Financial Autonomy

Episode 73 - The pay yourself first strategy Have trouble building up a nest egg? Struggling to build up enough cash to start investing? Hate the idea of a detailed budget? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then the Pay Yourself First strategy could be for you. The idea of Pay Yourself First is not new – Google tells me the term was first used all the way back in the 1920’s by an American publisher. But it’s even easier to apply today thanks to the advent of internet banking. Let’s get straight to it. The idea with Pay Yourself First is that you set aside money in a separate bank account on the day you get paid, and then live off what’s left. The opposite would be to save whatever is left in your bank account at the end of each fortnight. It’s essentially the precursor to the bucket strategy, which is where you have separate bank accounts for bills, savings etc. Pay Yourself First then is a form of budgeting, potentially without the need to do the detailed work on how much you spend on coffee or