Look at your last three months of spending. Download three months’ worth of transactions from your credit card or debit card (or both if you use them both). Categorize each transaction as one of three things: essentials, like rent or mortgage, bills, groceries, etc.; non-essentials like gifts, dining out, and entertainment; and then what Sethi calls “hidden leaks.” These are things like forgotten subscriptions, impulse purchases, and so on.

Sethi cautions against calling this a budget, because nobody wants to budget. Instead, Sethi said, “This is about freeing up money so you can invest more without ruining your quality of life.”

Sethi recommends you track four numbers and the percentage of your take-home pay each consumes. Fixed costs, like your rent or mortgage, utilities, transportation, groceries, and debt service — the essentials you categorized earlier — should account for 50% to 60% of your paycheck. Next, investments should take 10% of your paycheck. Note that this comes before the non-essentials because this is also non-negotiable. Savings should be 5% to 10%. This is different from investments — this is your emergency fund or savings for future goals. The remaining 20% to 35% is for non-essentials.

This is a plan, so you may need to work toward it. If your essentials are taking up more than 50% – 60% of your take-home pay, look at what you can pare down. You may be able to find a lower-cost cell phone or internet provider. Or, call your current one and see if they can lower your monthly bill. Often, they’d rather get a little less than lose you as a customer.

Next, look at your non-essential spending and see where you can cut. You don’t want to get draconian here — if you deny yourself the things that make you happy, your plan isn’t going to last very long. But look at the things that you’re willing to give up to have a more secure financial future.

Automate your savings and investments by using direct deposit or recurring transfers. Consistency helps you build wealth, so depositing money into your savings and investment accounts automatically will help.

Now that you’ve done all this work to find the money to invest and you’ve started investing it, don’t give the government more than you have to. Work with a certified public accountant or tax advisor to make sure you’re investing the right way to minimize your taxes. Implementing the right tax strategies can help your wealth grow much faster.

If you have a 401(k) plan at work and your employer matches contributions, be sure you are contributing at least the amount you need to get the full match. Sethi said, “[If] you contribute a dollar to your 401(k) and let’s just say your employer matches it for a dollar, that is an instant 100% return. Where else are you going to find that kind of money?”

Your 401(k) contribution is deducted from your paycheck automatically, so you don’t even see that money. Combine that with an employer match — essentially free money — and you can’t ask for a better way to get started investing.

It’s tempting to try to make up for lost time by choosing risky investments, but Sethi advises against this. “Trying to time the market is a losing game,” he said. “I want you instead to use the ‘set it and forget it’ strategy. This is a simple, proven investment strategy. It builds wealth consistently over time instead of stressing over which investment to pick and manually rebalancing your portfolio.”

For retirement investments, Sethi recommends a target date fund. This is one mutual fund in which the investments are adjusted to become more conservative over time. As the target date approaches, the risk is reduced because you have less time to make up any losses.

Once you’ve set up your automated investments, you won’t notice the money that goes into them each month. When your income goes up, however, increase the amount you invest as well. When you get a raise, add half of it to your investments, and let yourself spend the other half. If you get a new job or promotion, revisit your investment percentage to see if you can increase it. If you pick up a side hustle, put some of that money toward your investments.

If you haven’t yet begun to invest, you can’t start any sooner than today. There’s no need to beat yourself up that you didn’t start sooner — just start now. These ways will get you on the right track and will help you save for a more secure financial future.

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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Ramit Sethi Says It’s Not Too Late To Start Investing — 10 Ways To Get Started