But as soon as we start to think about putting aside money, we get mired in a discussion of our current needs. I want to know how much we should be setting aside. If we knew how much we should spend on things like clothes, entertainment and eating out, we could probably stick to that and save the rest. However interesting the averages are, they are not prescriptive they don't tell you what you should do. Anyway, suppose I tell you to save half of every paycheck.
Moms are actually pretty smart.
As I think about your question, I remember something else my mom did. When she went to the supermarket, she took along the groceries envelope and that was the money she had to spend on food. My mom was deciding what was really important to buy that week, and remembering what she needed to spend in the future. You need to do the same thing. In The Millionaire Next Door , authors Thomas Stanley and William Danko suggest that you take your annual income, divide it by 10 then multiple it by your age.