Trey’s Tips & Tricks to Saving Money

Everyone knows I think Trey is the smartest guy in the room—because he usually is!

When he was a little boy, he would mow yards for money. His mom worked as a teller at the local bank, and he would go to work with her and hang out—just like all little kids do after school and on school holidays.

When he was 8, his mom opened a savings account for him. When little Trey received his first bank statement in the mail, there was an “interest deposit.” His parents used that moment to teach him the concept of “earning interest.” That was the moment “the saver” Trey was created.

Fast forward to age 18, when ridiculously large stereo systems were popular. Trey had saved $500, which was half the cost of one. He used a credit card to pay for the stereo and planned to pay off half of it with his $500 savings.

When the credit card bill came, he paid the $500. But the next month, the bill showed he owed $509 due to a $9 interest charge. He lost his mind at the idea of “paying interest.” So the following month, he didn’t spend money on anything. He used everything he earned to pay off the rest of the stereo. He even mailed in the check before the payment was due—to stop the accrual of interest charges.

This was the moment when “never paying interest charges” Trey was born.

He went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in finance, an MBA, passed the Series 7 exam, and became a CPA. He truly loves studying money—how to save it, how to stretch it, and how to grow it. He has money because he consistently does the right things with it.

My dad always told me, “Kristine, save for a rainy day,” but he never really taught me what that meant. I don’t blame him—no one taught him either. My grandfather Ray was always poor, couldn’t keep a job, and lived in a trailer park. My dad, Vernon, did better than his dad because he worked and retired from Amtrak, which had a pension program. But still, it would’ve been hard for him to teach what he didn’t know.

That’s why Trey fascinates me so much. He not only teaches me what to do with my money and how to save—it’s that he also teaches me *why* to save. And the “why” is this: so you can eventually reach FINANCIAL FREEDOM and live the life you choose.

I get Trey’s tips and tricks daily, so I thought I’d start sharing them—with the intention of using his insights to make a difference in someone else’s life. It’s his life’s passion: studying, saving, and growing money.