A woman who has saved over $1million at age 30 shared the simple strategies she used to build her seven-figure net worth.
Michela Allocca, 30, from Chicago, Illinois, had a knack for saving and finances even when she was little.
As a child she often collected coins for her piggy bank, and in her free time she would sell lemonade or cookies from a stand at the end of her driveway.
When she got her first job after college, she started saving and investing in her 401k immediately.
She worked as an analyst in the financial industry and earned about $65,000 a year, which she described as ‘a standard entry level salary for the industry.’
She started out by setting a goal of saving $1,000 a month as an ’emergency fund,’ which she has described as ‘challenging but possible at the time.’
As she moved up in the industry, and her salary and knowledge of finances grew, Allocca began ‘saving and investing more aggressively.’ By age 25, she had saved up her first $100,000.
All the while, she began to notice that so many of her friends were coming to her with ‘money questions.’ That’s when an idea hit her: She could use her knowledge to help others across the globe build up their savings.
Michela Allocca (pictured), 30, from Chicago, Illinois, has over $1 million and helps others save through her business Break Your Budget
In 2020, Allocca launched an Instagram account called Break Your Budget, and she started sharing her budgeting tips and tricks. It immediately took off.
‘So many of my friends were coming to me with money questions I think because I was the one in the group working in the financial industry,’ she explained during a recent interview with the Daily Mail.
‘I realized that there weren’t really any women online sharing money tips, yet so many young women had the same questions.
‘I was learning so much at work that others weren’t, so I decided to start sharing what I was learning on Instagram and it snowballed from there.’
Allocca’s account quickly became a massive success, and by April 2022, she realized she was making more money from posting on social media than she was at her job. She then quit corporate to focus on Break Your Budget full time.
The account now has over 397,000 followers and has become a booming online business. Allocca told the Daily Mail she has since ‘quadrupled’ the income she once made at her desk job.
With more than $1million in the bank, she credits a few methods with helping her find financial success.
First, she explained to the Daily Mail that she sticks to a zero-based budget, which is when you never allow yourself to have any ‘extra money.’
She shared the simple strategies she used to build her seven-figure net worth with the Daily Mail
Instead, she explained that every dollar you earn is either spent or put into savings.
‘A zero-based budget is when every dollar you earn minus every dollar you spend or save equals zero,’ she wrote on her blog.
‘It gives every dollar a purpose. In order to reach zero, you need to actually allocate the money you earn towards either an expense or a financial goal.
‘As a result, you have to prioritize your goals and are no longer treating savings as “whatever is left over.”‘
She also uses something known as the ‘three bucket’ strategy. This method, she said, involves dividing your budget into three main parts: essentials, financial goals and non-essentials, in that order.
‘If you struggle with allocating your income within your budget, this method provides a simple framework to follow,’ she wrote on the blog.
‘You can keep it high-level and set monthly allocations for the three buckets, or you can dive deeper and track categories within each bucket.’
In addition, Allocca told the Daily Mail she tracks all of her expenses and purchases every week, which forces her to consider whether each purchase she makes is really worth it.
Instead of spending $8 on a coffee or $40 on that food delivery, she focuses on investing as much of her income as she can across her retirement and brokerage accounts.
‘You have to start tracking your expenses and controlling your lifestyle spend,’ she told the Daily Mail.
‘I have held my lifestyle pretty steady despite earning more, and as a result I’ve been able to invest more money each year, [which] compounds over time.’
On January 29, Allocca revealed the plan she’s working off of for 2026 – and along with all the details so her followers can set themselves up for success, too.
The expert called it a ‘strict money program’ with five major steps:
1. Set a theme
‘I always set a theme that’s aligned with how I wanna approach using and spending my money for the year.’
This year, Allocca’s theme is ‘refine intentionally.’
‘I wanna pare down everything both physically and digitally,’ she said in her video.
For Allocca, this includes paring down her material belongings, but also all of her subscriptions, online accounts, credit cards and anything else that is tied to her spending.
2. Stick to a consistent tracking routine
Allocca called this step ‘absolutely essential’ for anyone who wants to make forward movements in their financial health.
The expert said she has been tracking all of her ‘inflows and outflows’ manually in a spreadsheet for the past seven years.
‘[People] think I’m crazy,’ she told followers. ‘But let me tell you, it works.’
She said that being aware of every dollar is ‘the most important thing you need to be doing’ in order for any progress to be made.
3. Commit to a no-buy month
Allocca starts each year with a no-buy January where she did ‘no shopping whatsoever.’ She focused on clothes and beauty this year, she said in a January 16 Instagram video.
She said it helps to reset spending and realign spending values for the year.
While the financial guru has landed on the first month of the year for herself, she said you can pick any month you’d like.
4. Dedicate time to learning about personal finance
To keep herself engaged and up to date, Allocca shared that she spends 10 minutes every day learning about personal finance – and said you should too.
She uses that time to read news articles and topical books, but any reliable education source will do.
5. Set consumption rules
Even for someone as well-versed in personal finance as Allocca, these rules are necessary to help guide how she spends her money.
For example, she said, she doesn’t save her credit cards on her computer, avoids shopping on her phone, and she keeps a wish list of her needs and wants to keep things intentional.
By using her program as a guide and continuing to think critically about both your saving and spending, Allocca said you can build up your financial wealth – but also build lasting habits for financial health.
