my first $1000

The podcast episode is about how the host, Michael Mantis, built his first $1,000 emergency fund and provides five strategies for listeners to do the same. He emphasizes the importance of having a savings fund and discusses how many Americans have less than $1,000 in savings. The first $1,000 is the hardest to save, but once achieved, it becomes easier. The emergency fund is meant to help avoid going into more debt and deal with unexpected expenses. Strategies to build the fund include tracking expenses, cutting out eating outside, increasing income, paying bills strategically, automating savings, and selling unwanted items. The host encourages listeners to start with $1,000 and then work towards larger savings goals. He shares his own experience and encourages feedback from listeners. Hello and welcome to another episode of the Michael Mantis Podcast. Today I have an episode on how I built my first $1,000 emergency fund. I'm going to show you the five strategies that I used. I used some unconventional strategies also. Once you build this first $1,000, you will build the momentum and that will help you build your next $10,000 emergency savings account and then you start paying off debt and you start building wealth. A savings fund that more than one in four Americans have less than $1,000 in their savings. So in case you get an emergency, your car breaks down, you can't go to work for like two days, you're going to get broke. You cannot buy groceries. You cannot fix your car. So it's very important to do this exercise, 20-25, if you don't have the $1,000 in your savings account, just do this. Start this. Once you get the first $1,000, trust me, it's going to be easy. You can use three months or six months to build this $1,000, but what you're trying to do is you're trying to do the heavy lifting, right? The first $1,000 is the hardest because you have to change some habits, you have to change your mindset, you have to change the way you spend money to do the first $1,000. And once you build the first $1,000, trust me, it's going to be very easy. So the $1,000 emergency fund is a starter fund that can help you avoid going deeper into debt while you work on paying off other debts. It's not meant to cover every emergency, but it can help you deal with most unexpected expenses. Here are the strategies that you can use to build the first $1,000 emergency fund. You can use three months, like I said, three months or six months or a year, but I just want you to do this as quickly as possible as you can. Three to six months, you should be able to do this. Once you do this, then the next goal will be the $1,000. That's the plan. That's my plan. So I've got my $1,000. My next goal right now is I'm working on a $10,000 emergency fund, and once I get that, I'm also going to show you the strategies on how I did it. The first thing that I did was I started tracking my expenses. Where's my money going? Now once I know where my money is going, I know, okay, I can get rid of this. I can get rid of this. I can get rid of this. You have to open like a separate account, like I said, a separate bank account, and then you put the money in there. Also, cut out eating outside. Eating outside is one of the most expensive things to do. Food is so expensive. So whenever you eat outside, it's so expensive. So try to buy some food and make your own food. It's much cheaper. You can also increase your income. So one thing that I did was I got a part-time job. I have like a side gig. I drive for Uber. Also took a part-time job during the holidays to give me some extra push to get this done, and three months, I had $1,000 in my savings. So you can do that. You can also start paying some bills, like maybe you have credit card bills. Just start paying the minimum, and then just build your first $1,000, like you just want to have money in your savings. Now you say, you know, this is my money. If you want to start paying some bills, you can call your top unit. You can call them and say, hey, I can't pay this month. Can you give me like two months break? If you have a mortgage, you can say, can I get one month, and then you apply, and then you get a break. Anything for you to get a break to build your first $1,000 emergency fund, and also do automated savings. This book that I read, The Richest Man in Babylon, that's where I got the concepts from. You need to pay yourself first. Once you get paid, you need to take 10% to put in your savings before you pay your bills. So your savings first, and then your bills second. 10% is if you get paid $1,000, $100 goes to your savings before you pay the bills. Some of the bills cannot be paid if you never finish paying your bills. Electricity, water, gas, grocery, whatever, they all come second after your savings. So 10% of the goal, like this year, you got to put 10% of your income. So this year, if you get paid $50,000 a year, or $100,000 a year, your goal is to put 10% down at the end of the year. You're not going to spend all your money. So if you get paid $100,000, you're going to have $10,000 in your savings at the end of the year. The next is sell some unwanted items. If you have anything in your house that you think you can make some money from it, sell it. If you're in a favorable market, sell it. So this is some of the strategies that I did to raise my first $1,000. And I would suggest you try this. You can use other means of raising $1,000. $1,000 isn't a lot of money, but it can get you started. Once you start, you build momentum, and then you keep going. Then you start building wealth. It wasn't easy for me, but staying focused on my goal helped me reach it faster than I expected. Now I feel more secure knowing I have a cushion for unexpected expenses. I would suggest you try this. Let me know. Comment. Let me see how this episode has helped you to change the way you spend your money. Build this $1,000, and then move on to the next. That's the $10,000. And then to the $100,000. And then to the ultimate goal. You know what I'm talking about. All right. That's what I have for you today. Again, my name is Michael Montez. If you love this episode, please share it with your friends and family. Again, my name is Michael. Thank you. I love you all. Goodbye.