Spend/consume less than you earn after-tax

0. Spend/consume less than you earn after-tax. You have a significant degree of control both over your spending and earning.

There are two factors in this statement which you should strive to improve:

 (a) Spend less. Track your monthly spending, and see which items take an unnecessarily large portion of your budget. Examples to look for possible cuts:

    - Cable TV. Get rid of it. Modern television programming is mostly propaganda, which is being paid for by certain special interests to modify your perceptions and thoughts. It is called programming for a reason. Do you want to pay for that?

     - Eating out, morning/afternoon latte or coffee. If you have that as a daily habit, it is too much. Reduce the frequency of buying take-out food to once per week, and going to a full service lunch/dining establishment to not more often than monthly. Consider such occasions as special, and reserve them for anniversaries and other occasions. Prefer cheaper restaurants with good food quality.

  - Travel. Vacations, or trips to remote exotic destinations, seem to be a status symbol for many, and correspondingly a notable drain on their budget.

(b) Earn more. There are many resources dedicated to career advice -- books, web journals, forums. Here we will mention some common sense points.

  - Do your job well, and quickly.

  - Increase your market value. Always strive to hone your professional skills and expand your knowledge of topics pertaining to your work and adjacent areas.

  - If you change jobs, it should be either for significantly better remuneration, or if you find the new work more interesting. Never agree to a pay cut under any pretext, e.g. lower cost of living, better benefits or access to more cultural activities in the new location. You want to increase the price tag on your labour, and what matters is your salary and total compensation, not benefits nor  the office being close to an opera theatre. In case of emergency (having been laid off) one may accept a lower salary, however the main purpose of an emergency fund is to be able to pay the bills until one finds a suitable position.

  - Ideally, strive to love what you do and do what you love. If you find your work unpleasant, consider finding another one. If you find a job where you like the work, it will be easier to be more productive which can result in pay increases.