Before we ever talked about a $1 million net worth, we had a much smaller, much scarier goal: saving our first $100,000. Looking back, that first $100K was the hardest chunk of money we’ve ever saved, and also the most important.

The first $100K matters so much because it’s mostly built by hand. It comes from your own paychecks, your own habits, and your own choices, not from investment growth doing the work for you. Once you cross that line, your money starts pulling more of its own weight. But getting there takes real effort.

There wasn’t one big move that got us to $100K. No lucky stock pick, no bonus check that changed everything. It was a handful of simple habits, repeated over and over, that added up. Below are the seven strategies that helped us save our first $100,000, plus a look at how long it might take you and what changed for us once we got there.

If you are close to or already hit this milestone, we’ve also written about other essential money strategies in our post: 7 money moves that helped us reach $1 million before 40.

7 Strategies That Helped Us Save Our First $100K

$100K Savings Strategy #1. We Made Saving a Priority

The first thing we did was set a real number. Not “save more,” but a specific $100,000 goal we could track. From there, we saved from every paycheck, no matter how small the amount felt at first.

We chose Ally Bank for our savings accounts because it offered competitive interest rates, great customer service, automatic savings transfers, and a convenient online-first banking experience.

The biggest shift for us was automating it. We set up automatic transfers so money moved to savings the moment we got paid, before we could spend it on anything else. This is sometimes called paying yourself first, and it works because it takes willpower out of the equation. As our income grew over the years, we increased those automatic transfers too, instead of letting the extra money quietly disappear into spending.

$100K Savings Strategy #2. We Avoided Lifestyle Inflation

As our paychecks grew, we tried hard not to let our spending grow at the same pace. This pattern, where spending rises right alongside income, is often called lifestyle creep or lifestyle inflation, and it’s one of the sneakiest ways people slow down their own savings without even noticing.

We kept our biggest expenses, like housing and cars, under control even as we earned more. My wife’s and my cars were paid off, and we resisted the temptation to buy new ones, even though we had enough cash in the bank to purchase expensive cars outright. Instead, we kept driving our paid-off cars and put that money toward building our savings and investments.

When a raise came through, we sent a good chunk of it straight to savings and investments before deciding what, if anything, we’d spend more on.

$100K Savings Strategy #3. We Focused on Increasing Our Income

Cutting expenses only goes so far. At some point, you run out of things to trim. So alongside saving carefully, we worked on growing our income through raises, promotions, and learning new skills that made us more valuable at work.

Job changes have often led to bigger pay bumps in the past, but recent data shows that isn’t always guaranteed, and the gap between switching and staying can shrink depending on the job market. What mattered more for us was consistently building skills and performance, then using every bit of extra income to speed up our saving.

What made a big difference for us was treating our annual performance reviews as important opportunities to prove our value and maximize our raises. We took the time to document our accomplishments, quantify our impact, and make sure our managers understood the value we brought to the organization. That effort could mean the difference between receiving a standard 3% raise and earning a much larger increase—potentially 10%, 15%, or even 20%.

$100K Savings Strategy #4. We Invested in Employer Retirement and Brokerage Accounts

We didn’t rely on just one place to build wealth. We contributed to our employer-sponsored 401(k) plans, and we also opened our own individual brokerage accounts on the side.

Each one served a different purpose. Retirement accounts like a 401(k) come with real tax advantages, since your contributions and investment growth aren’t taxed until you withdraw the money, which helped our long-term investments grow faster.

We also always took advantage of our employers’ retirement plan matches. It’s essentially free money and an immediate return on your contributions. If your employer offers a match, take full advantage of it—you don’t want to leave free money on the table!

Our brokerage accounts gave us more flexibility, since that money wasn’t locked away until retirement and could be used for other goals along the way. If we sold stocks from our individual brokerage accounts, we tried to hold the shares for at least a year to avoid short-term capital gains taxes. We also made sure we had a clear plan for how we would use the money before selling. This helped us avoid unnecessary taxes and made sure the money we withdrew had a specific purpose.

$100K Savings Strategy #5. We Lived at Home With Parents and Family

This one isn’t always a popular answer, but it made a real difference for us. For a period of time, we lived with family, which dramatically lowered one of the biggest expenses in any budget: housing.

The numbers back this up. Research has found that young adults can save around $13,000 a year by living with their parents, with a large chunk of that coming from housing and utility costs alone. That’s money that can go straight into savings and investments instead of rent. We want to be honest that this was a temporary strategy, not a permanent one, and we know living with family isn’t possible or comfortable for everyone.

If you’re fortunate enough to be able to live with family, take full advantage of the opportunity—but be respectful and contribute. Offer to pay rent, help with chores, and chip in for everyday expenses like groceries or the internet bill.

Most importantly, set a move-out date. Having a specific deadline can motivate you to take action every day toward saving enough money to eventually have a place of your own. When I eventually moved out of my parents’ home, I bought them a brand-new washer as a thank-you gift for all their support. It was a small way to show my appreciation for everything they had done for me.

$100K Savings Strategy #6. We Invested in Simple Index Funds and Low-Cost S&P 500 ETFs

When it came to actually investing our savings, we kept things simple. We didn’t try to pick individual stocks or guess when to buy and sell. Instead, we put most of our money into broad-market index funds and low-cost S&P 500 ETFs.

Year after year, data on actively managed funds shows the same pattern: most professional stock pickers fail to beat simple index funds over time. In fact, S&P Global’s own research found that 79% of active large-cap fund managers underperformed the S&P 500 in 2025 alone, and underperformance tends to get worse the longer you measure it.

Combined with low fees, keeping our investment strategy simple gave us peace of mind. Of course, investment returns are never guaranteed, and markets can go down as well as up. Some of our favorite low-cost ETFs, which have also performed well for us, include SCHD and FTEC.

$100K Savings Strategy #7. We Stayed Consistent for Years

The last strategy is really what ties everything together. Saving didn’t stay hard forever. Eventually, it became a habit, not a challenge we had to fight through every single month.

We kept investing through market ups and downs, including some genuinely scary drops. We didn’t jump from strategy to strategy chasing whatever seemed exciting that year. We just kept going.

And, of course, we didn’t forget to splurge once in a while. Birthdays and special occasions were opportunities to treat ourselves to a nice restaurant, a quality piece of clothing, or a special accessory. Saving and investing are important, but so is enjoying the present. Your hard-earned money should help you build a better future without preventing you from enjoying the life you’re living today.

How Long Does It Take to Save Your First $100K?

There’s no single answer here. How long it takes to reach your first $100K depends on your income, your expenses, how much you’re able to save each month, and how much of that money is invested and growing along the way.

To keep things simple, here’s how long it would take to save $100,000 through savings alone, with no investment growth factored in:

Investing that money instead of just saving it in cash can potentially shorten these timelines, since investment growth adds on top of what you’re contributing. But that growth isn’t guaranteed, and markets can move in either direction over shorter periods.

The other lever worth remembering: as your income grows, increasing how much you save each month can move you up this table faster than almost anything else.

The Biggest Lessons We Learned From Saving Our First $100K

If we had to boil everything down, here’s what mattered most:

• Start saving before you feel ready. Waiting for the “right time” usually just means waiting. Open that high yield savings account and set up automatic transfers today.
• Set a specific financial target. A real number is easier to work toward than a vague idea. $100K is a great savings milestone but if it is too overwhelming then start with a smaller number like $1,000.
• Keep housing costs low when possible. It’s often your biggest expense and your biggest opportunity.
• Increase your income. There’s a limit to how much you can cut, but not to how much you can earn.
• Avoid lifestyle inflation. Let your savings rate grow along with your paycheck.
• Invest simply and consistently. You don’t need to be a stock-picking expert. Low cost ETFs and broad market funds are the way to go.
• Focus on long-term progress. Small, steady steps beat big, occasional ones. Avoid checking your accounts everyday. Check in every 3 months and make adjustments if needed.

Your First $100K Is Within Reach

There was no single trick that got us to our first $100,000. It was saving aggressively, keeping our housing costs low, investing simply, and working to grow our income, all pulling in the same direction at the same time.

That first $100K turned into $500K. Then $1 million. We’re now working toward $5 million. If you’re just getting started, don’t get discouraged by how far away $100K might feel right now. Focus on your own first $100K milestone, one paycheck at a time, and the next ones tend to come faster.