12 Steps to Build Wealth Without a High Salary

I used to think I was destined to live paycheck to paycheck because I worked on a meager teacher’s salary. But then I saw people who made over $100,000 complaining about money and how they could never get ahead.

This was a little over 20 years ago when I was just starting out on my own. A friend lent me her copy of Suze Orman’s The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous, and Broke. I read it cover to cover and realized that I was in control of my financial destiny, no matter what my current income. From that point forward, I consumed financial content like crazy, mostly books, until social media became more prevalent.

Now, my husband and I pursue our financial goals together, working toward our rich life (to coin Ramit Sethi’s phrase). We started with less than $60,000 in total, so it’s possible to build wealth without a high salary.

1. Have a Financial Plan

It doesn't matter how much you make; you still need a plan for your money. If I made $300,000, I could still end up in massive debt and no financial future if I didn't have a game plan.

It's important to lay out your financial goals (with your partner if you share finances). Decide what you want to accomplish within the next year, five years, ten years, and so on.

Think about your priorities. For example, pay off debt, build an emergency fund, and invest 15% toward retirement. It's easier to get somewhere when you have a map.

2. Live Below Your Means

Consider this. Someone gets a promotion, and suddenly, they need a new car. Or you start making twice as much and decide to get a bigger house.

The problem is, if you keep increasing your expenses, you won't gain any margin in your budget. When my husband and I doubled our income, we kept our small house and our paid-off vehicles, allowing us to save and pay down debt aggressively.

Living on less gives you a safety cushion. If your fixed expenses remain low, it's not as dire if you need a new job or are facing an emergency.

3. Don’t Try to Keep Up With the Joneses

Dave Ramsey’s daughter, Rachel Cruze, has a book called Love Your Life, Not Theirs. I checked it out from the library (another way to save money) after hearing about it on Dave’s show.

The book focuses on the comparison trap many people find themselves in these days, exacerbated by social media. Everyone’s luxury purchases and five-star vacations are shoved in our faces constantly, nudging us to spend more.

However, a lot of what you see isn’t as it seems, so don’t obsess over why you can’t do it, too. Otherwise, you’ll end up in debt.

4. Pay Yourself First

One of the biggest takeaways I got from reading Suze Orman's books in my 20s was to pay myself first. Don't wait until you spend everything and say, “Oops, I don't have anything left.”

Automate your savings so that a portion of every paycheck goes directly to your savings and retirement accounts. You'd be surprised how quickly you adjust to your revised income, and you'll be well on your way to building wealth.

5. Chip Away at Debt

Dave Ramsey often uses the analogy of getting a bigger shovel to tackle debt. (In other words, more income.) But that doesn't mean you need to wait for that shovel before you begin.

Think about your debt like a giant pile of dirt. If you sit there and wait until you have a bulldozer to get rid of it all at once, you could be waiting for a very long time. However, if you shovel away small bits, even if all you have is a trowel, at least the pile gets smaller.

6. Increase Your Income

This may seem like it goes against the topic of building wealth without a high salary, but hear me out. Increasing your income doesn't mean you need to make hundreds of thousands of dollars.

But if you want to build wealth, gradually boost the amount of money coming in. Whether it's through raises at work, side hustles, or a second job, find ways to make more.

To tie into the previous tip, you need to work toward getting a bigger shovel. For example, before I started creating content, I taught private voice lessons at night while teaching preschool full-time.

7. Follow a Budget or Spending Plan

Budgets get a bad rap, but they’re not meant to be restrictive. That’s why I like the term spending plan. Ramit Sethi claims he hates budgets and uses CSPs (Conscious Spending Plans) instead.

The CSP lays out a person’s (or couple’s) income and allocates it to different categories. (Kind of sounds like a budget, doesn’t it?) I think it’s a matter of semantics.

The takeaway is that you need to tell money where to go. For example, 50% to needs, 15% to savings, 10% to debt, and 25% to wants. You might break it down differently — just make a plan.

8. Track Your Expenses

A budget, or spending plan, doesn’t do you much good if you don’t track your spending. You don’t have to get super detailed (unless you want to). But make sure you’re staying within your designated categories.

For example, pretend you allocate 20% for fun money, which ends up being $800 of your monthly income. Any time you spend on takeout, clothes, gifts, etc., deduct it from the $800 to stay on track. You can write things down in a notebook, use a spreadsheet (that’s what we do, so it does the math for us), or try a budgeting app.

9. Stay Away from Get-Rich-Quick Schemes

I think one of the things that gets people in the most trouble with their finances is when they try to move too fast. It’s worse these days with social media.

TikTok is shouting at you about how to make millions in real estate in three easy steps. But, you know what they say, if it’s too good to be true — you know the rest.

Slow and steady is the motto, especially when you don’t have a lot of money to start with. It’s not like you can take a chance on a $20,000 investment because it’s chump change.

10. Automate Your Finances

Automating your finances reduces stress, frees up your time, and keeps you on track with your money. It’s also a great way to make paying yourself first easier.

We link our monthly bills to our main checking account. We have a high-yield savings account that we contribute to for semi-annual and annual bills. (Things like car insurance and our dog’s yearly vet visits and medications.)

Once the proper accounts are funded, we set up auto-pay and don’t have to think about it much more after that. We also automate withdrawals to our savings and ROTH IRAs.

11. Regularly Assess Your Financial Situation

As great as it would be for life to go exactly as we plan, it doesn’t. Things change, and that’s why regularly assessing your financial plan is important.

My hubby and I look over our budget at the end of each month to build our spending plan for the next one. We also check in with how we’re doing with our larger goals.

We look at how much is left on the SBA loan, what’s in our retirement accounts, and in our emergency fund. Then we decide if we want to lower or raise any of our contributions.

12. Start Investing Early

It’s often surmised that Albert Einstein viewed compound interest as “the eighth wonder of the world.” One thing’s for sure: compound interest makes your money grow faster.

The sooner you start investing, the better. Your money has longer to accumulate interest even if all you put away at first is $20 a month.

My present self is very happy that my 24-year-old self started contributing to a ROTH IRA. Sometimes it was only $25, but I always added something. If I had told myself I had no extra money to spare back then, I wouldn’t be $30,000 richer today.