calculating how much is 28 an hour per month

If you get the net annual salary which is equal to $46,592 and not the gross salary which is $58,240 then you have passed the first common mistake

The second mistake is inevitable and that is dividing the net $46,592 by 12 months

Actually you will end up with number that does not add up when you sum your 2 biweekly paychecks

But why? because most of us get paid every 2 weeks and since we have 52 weeks per year so you collect 26 biweekly paychecks and not 24 paychecks

This means you will have 2 extra paychecks in 2 separate months

Take a look at your calendar to locate the 2 extra paychecks and mark these 2 months

Back again to our equation of how much is 28 an hour per month

If we divide the net annual salary $46,592 by 12

You will get $3,882.67 per month

Although in reality if you divide $46,592 by 26 you will get $1,792

Assuming it’s the month where you get paid 2 paychecks only

Then you will get paid $1,792 times 2 = $3,584

How much is 28 an hour per week?

This is easy as one week is one out of 52 weeks in a year

To get how much is 28 an hour per week just divide your net annual salary by 52

Weekly salary = net annual salary / 52 weeks so $46,592 / 52 = $896

Is $28 an hour good pay?

For 28 dollars an hour is how much a year, let us breach it by hour

I will be realistic $28 an hour is a good pay for a single person

It is going to be barely hard for a family to survive on a monthly salary of $3,584

Especially if they have a mortgage to pay and average family of 2 kids

How to budget $58,240 on monthly basis?

It is very hard to generalize the expenses as I always say location matters

Renting in New York is totally higher than what you pay for rent in Michigan or Ohio

Anyway we have now the net of $3,584 representing 2 paychecks per month

Savings of 15% = $537.6
Rent/ Mortgage= $1,433.6 (40% of income)
Utilities= $180
Car Payment= $200
Car Insurance= $100
Health Insurance= $200 – no health insurance in Canada so this number goes to Car insurance in province like Ontario
Cellphone= $50
Internet= $50
Gas= $250
Groceries= $400
Personal & Misc= $100
Entertainment= $80

Total = $3,581.2 with $2.8 to distribute anywhere

I remember it was super challenging in my previous post about how you can live with $40,000 a year

That’s why I copied the existing numbers from there and started to relax the amounts especially for grocery and gas

Also I made savings 15% instead of 10%

How to live with $58,240 salary a year?

Topic here is not about 28 dollars an hour is how much a year?

It is all about how to live with this $58,240 which comes to $46,592 as net and also save and invest for future retirement and if possible kids’ education

You will not mortgage or rent a spacious place but you have to start saving on early years when you are young because the savings are not that much

But good news is with the magic of compound interest and picking the right mutual funds

You would definitely meet your goals for retirement

Below few advice to follow

1. Start by creating a budget and stick to it – take it seriously
2. Do your best to save money and live frugally
3. Fight to lower your bills and reduce expenses
4. Take a commitment to save for emergency fund
5. If you follow step 1 to 4 and figure out that you are not able cope with your salary, then you should follow the cash envelope method

Conclusion for 28 dollars an hour pay

My topic here about 28 dollars an hour is how much a year takes this angle if we break it down

• This calculation assumes no unpaid time off.
• If you take vacations or work fewer hours, the annual total will be lower.
• Overtime, bonuses, or side hustles can increase it

Earnings Type	Amount (USD)
Hourly	$28
Daily (8 hrs)	$224
Weekly (40 hrs)	$1,120
Monthly	$4,853.333333
Annually	$58,240