Jim Cramer’s guide to investing: Save money and try to invest when you can

CNBC's Jim Cramer said he wants investors to save no matter how much money they're making.
Cramer began saving as a teenager and said he even managed to save here and there while he was living in his car.

CNBC's Jim Cramer said saving is the most important thing for investors, no matter how much they are making or what stage of life they're in.

"I want you to save no matter what the excuse. Obviously, the earlier the better. Through thick and thin," he said, adding that if you don't have time to pick our own stocks, you should still invest in a mutual or index fund.

As a teenager, Cramer opened an account with Fidelity's Magellan fund, which he said was one of the best-performing mutual funds of its time. He began saving money he made as an ice cream vendor at a stadium in Philadelphia. But he didn't save much in college, with his work-study pay going towards tuition and room and board.

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After graduation, Cramer managed to save a little when he could, even though it was difficult on his meager salary as a reporter at the Tallahassee Democrat and then at the Los Angeles Herald Examiner. He even saved a few dollars here and there while living "hand to mouth" in his car and struggling with health issues.

"If I could still send those checks to the Fidelity Magellan Fund when I was living in my car — sleeping in the back, Jack Daniels, a hatchet and then, ultimately, yes, a pistol, sick as a dog, jaundiced liver — then what's your excuse for not getting started?" he asked. "You can put some money away, too."