Trying to save money for a rainy day? Here are some clever ways to save money that shouldn’t even be all that painful! You can find tips 1 – 5 HERE.
6. Stash What You Save
Using coupons and discount codes is a great way to save money! It can also be a great way to pad your savings account! Instead of just reaping the savings, add the same amount of money you saved to your savings account. For example, if you bought a new shirt for $20, but used a 30% off coupon, add your savings of $6 to your savings account. If you can’t afford to buy the item and add the money to your savings account, then don’t buy it.
7. Save When You Spend
Would you notice if an item cost an extra 1%? On every day purchases, probably not! Adding an extra percentage to the items you buy can also be a great way to save money! At the end of the day or week, add up everything that you’ve spend, calculate 1% and move that amount to your savings account. You can also assign a small amount of money to each item purchased or each transaction and move that amount to your savings account. For example, let’s say you make 10 purchase in a week totaling $200. If you choose to save 1% of everything you spend, move $2 to your savings account. If you choose to save $0.50 for every transaction you make, move $5 to your savings account.
8. Sell Stuff
You can save money and get rid of clutter at the same time. Have a garage sale, sell items on eBay, or put an ad in the newspaper. Every time you sell an item, stash the cash in your savings.
9. Routinely Save a Percentage
I’m big on saving percentages of my balance or income! Another way to save money is by routinely saving a small percentage of the amount of money in your back account. For instance, if you have $2,000 in your account, and you choose to save 1% of your balance, you would move $20 to your savings. If you balance drops to only $200 the next week, just move $2 to your bank account.
10. Do a 52-Week Money Challenge
I love Dave Ramsey’s 52-week money challenge! During this challenge, you save $1 on week one, $2 on week two, $10 on week ten, and so on. On the last week of your challenge, you’ll save $52. Many people choose to start this challenge on the first week of the new year, but you can also work backwards, which means that you’ll save $52 on the first week and only $1 on the last week, which is usually when we’re all worried about our holiday spending. By the end of the challenge, you should have socked away a whopping $1,378!
If you have any more clever ways to save money and pad your bank account, let us know in the comments below!
