I mean, most of the year, I was just making and making about $2,000 a month.

我的意思是，在這一年的大部分時間裡，我每個月都能掙到 2000 美元左右。

Then the last quarter of the year, things started to pick up.

今年最後一個季度，情況開始好轉。

And on average this year, I made $2,600 a month.

今年，我平均每月賺 2600 美元。

Not too bad for a boy with a dream, but not a crazy amount of money.

對於一個有夢想的男孩來說，這不算太壞，但也不是一筆鉅款。

However, despite that, this past year, I have been able to save a little bit over $10,000.

不過，儘管如此，在過去的一年裡，我還是攢下了 1 萬多美元。

Actually, when you factor in my investments, I have been able to increase my net worth by a little bit over $25,000 this past year.

實際上，如果算上我的投資，去年我的淨資產增加了 25000 多美元。

And to be honest, I wasn't even trying to do that.

老實說，我根本沒想這麼做。

It sort of just happened by creating a basic money management system that is intentional, prevents overspending, and maximizes my saving rate.

通過建立一個基本的資金管理制度，我有意識地防止超支，並最大限度地提高儲蓄率，這一切就這樣發生了。

And in this video, I want to share the 10 steps that I took to easily save $10,000 this past year on a low income.

在這段視頻中，我想與大家分享我在過去的一年裡，用低收入輕鬆攢下 1 萬美元的 10 個步驟。

And the first step is to create a goal that inspires you.

而第一步就是制定一個能激勵自己的目標。

Now, in order to save $10,000 in a year, you first need to create a goal that inspires you to continue to save over a long period of time and create a goal that's not about the amount, but about what the amount represents.

現在，要想在一年內儲蓄 10,000 美元，你首先需要制定一個能激勵你長期儲蓄的目標，制定的目標不是金額，而是金額所代表的意義。

Because if you know exactly what the money represents and how it'll improve your life, it's much easier to stay motivated to save money.

因為如果你清楚地知道這筆錢代表著什麼，以及它將如何改善你的生活，就更容易保持省錢的動力。

For example, my goal was never to save $10,000, but to make sure that my account was just increasing over time.

例如，我的目標從來不是存 10,000 美元，而是確保我的賬戶隨著時間的推移不斷增加。

Because I love doing YouTube and I want to continue doing it full time.

因為我喜歡做 YouTube，我想繼續全職做下去。

And to me, an increasing balance represents more security, more stability, and more freedom to pursue my own endeavors.

對我來說，越來越多的平衡代表著更多的安全感、更多的穩定性和更多追求自己事業的自由。

Whereas a decreasing balance would mean the possibility of having to move on to something else.

而餘額減少則意味著有可能不得不轉向其他方面。

This past year, I've been extremely motivated to save money because I have a deep understanding of why I'm saving and how saving money will improve my life.

在過去的一年裡，我省錢的動力非常大，因為我深刻理解了為什麼要省錢，省錢會如何改善我的生活。

And I just so happen to save $10,000 in the process.

在這個過程中，我剛好節省了 1 萬美元。

Now, the second step I took was keep fixed expenses low.

現在，我採取的第二步是降低固定開支。

Whenever you create a budget, the bulk of your budget consists of something called fixed expenses.

每當您編制預算時，預算的大部分都是固定開支。

Which are expenses that are the same amount every month and are things like rent, your cell phone bill, insurance, and other services.

這是指每月金額相同的支出，如房租、手機費、保險和其他服務。

And even though I didn't make tons of money this year, the reason I was able to save so much is because my fixed expenses were extremely low.

儘管我今年賺的錢不多，但我之所以能存下這麼多錢，是因為我的固定開支非常低。

For example, my rent was $700 a month, my cell phone bill was $15 a month, my car insurance was $85 a month, and my utilities were about $100 a month.

例如，我的房租是每月 700 美元，手機費是每月 15 美元，汽車保險是每月 85 美元，水電費是每月 100 美元左右。

And even though I didn't make tons, because my fixed expenses were so low, I always had some money to save.

儘管我的收入不高，但由於固定支出很低，我總能存下一些錢。

Whereas most people have such high fixed expenses that the only place they can find to save extra money is by cutting out a cup of coffee or a meal out.

而大多數人的固定支出都很高，他們唯一能找到的省錢方法就是少喝杯咖啡或少吃頓飯。

When you keep your fixed expenses low, you open up a lot more money to increase your savings much quicker.

當你把固定支出控制在較低水平時，你就會有更多的錢來更快地增加儲蓄。

Now, the third step I took was keep track of variable expenses on a credit card.

現在，我採取的第三步是用信用卡記錄可變支出。

Now, when creating a budget, after fixed expenses, the rest of your budget consists of something called variable expenses.

現在，在編制預算時，除固定開支外，預算的其餘部分由所謂的可變開支組成。

Which are expenses that are different amount each month and are things like groceries, gas, eating out, and entertainment.

這些開支每月數額不同，包括雜貨、汽油、外出就餐和娛樂等。

And because these expenses are a different amount every single month, if you're not paying attention, they can quickly get out of control, make you overspend.

由於這些開支每個月的數額都不一樣，如果你不注意，它們很快就會失控，讓你超支。

But one way I prevented overspending on my variable expenses was putting all the variable expenses on my credit card, like gas, groceries, and entertainment.

但我防止可變支出超支的一個方法是把所有可變支出都記在信用卡上，比如汽油、日用品和娛樂。

And this allowed me to see the full picture of my variable expenses and make it so easy to tell if I was overspending.

這樣，我就能看到可變支出的全貌，並很容易判斷自己是否超支。

Because if for three months I spent $1,500 each month, in the fourth month I was spending $3,000, I could easily tell I was overspending this month and examine why.

因為如果有三個月我每月花費 1,500 美元，而第四個月我花費了 3,000 美元，我就可以很容易地判斷出我這個月超支了，並檢查原因。

And of course, I paid off the balance at the end of every month, so I didn't have to pay interest on it.

當然，我每個月月底都會還清餘額，所以不用支付利息。

But keeping all my variable expenses on my credit card made it very easy to see how much I'm spending in this field and made my unpredictable expenses predictable.

但是，把我所有的可變支出都記在信用卡上，就很容易知道我在這一領域花了多少錢，也讓我無法預測的支出變得可以預測。

And being able to predict these variable expenses made it much easier to create a better budget where I can save the maximum amount possible.

能夠預測這些可變支出，就更容易制定出更好的預算，從而儘可能節省開支。

Now, the fourth step I took set a specific amount of money to consistently save each month.

現在，我採取的第四個步驟是設定每月持續儲蓄的具體金額。

All right, so I want to point out that the number one thing that allowed me to save $10,000 on a low income was making my budget as predictable as I possibly can, where I could know how much money I was spending month after month after month.

好吧，我想指出的是，讓我在低收入的情況下省下 1 萬美元的第一件事，就是讓我的預算儘可能可預測，讓我知道我月復一月地花了多少錢。

Because when you can predict how much money that you are spending each month, you can determine a specific amount of money that you can afford to set aside each month.

因為當你能預測自己每個月要花多少錢時，你就能確定自己每個月能預留的具體金額。

For example, I decided that I could set aside a minimum of $100 each month, regardless of how much I made.

例如，我決定每月至少留出 100 美元，無論收入多少。

In this past year, I have consistently saved this every month.

在過去的一年裡，我每個月都堅持省下這筆錢。

And this was just one piece that got me to $10,000.

而這只是讓我賺到 10,000 美元的一件作品。

However, obviously setting aside $100 a month isn't going to get you to $10,000 in a year.

不過，每月留出 100 美元顯然不能讓你在一年內賺到 1 萬美元。

And so the next piece or the next step I took to save more was see all extra money as excess.

是以，為了節省更多的錢，我採取的下一步就是把所有多餘的錢都看作是多餘的。

So the next step that I took to save more money was having this predictable budget.

是以，為了節省更多的錢，我採取的下一步就是制定可預測的預算。

And any amount I made beyond that budget was viewed as excess that I saved.

超出預算的收入都被我視為多餘的儲蓄。

My income is extremely variable.

我的收入極不穩定。

So whenever I had a good month and I made more money, I just viewed it as excess and saved it.

是以，每當我有一個好月份，賺了更多的錢，我就把它看作是多餘的，然後存起來。

For example, if my predictable budget was $2,000 a month and I made $2,200 one month, then that $200 was excess that I saved.

例如，如果我的可預測預算是每月 2,000 美元，而我一個月賺了 2,200 美元，那麼這 200 美元就是我節省下來的多餘部分。

Or if I made $5,000 another month, then that $3,000 was excess that I saved.

或者，如果我又賺了 5000 美元，那麼這 3000 美元就是我省下來的多餘部分。

Any time I made extra money or any extra money came in my life, I just viewed it as excess and saved it.

每當我賺到多餘的錢或生活中出現多餘的錢時，我就把它看作是多餘的，然後存起來。

And I did that by taking the sixth step, always keep my checking account at $100.

為此，我採取了第六步，始終將我的支票賬戶保持在 100 美元。

So the way that I was able to save every single excess dollar in my life was to simply have a checking account and a savings account.

是以，我能夠把生活中多餘的每一美元都存起來的方法，就是簡單地擁有一個支票賬戶和一個儲蓄賬戶。

And if after I paid my bills, I had $800 in my checking, I would move $700 to my savings and keep $100 in my checking.

如果付完賬單後，我的支票裡有 800 美元，我會把 700 美元轉入儲蓄，100 美元留在支票裡。

And by keeping my checking account always at $100, no more or no less, I was able to maximize how much I save and not let $1 be confused as spending money.

我的支票賬戶裡總是有 100 美元，不多也不少，這樣我就能最大限度地節省開支，而不會把 1 美元當作花銷。

And I saved thousands of dollars by doing this.

通過這樣做，我節省了數千美元。

Now, the next step I took to saving $10,000 was highly overestimating my taxes.

現在，我為節省 1 萬美元而採取的下一步措施是高估了我的納稅額。

So as I said, the beginning of this video, if you averaged out my income throughout the year, I made about $2,600 after taxes.

是以，正如我在視頻開頭所說，如果把我全年的收入平均算下來，我的稅後收入約為 2600 美元。

However, I recently came to realize that I actually made a little bit more than that because I am self-employed.

不過，我最近才意識到，由於我是自營職業者，我的收入實際上比這個數字還要高一些。

I have to take my taxes out myself.

我必須自己去繳稅。

So every time I got paid, I always took out 30% for taxes and put it in my savings.

是以，每次拿到工資，我都會拿出 30% 交稅，然後存入我的儲蓄賬戶。

So before taxes, I made about $3,380.

是以，稅前我賺了大約 3380 美元。

And I took out 30% just to be on the safe side.

為了安全起見，我拿出了 30%。

However, now that we're in tax season, I have realized that I highly overestimated my taxes because I was expecting to pay about $11,000 this year, but I really only needed to pay about $9,000, which is an extra $2,000 saved.

不過，現在已經到了報稅季節，我意識到我高估了自己的納稅額，因為我本以為今年要繳納大約 11,000 美元的稅款，但實際上我只需要繳納大約 9,000 美元，這就多省了 2,000 美元。

And in my opinion, whether you're self-employed or employed to the company, I think it's much better to overestimate your taxes rather than underestimate because one, you avoid a large bill at the end of the year, and two, you accidentally save a little bit more.

在我看來，無論你是自僱還是受僱於公司，我都認為高估稅額比低估稅額要好得多，因為第一，你可以避免年底的大筆賬單；第二，你可以意外地多省一點錢。

I saved an extra $2,000 just by accidentally overestimating my taxes.

我只是不小心高估了稅額，就多省了 2000 美元。

Now, the eighth step that I took was being smart with taxes.

現在，我採取的第八步是精明納稅。

Now, another way that I was able to save some money on my taxes was just by being smart and keeping a very detailed record of every single expense that I had so I could write them off at the end of the year.

現在，我能夠節省稅款的另一個方法就是精打細算，詳細記錄我的每一筆開支，這樣我就可以在年底將它們註銷。

And these write-offs were able to lower my tax bill by about $1,000.

而這些註銷能讓我的稅單減少約 1000 美元。

And I also chose to be smart and decided that I was not smart with my taxes and got a tax professional to do my taxes so I could get the maximum amount of write-offs.

我也選擇了聰明的做法，認為自己在稅務方面並不聰明，於是請了一位稅務專家來做稅務，這樣我就能獲得最大限度的註銷。

And whether you're an employee or self-employed, it's important to be smart with your taxes and make sure that you're giving the government the least amount of money possible and make sure that you're not leaving any money on the table.

無論您是僱員還是自營職業者，都必須精打細算地納稅，確保向政府繳納儘可能少的稅款，並確保不漏繳任何稅款。

The government doesn't need any money.

政府不需要錢。

They can just print their own money.

他們可以自己印鈔票。

Now, the ninth step that I took was investing.

現在，我邁出的第九步是投資。

So this past year, I was able to save about $10,000.

是以，在過去的一年裡，我節省了大約 1 萬美元。

But when you count my investments, I was able to save a little bit over $25,000.

但如果算上我的投資，我還能存下 25000 多美元。

And that's because a large amount of my money is invested in the stock market.

這是因為我的大部分資金都投資於股市。

And this past year, the market has been performing really well.

而在過去的一年裡，市場表現非常出色。

I am not a financial advisor, but once you complete your emergency fund, you should consider investing your money in the market because it's such an easy way to grow your money over a long period of time.

我不是財務顧問，但一旦你完成了應急基金，你就應該考慮把錢投資到市場上，因為這是一種能讓你的錢長期增長的簡單方法。

I was able to make about $15,000 this past year through investing, but of course that is unrealized money and it could go up and down over time.

去年，我通過投資賺了大約 1.5 萬美元，當然這是未變現的錢，隨著時間的推移可能會有漲有跌。

But the final way that I was able to save $10,000 was by having margin.

但是，我能夠節省 1 萬美元的最後一個辦法就是有保證金。

Now, a huge reason that I was able to save $10,000 on a low income this past year was because I didn't have to rely on that income.

現在，我之所以能在過去的一年裡用低收入攢下 1 萬美元，很大程度上是因為我不必依賴這筆收入。

I had something called margin, which is basically a buffer between you and being broke.

我有一種叫做 "保證金 "的東西，它基本上是你和破產之間的緩衝。

It's hard to save money when you don't have a lot of money.

錢不多的時候很難省錢。

It's hard to save money when you're constantly behind a living paycheck to paycheck.

如果你一直靠工資生活，就很難存錢。

But when you have margin, one, you're able to weather the low income months, two, avoid falling behind, and three, can focus on creating a sustainable path.

但是，當你有了餘量，一是你能夠度過收入低的月份，二是避免落後，三是可以集中精力開闢一條可持續發展的道路。

I wouldn't be able to save as much money as I did if I didn't have margin.

如果沒有保證金，我就不可能像現在這樣省下那麼多錢。

Every step that I mentioned would be a lot harder to do without having margin.

如果沒有保證金，我提到的每一步都會難上加難。

So save up your money, create a big nest egg.

所以，把錢存起來，建立一個大窩。

And as you start to have more money in life, saving becomes much easier and much easier.

隨著生活中的錢越來越多，儲蓄也變得越來越容易。

And with that, muchas gracias.

非常感謝。

Que tenga un buen dia.

Que tenga un buen dia.

Nos vemos, chicos.

Nos vemos, chicos.