A new reader, Chantelle (welcome!) asked a question:

How do you manage to save up $2,000 a month? After spending my hard-earned $$ on utilities, food, gas, car payment, car insurance and other expenses, i’m left with half that amount! Do you have any tips? (And eating at my parents’ place is not an option, since they live 15,000 miles away!).

Here are 10 reasons I can save $2,000 a month – they have to do with spending discipline, some hard work, but also a lot of luck.

The big stuff:
1. I work in a field that has relatively high entry-level salaries. I net ~$3,800 a month. So, I have discretionary income to save. If I were to change careers, it’s unlikely I would be able to match my current salary just starting out.

2. My major fixed expenses (rent and car) are relatively low. I share an older apartment in an okay neighborhood. I drive an old car that is reliable, reasonably gas-efficient, and most importantly, paid off. My only car-related costs are insurance, gas, and repairs.

The smaller stuff:
3. I have no cable, and do not pay for any type of monthly subscriptions except for high-speed internet. Along that vein, I also have no expensive electronic items.

4. I don’t spend that much money on clothes or shoes, and recently have stopped pretty much cold-turkey. I do still have some gift cards that I expect will tide me over for a couple months.

5. I’ve started cooking at home instead of going out to eat every weekend. I almost always bring my lunch to work. I also don’t go to bars very often (when I really feel like a splurge, I buy a bottle of Godiva chocolate liqueur).

6. I write this blog. Seriously, it works for me.

But, I’ll be the first to admit that I did not get here alone – my parents helped (and continue to help) me a lot, especially with a lot of the “start-up” costs. And here’s where the luck comes in:

7. My parents paid the bulk of my college tuition so that I only had to take out ~$20K in loans.

8. Whenever I go home, I get free food and free laundry. I am still on the family plan for cell phone, which Mom pays for. Those costs add up.

9. Dad gave me his old car (and did a whole bunch of repairs beforehand), so I didn’t have to spend money to buy a used car.

10. Last, but definitely NOT least, I am healthy.

So there you have it. As for money-saving tips, I guess my biggest tip is to lower fixed expenses. Rent, car payment, credit card payments, insurance, etc. Lower them as much as you can. That’s what has helped my bottom-line the most. Not traveling would also help me save more money, but there comes a point where you gotta live a little.

Readers, what are your suggestions for Chantelle?

Thanks to my spending restraint during September, I finally hit the $20K(!) point in the Freedom Fund. Enough for me to live on for 11 months assuming no major unexpected expenses (illnesses, large car repairs, etc.)

Cash really IS king in times like these, so I’m concentrating on padding my Freedom Fund as quickly as possible. I’m going to try my very hardest to save $2,000 a month until the end of the year. There are talks that unemployment can reach double-digits. There are talks of this economic malaise plaguing the US for years to come, a la Japan in the 1990s.

I hope it will all turn out okay, and sooner than later. But I don’t know. In the meantime, all I can do is to live my life – while continuing to save, invest, and plan to the best of my ability, of course.