How to afford Bitcoin when you work paycheck to paycheck

If you are working a job where you do not make enough to cover all of your bills, you need to find a better paying jobs/increase your earning potential. You have to cover bills First before investing.

My thesis: if you are organized and know how to manage money, you should be able to afford Bitcoin even living paycheck to paycheck.

About me: I’m a 34 year old CNA who makes 50k while living in CA. When I say I’m a CNA people automatically assume I’m broke. I am a whole coiner and started investing seriously 3 years ago. In 2021 I didn’t have 1k in savings. Now I have over 1 Bitcoin. I love learning about finances and enjoy making money. 2023 was the first year I made 50k ever. Prior to 2023 I had never made more than 40k. These are the hacks that worked for ME.

The hack: have multiple bank accounts at different banks (for me credit unions and online banks) and have your paycheck automatically split between those bank accounts.

I have 6 bank accounts and my paycheck gets split between 3 of them.

Bank A -1st bank account: 70% of pay -3rd bank account (fiat savings): 10% of pay -5th bank account (fiat taxes): automated transfer of $100 from 3rd bank account on payday

Bank B -2nd bank account (credit card bills): 20% of pay -4th bank/credit builder account (bills to improve credit): automated transfer of 25% of money from 2nd bank account on payday

Bank C -6th bank account (all spending): Coinbase rewards card: I get 0.5% back in Bitcoin/revolving crypto.

Bank A exists to keep small amount of fiat. My finances are planned in such a way that I keep most of my wealth outside of fiat.

Bank B accounts exists strictly for paying bills. All of my bills are automatically withdrawn from those accounts. I do not carry those debit cards on me and those cards aren’t on my phone/ used on Applepay. That allows the money in those accounts to accumulate since I never spend from those accounts. Creating that rule means that I always have a month extra in bills saved up.

Bank C: exists for me to maximize the amount of Bitcoin I accumulate. On payday I transfer 300-400 from 1st bank account into this account for groceries/miscellaneous expenses. When I spend money I need to be making money back/benefitting. When I initially started using the Coinbase Card the rewards were way higher but even still I’ve made ~800 in Bitcoin from just spending money on that card. I transfer the Bitcoin to my Trezor when it’s worth the fees.

So, on payday after transferring 300-400 to my CB account, the rest is savings. I don’t have to do math to make sure I have enough money because I have my finances automated. I then take the extra money and transfer it to cash app, convert it to Bitcoin, and move it to my Trezor.

Hopefully this makes sense to y’all. I’m not saying you have to do the exact same thing as me, do what works for you. The point I’m showing is that if you take the time to organize your finances, you can find extra every month. Most people have all of their paychecks deposited to one account, the same account that they spend from, and they wonder why they are always short. Be intentional with how you spend money and you can accumulate it.

Also, if you don’t know your EXACT amount of expenses that’s why you’re broke. I wrote down every single expense and budgeted with that in mind. I make more than enough to cover all of my bills. I make sure to live WELL below my means. I don’t pay for any streaming services, I use public transit/walk instead of having a car, I pay yearly for cellphone/gym (way cheaper), and I meal prep instead of eating out. You need to know where your money is going, if you want to control it.

I hope this spurs some to take a closer look at their finances. Hope this encourages others that even living paycheck to paycheck you can accumulate Bitcoin if you plan your money out with intentionality.