A 30-year-old on her way to financial independence shares the savings strategies that helped her build a 7-figure portfolio

• Michela Allocca is a self-made millionaire and the founder of Break Your Budget.
• The 30-year-old shares her top savings tips: tracking expenses and setting spending boundaries.
• Increasing her income, while avoiding lifestyle inflation, was also key to her success.

Michela Allocca started posting about personal finance on Instagram in 2019. At the time, it was a creative outlet and side project that didn't make any money.

Her account, Break Your Budget, took off after she expanded to TikTok during the COVID-19 pandemic. By 2021, Allocca had more than 200,000 followers and was earning more from content creation than from her day job at an investment consulting firm.

In April 2022, she went all in on Break Your Budget. Since then, she said she's quadrupled her former corporate income and built a seven-figure net worth, which she credits to diligent saving, disciplined spending, and long-term investing. Business Insider verified her net worth by looking at account screenshots.

Here are two savings strategies that helped her notch her first million.

1. Track your expenses

Tracking expenses is the first thing Allocca tells people to do — even before creating a budget.

"If you don't track your expenses, you're spending more money than you think. I guarantee it," she told Business Insider, adding that it's normal to underestimate your spending. "We're hardwired to protect our self-interest, so you'll subconsciously lie to yourself about how much you're spending if you're not actually writing it down."

Allocca built an expense tracker to understand her outflow, but there are various apps that'll record your purchases, such as You Need A Budget or Monarch. The important thing is to select a method you'll stick with.

Once you get a clear idea of exactly where your money is going, you can figure out where you're overspending and start to cut back.

2. Set spending boundaries — and try a "no-spend" month

Allocca prefers setting spending "boundaries" rather than strict rules: "I feel like rules become very rigid and can lead to the pendulum swinging the other way, where people are like, 'Screw this, I don't want to have a budget at all.'"

Instead, she creates flexible guidelines around what she will and won't spend money on. Sometimes those boundaries are about behavior rather than categories. For example, she avoids shopping on her phone and doesn't keep her credit card near her computer.

"That creates friction in the buying process," she said. If she really wants something, she has to get up, retrieve her card, and make a more intentional decision.

Another strategy she uses is a "no-spend month." During a recent "no-buy January," Allocca set clear parameters around what she's allowed to spend on and what she's not.

"I'm not buying any new clothes or new beauty products this month," she said. "But I am letting myself go out to dinner once a week and spend money on my hobbies. I'm starting needlepoint, so I can go out and buy the materials for that."

The idea is that introducing guidelines for defined periods of time can make spending boundaries feel more manageable.

Focusing on earning is still key

When reflecting on the money moves she made in her 20s that helped her reach millionaire status by 30, Allocca said increasing her income was a major factor.

"The reason I've been able to hit these big numbers is because I increased my income outside my corporate job," she said.

While side hustles and entrepreneurship aren't for everyone, she said they were the biggest drivers of her financial growth: "It's not the sexiest thing — not everyone wants a side hustle or to start a business — but that's the big driver."

Still, she emphasized that higher earnings only work if lifestyle inflation is kept in check.

"No matter how much you increase your income, you have to avoid lifestyle creep," she said. "Otherwise, you're not actually going to make progress."