The easiest way to save money is to trick yourself into thinking you have less than you do, and saving the difference. Any time you think you have money, you’re liable to think you can spend it.
This trick is based on the quirkiness of the calendar. If you get paid every other week, then it’s easy to assume that you get two paychecks per month, and you can base your budgets on that. The truth is that there are 52 weeks in a year and you’re only assuming there’s 48. So in fact twice a year you’ll have a month with 3 paychecks. If you can save these two entire checks, that puts you at a 7.7% savings rate, or even higher if you have your retirement contributions or other savings automatically deducted.