My colleague told me don't focus on save money, focus on how to make money. What are your thoughts on that?

Not 100% correct/ wrong! theres a limit to how much you can make and how much you can save. so i think doing both would be best!

The "save more vs. earn more" debate is one of the most common discussions I have with young professionals in Singapore. While your colleague's advice sounds motivational, it misses a crucial point that I've observed after years of wealth planning: financial success isn't binary—it's an orchestrated dance between both saving and earning.

Last year, I worked with a client who was earning $12,000 monthly as a tech lead but couldn't understand why her net worth wasn't growing. Despite her impressive income, she was living in a luxury condo, taking frequent overseas trips, and spending heavily on designer goods. Meanwhile, another client earning $5,500 as a mid-level manager had accumulated significantly more wealth. The difference? The second client had mastered the art of strategic saving while simultaneously developing income-growing skills. Within 18 months of implementing a balanced approach, the tech lead increased her net worth by over $120,000 while maintaining a lifestyle she enjoyed.

There's a persistent myth that you must choose between being a saver or an earner. This false dichotomy leads many Singaporeans astray. The truth is that focusing exclusively on income growth often triggers lifestyle inflation that erases financial progress. Conversely, obsessing over saving every dollar without developing your earning potential creates unnecessary scarcity and limits your wealth-building capacity. The most successful wealth creators master both sides of the equation.

From my experience working with professionals across various income levels, I recommend a three-pronged approach:

1. Establish your financial foundation through saving: Begin by building discipline around your spending habits. This doesn't mean extreme frugality, but rather intentional spending aligned with your values. Set up automatic transfers that direct 20-30% of your income to investments before you have a chance to spend it. This creating a psychological floor for your lifestyle that prevents inflation as your income grows.
2. Develop your earning engine systematically: Identify high-leverage skills in your industry that command premium compensation. For most professionals, these include negotiation, communication, leadership, and specialized technical abilities. Invest in these skills deliberately, measuring ROI by the income increases they generate rather than by certifications accumulated.
3. Create synergy between saving and earning: Use your saving discipline to fund strategic investments in your earning potential. This might mean hiring a coach, taking advanced courses, or even funding a side business. The most successful professionals I work with view their personal development as their highest-returning investment.

The wisdom isn't in choosing between saving and earning—it's in understanding how they work together. Your savings rate determines how quickly you can accumulate capital, while your earning potential determines the ceiling of your wealth-building capacity. By mastering both, you create a powerful compounding effect that neither approach can achieve alone.

I share practical strategies for balancing these approaches on my Instagram (@ngooooied), where I break down wealth-building concepts specifically for Singapore professionals. Follow along for weekly insights on optimizing both sides of your financial equation.

Whilst both are important, i would bias towards the earning piece since that would drive the nominal value of your savings higher - rather than to scrimp over a smaller pot of salary.

To me making more money and cut down on expenses are both important