🚨 BIGGEST LIE that’s keeping you broke:
“You have to pay off all your debt before you start saving.”
👀 Nope. Wrong. Dead wrong.
If you believe this, you’re setting yourself up for a retirement filled with financial stress, bad coffee, and whatever store-brand cat food is on sale that week.
Here’s the truth they don’t tell you:
👉 Waiting to get debt-free before you invest is how you guarantee you never become wealthy.
I know, I know—your brain is screaming:
“But Steve! Everyone says debt is evil!”
“Shouldn’t I pay it all off before even thinking about investing?”
If that were true, then explain this:
- A 20-year-old who delivers burritos for five years, saves $2,000 a month, and never saves another penny again can retire at 70 with $5.3 million.
- Meanwhile, a 40-year-old who “waited to be debt-free” will have to save for 30 straight years to get even half that.
Still think waiting is the smart move?
Time is your biggest asset. Not your income. Not your budgeting skills. TIME. And if you waste it? You lose. Period.
Why Debt Isn’t the Problem (Your Excuses Are)
One of our listeners, Stacy, inspired today’s post. She told us:
“I’d love to start saving, but I’m still paying off debt. Once I’m debt-free, THEN I’ll start investing.”
😬 This is a trap.
It’s like saying, “I’ll start working out after I lose weight.”
Most people don’t realize that investing doesn’t require a ton of money—it requires starting NOW. Even if all you can manage is $20 a week or some spare change, you’re already ahead of 99% of people who never start at all.
The $5 Million Burrito Strategy: How Spare Change Can Make You Rich
Back in the day, you’d empty your pockets and throw all your spare change in a jar. Eventually, you’d cash it in for a couple hundred bucks.
💡 What if I told you that today, that same habit could make you a millionaire?
🛠 Enter: Acorns & Qapital—Two apps that make investing STUPID SIMPLE.
🔹 Acorns – Rounds up your spare change and invests it automatically.
🔹 Qapital – Lets you set up custom savings rules (ex: every time you post on Instagram, it saves $5).
Here is an Acorns referral link to get some bonus.
Sounds tiny, right? But tiny investments grow into massive stacks of cash over time.
Here’s how stupid simple this is:
✅ You set it and forget it.
✅ Your spare change gets invested while you live your life.
✅ One day, you wake up rich.
“I Have No Money to Save” – The Myth That Keeps You Broke
Okay, I hear you.
“Steve, I don’t have an extra $2,000 a month. Hell, I barely have $20!”
Cool. That’s where MAGICAL MONEY comes in.
Let’s talk about side hustles—specifically, stupid simple ones.
💰 Damon made $140 in three hours on a random Tuesday night doing a few DoorDash and Uber Eats runs.
💰 One woman in Florida picked up a Lyft ride ON HER WAY to the grocery store. (She figured, if she’s already going, why not get paid?)
💰 Grocery delivery pays YOU to pick up your own groceries. (Yep, you read that right.)
So before you say, “I have no money to invest”, ask yourself: “Do I have one night a week where I could make some easy side hustle cash?”
If the answer is yes, congrats—you just found your millionaire seed money.
The Simple Math That Changes Everything
Time for the numbers that’ll melt your brain.
🔥 If you’re 20 years old:
- Invest $2,000 a month for just FIVE YEARS.
- Never invest another penny.
- By 70, you have $5.3 million.
🔥 If you can only invest $1,000 a month:
- That’s still $2.6 million at 70.
🔥 If you’re 40 and start today:
- Invest $2,000 a month until retirement → You still end up with $3 million.
- Even $500 a month = an extra $750,000.
💡 Every excuse you have for not starting today is literally robbing Future You of millions.
Use my calculator and do your own math.
You’re Either Making Millions or Making Excuses
Let’s be real. If you have an excuse for why you can’t start making extra money, you need to come up with an excuse for why you’re okay with not becoming a millionaire.
Because that’s the tradeoff.
And listen, I get it—life is busy. But if you don’t carve out time for this now, you’ll be forced to make time for financial stress later.
Do You Have a Question You'd Like Help With? Contact Debt Coach Damon Day. Click here to reach Damon.
So here’s what you need to do next:
✅ Check out Acorns & Qapital—set it up in 5 minutes.
✅ Go to DamonDay.com and book a consult with Damon—he’ll show you exactly how to make this work for YOU.
✅ Try a side hustle for one week—literally just ONE week—and see how much extra cash you can make.
Drop a Comment: What’s Your Best (or Worst) Excuse?
I’m serious. I want to hear it.
🚀 Drop your excuse below and let’s talk about it.
💰 Or better yet—tell me what side hustle you’re going to try first.
And before you go, boop that like button on the podcast, subscribe and check out GetOutOfDebt.org for more free resources.
Your future millionaire self is waiting. The only question is—are you gonna show up for it?
