This site contains affiliate links. We may earn a commission if you purchase from one of these links. Learn more Here.
I don't think anyone would disagree that saving money is a GOOD idea. However, many people feel like the can NOT save money. Afterall, if you are in debt or living paycheck to paycheck where are you going to get even more money to put into savings? The fact is once you actually LEARN how to start saving money you will find that it is not as impossible as you may think it is.
When my husband and I first started dating, we were living paycheck to paycheck even though we were already living frugally. We desperately wanted to move to a different state, but moving is super expensive.
What we needed was to learn how to start saving money so that we would have enough for our move. We did a lot of traveling for work on the weekends and we had already learned how to travel cheaply and eat cheap while on the road. But at the end of the day it never seemed like we had any money left to save. We needed to do SOMETHING different.
Ready to learn how to start saving money?
These are the five steps that we took to get started saving money for our move. (We were able to save enough in just a few months to cover our move!)
When we decided to move again, this time away from the beach and to a house with land, we used these tips we had learned when trying to figure out how to save money as well as these 20 ways to save money so that we had enough to move and make a downpayment on our new homestead.
1) Round Up -
This is pretty simple and there are actually some banks that will do this automatically for you. When you pay for something round up to the nearest dollar and save that amount.
For example, if you buy something that is $3.25, you'd take .75 cents and put it into savings. Doing this helps you save just a little at a time and you'll really hardly notice it!
2) Save all change -
This is very similar to rounding up with transactions. Pay in cash for your shopping trips and then save any change you get when you pay. Put it into a jar or straight into your savings account. I have almost $100 sitting in my change jar right now!
3) Automatic savings -
Set up an automatic transfer to your savings each month. If you treat your savings like you would any other bill and just "pay" it right away you will find you won't "miss" that money as much.
4) Create a Budget -
You should absolutely have a solid budget that you are following. Without a budget you will not know how much you are making or spending and your money will just be a mess.
Make sure you are realistic and know how much you spend each month on variable costs like your food budget. You might be surprised at where your money is going.
Make sure that you TRACK your budget so that you know what you are actually spending. I use these budget tracking worksheets and they have helped keep my household budget under control in amazing ways!
5) Get Organized -
If you are unorganized you will likely not be able to save money. You won't know where your money is coming or going. You are also more likely to have waste - think food that goes bad before getting used, bills not paid on time resulting in late fees.
So, get organized and make sure that your finances are running like a well-oiled machine. The more efficiently you are using your money the more you will have to put into savings.
These 5 easy steps will teach you how to start saving money in no time! Now that you can start saving, check out these ways to save money and this savings calculator to start working towards your saving goals! What are your saving goals?
Want to save even more? Learn how to coupon and you can save 1000's a year! My Couponing for Beginners Planner can help you get started.
For More Frugal Finance, Check These Out
[pt_view id="090b3efp9u"]
