Making $75k in Houston but spending $45k — where’s it going?

[Shalu Patial]

Hi everyone, my name is Shalu. I live in Houston, Texas, and I work as a software engineer making about $75k a year. On paper that sounds decent, right? But somehow I looked at my spending last year and realized I burned through almost $45k. FORTY-FIVE THOUSAND. And I have basically nothing to show for it.

I sat down and actually tried to figure it out. Rent is $1,500/month. Utilities, internet, phone — another $500 or so. That’s already $24k a year just to exist. Then there’s groceries, gas (and you know Houston, you NEED a car here), car insurance, eating out way more than I should, Amazon orders I don’t even remember making, a gym membership I barely use, subscriptions I forgot to cancel…

And it just adds up. Slowly. Quietly. Until one day you check your account and go “wait, WHAT?”

I’m not out here buying designer bags or flying first class. I’m just… living. And somehow it’s eating half my income.

So my real questions:

How do you actually save money in a city like Houston where you need a car and rent isn’t cheap?

What’s the first thing I should cut? Where do I even start?

Is there a budgeting method that actually works for real people, not spreadsheet nerds?

How much should someone making $75k actually be saving?

Anyone else been in this spot and turned it around? What changed for you?

I’m not looking for judgment, I already feel dumb enough. Just want to hear from real people who’ve fixed this. I don’t want to be 40 and still living paycheck to paycheck.

Thanks for reading.

[Alex Hales]

Hey Shalu, please don’t feel dumb, this happens to almost everyone. It’s rarely one big mistake, it’s a bunch of small stuff that adds up without you noticing.

Honestly your rent isn’t the problem. $1,500 in Houston is pretty normal, and you’re allowed to live somewhere decent and enjoy your life. I’d go after the little leaks first. Pull up the last couple months of statements and cancel anything you don’t use. The gym you barely go to, random subscriptions, all of it. Delete your saved card on Amazon too, it sounds silly but making it a little harder to click buy helps a lot.

Eating out is probably the sneakiest one. Don’t quit it, just give yourself a number for the month and stick to it. Also, check your car insurance. Rates in Texas swing a lot between companies and a lot of people save a few hundred just by comparing.

The biggest thing for me was setting up an automatic transfer to savings the day I got paid. Even $200 is fine to start. If you wait to save whatever’s left, nothing will be left. Then spend the rest without guilt. For a target, 15-20% is the usual advice, but if you’re at zero now, start with 5-10% and bump it up every few months.

And if you send money to family, treat that like rent, a fixed bill, not something that leaks out of your budget. You make good money and you caught this early. Track things for 3 months and I think you’ll be surprised how fast it turns around. You’ve got this 💛

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