Black Americans know what it means to make a dollar stretch. But with rising rent, grocery prices, and everyday expenses eating away at paychecks, simply cutting back isn’t always enough. Living within your means doesn’t have to mean living without joy. A few smart budgeting habits can help you take control of your money instead of letting it control you.
The Root spoke with Anthony O’Neal, a personal finance expert, HBCU educator, and author whose upcoming book “Stop Living Paycheck to Paycheck” releases August 25. He shared practical tips on how to budget like a boss, create margin in your finances, and start saving and investing with intention. We asked Anthony O’Neal about one simple money move you can start today to take control of your finances.
The Biggest Mistake Folks Make When Saving
O’Neal identifies one common pitfall: people don’t fully understand what a budget is designed to do. A good budget should accomplish three core things: know exactly where every dollar is going, create a financial margin between your income and expenses, and build enough surplus to save and invest consistently.
“I call it the Zero-Based Margin Budget,” O’Neal explained. “List your income at the very top. If you have alimony, child support, your job, your side business—even if your partner is giving you an allowance every month, that’s income. List that.”
After calculating your income, you need to account for everything leaving your account. “List all your expenses. Mortgage, cell phone bill, gas, groceries, eating out, apps, hair and nail appointments, anything that goes out. Even investments like your 401K count as an expense,” he said.
Once you’ve mapped everything coming in and going out, you’ll have clarity on your finances. The goal is creating “margin”—the money left over after expenses are covered.
Create Margin Before You Create Wealth
After years of financial evaluations, O’Neal has noticed a pattern: many Americans have more money going out than coming in, or nothing being deliberately preserved. Creating this “freedom in margin” is essential to breaking the cycle.
Rather than watch every dollar disappear, that surplus needs purpose. Whether it’s a high-yield savings account, an index fund, a mutual fund, or a low-cost ETF, using margin to save and invest is where long-term financial success begins. O’Neal believes changing your relationship with money matters just as much as changing your spending habits.
“What I want people to understand is getting to a point where we’re no longer exchanging our time for money. Our money should buy back our time. We can’t do that if we’re not saving and investing and creating a margin to do it,” he said.
For O’Neal, it’s time Black folks moved away from endlessly trading hours for a paycheck and instead let their money work for them.
The Simple Money Leak You Can Fix Today
Saving more doesn’t always require earning more. Sometimes it just means looking harder at where money’s already going. O’Neal recommends tackling recurring charges and subscriptions as a quick win for your budget.
Pull your last three months of bank and credit card statements. Look for charges that repeat month after month. Then start trimming.
“When I did this for myself the first time, I found about $200 a month just in subscriptions and apps. I had HULU, Netflix, Amazon, ESPN, Peacock—to watch ‘The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,'” he laughed. “When I cut out the extra stuff, I found about $175 in my monthly budget. That’s groceries. That’s two tanks of gas, depending on your car.”
Small charges add up faster than most people realize. That streaming service you forgot about, the premium tier you’re no longer using, the app subscription from last year—they quietly erode your budget. Keep only what you genuinely use. Everything else goes.
What Financial Success Really Looks Like
O’Neal’s path to financial literacy wasn’t conventional. He experienced homelessness at 19 years old before becoming debt-free, building a seven-figure business, and helping millions regain control of their money. That early struggle reshaped how he defines success.
“When I looked back on why I was homeless, it wasn’t because I didn’t have income,” he told The Root. “It was because I didn’t have the correct information on what success looked like when it came to finance.”
For O’Neal, financial freedom isn’t about appearing wealthy. It’s about the peace of mind that comes from paying bills on time, weathering unexpected setbacks, and investing in your future instead of your image.
“I realized I wasn’t funding my future. I was funding my present image. I wish Black culture understood that true financial success isn’t looking good. It’s positioning yourself to decide what you want to do—where you no longer have to work two jobs, where you can go to your son or daughter’s game or after-school programs and actually be present,” he said. “True financial success is asking, ‘What do you have invested?’ and ‘How are you building for your future self?'”
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