38-year-old financial coach spends only $124 on groceries a month—her No. 1 ‘secret tip’ for food shopping

When it comes to establishing her bona fides as an expert saver and budgeter, Carly DeFelice, who runs online personal finance course Best Money Class Ever, has some big numbers to point to. Between her college graduation in 2008 and her 26th birthday, she paid off $35,000 in debt and stashed more than $100,000 in investments.

Now 38 and a community manager at a coworking space in Austin, Texas, DeFelice has boosted that number to about $400,000 in cash and investments, without ever making much more in a year than her current salary of $58,000.