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How this millennial saved $1 million by age 30

Grant Sabatier founded the blog Millennial Money. Photo courtesy of Grant Sabatier.

A few years after graduating from college, Grant Sabatier was unemployed, broke and living with

his parents.

Hungry for a burrito one afternoon, the 20-something checked his account balance and learned

that he had $2.26 in the bank.

The low point served as a wake-up call for Sabatier, who took an image of his balance and set a

goal of saving so much money that he could retire early if he wanted to. "I remember having this

intense feeling of honestly just … lack of control," says Sabatier, who is now 32 and writes about

his financial habits and mistakes on his blog, Millennial Money. "I never wanted to feel that way

again."

Sabatier found a job at a marketing agency, took on side gigs to make extra cash and managed to

stash away as much as half of his paycheck. He perused more than 300 personal finance books.

And he reached his goal of saving $1 million by age 30.

By Jonnelle Marte, Washington Post on 11.17.19Word Count 1,220Level MAX

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Now Sabatier, who lives with his wife in Chicago, runs multiple businesses. But his savings give

him the leeway to be selective about the projects he takes on — and he can afford a lot more than

that burrito he was craving all those years ago.

Here are some of his tips for boosting your savings, based on what worked for him — and the

mistakes he's made along the way.

Find a side hustle: Sabatier "quickly realized" the $50,000 he was earning at the marketing agency

wasn't going to be enough for him to meet his saving goal. He started multiple side gigs to bring in

extra money, such as launching a consulting company, selling concert tickets and building

websites for businesses.

Sabatier later quit his 9-to-5 at the agency so that he could dedicate more time to growing his

website business, which was then earning him more money than his traditional day job. Still, he

kept up some of his other side hustles so that he could continue to save as much as possible. "If

you just view your full-time job as the way you're going to get ahead it's just going to take a lot

longer," he says.

In his mission to make as much money as possible, Sabatier sacrificed a lot of time away from

friends and family since he was spending the majority of his nights and weekends at work.

Make saving a daily habit: One of the most important habits Sabatier developed was to make his

goal feel attainable. When Sabatier first decided to save more than $1 million for retirement, the

number was so large it felt beyond reach. So he focused on the near-term and calculated that he

could meet that goal in about 30 years if he saved at least $50 a day and earned roughly 5 percent

a year. "It's difficult for us to think about the future," he says. "So how do we bring the future into

the present and use that to your advantage?"

He started off investing just $5 a day through a brokerage app and increasing his contributions

over time. But because he wanted to reach his savings goal as soon as possible, he didn't stop when

he topped $50 a day. He stashed away any extra money that came in, such as a bonus or income

from freelance work. And he reached the point where he was saving hundreds or thousands of

dollars on some days.

Invest your extra cash: Sabatier says that he was only able to meet his goal because he invested

the majority of his long-term savings in stocks and bonds, giving him a much higher return than

he would have earned through a savings account. This may seem obvious, but Sabatier's story is a

reminder of how much money can be left on the table when people are too afraid to invest.

Part of his success comes from good timing: Stocks have risen sharply since he doubled down on

his savings goals during the financial crisis. For example, savings invested in the Standard &

Poor's 500-stock index when the market bottomed out in March 2009 would have tripled over the

next eight years as the stock market recovered. Meanwhile, cash put into a savings account over

that same period would be virtually unchanged. (That said, financial advisers typically recommend

that any money you'll need in the next couple of years should be kept in cash.)

Keep boosting your savings rate: As he earned more money from side gigs and reduced his living

expenses, Sabatier moved from saving 15 percent of his pay, to stashing 25 percent and eventually

saving more than 40 percent of his paycheck. The idea of saving so aggressively may feel

intimidating to some people, but even boosting your savings rate by a small amount can make a

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big difference over time, he says. "Save $20 more this

week than you did last week," he says. "Or save 1

percent more in your 401(k) every six months."

Sabatier at times reached the point where he felt like

he was "saving too much," he wrote in his blog. For a

while, he stopped traveling, going out or even buying

books. The sacrifices helped him build his nest egg.

But the experience was a reminder that people should

balance the expenses that are important to them, such

as traveling to see family, with their saving goals.

Reduce your monthly expenses: As he became more

serious about meeting his goals, Sabatier scaled back

his monthly housing costs so that he could save even

more. He moved from a "really swanky apartment" in

Chicago that cost about $1,500 a month to an

apartment half the size that cost $800 a month.

"That's $700 more that went straight into my

investment account," he says, adding that people

should target the bills taking up the biggest share of

their paychecks.

Some people may find big savings from selling their

car and eliminating monthly car payments, insurance

bills and gas costs, he says. Others may benefit from

finding a roommate or renting out their apartments

through websites such as Airbnb when they aren't

home, Sabatier says.

Remember your goals: Years of living frugally and

finding ways to make extra cash helped Sabatier meet

his savings goal. But then last year he made a costly

mistake: He got comfortable. On the verge of

splurging on a $350 laptop bag, Sabatier realized that

his spending was getting out of hand. He took a look

at his transactions and calculated that he spent

$200,000 last year, more than twice as much as he

had the year before. It became easy to spot some of the culprits: $12,000 on a weekend in Napa

Valley, $75 for takeout on a Wednesday night, $50 for a bottle of wine.

Sabatier knew that he could technically afford these things, but the "lifestyle inflation" he was

experiencing could threaten the financial independence he had been working for. "Just because

you can do something, doesn't mean that you should," he says. So far this year, he has tightened

the reins on his spending. He is cooking more, buying $12 bottles of wine and looking for cheaper

accommodations when he travels.

As for the laptop bag, he found one for $40 on eBay.