Are you looking for ways to boost your savings? Here are 3 tips to boost your savings and increase your savings today. These tips will help you feel better about your savings goals and your savings in general.
Savings. We all want lots of money in savings, but it is not so easy to actually save the money. In fact, it’s quite difficult. There is a reason why so many Americans are living paycheck to paycheck. I get it. I am a low earner myself, and I have been unemployed.
I don’t have too much money saved, but I do try to make it a priority. I put my savings in my savings ladder- and I am slowly- excruciatingly slowly- working my way up the rungs. It takes time. A lot, a lot of time. Just saving $1,000 for an emergency fund took me a very long time with a lot of setbacks.
There are no shortcuts! These are not quick or easy.
In fact, there is no really quick and easy way to save money. It takes hard work and discipline. There are no shortcuts.
Trust me, I have scoured the web to look for them and asked many, many people—anyone, who says that there is either lying to you or trying to sell something.
That Being Said… What Can You Do To Boost Your Savings and Your Savings Rate?
3 Ways To Boost Your Savings:
Set Up Systems
In order to save money, you have to set systems in place. When you follow a set of rules that you make for yourself, it is easier to make sure that you save. So I recommend having a specific amount of money set aside each month- this can be either a dollar amount or a percentage of your paycheck, ex 20%.
This amount gets taken from your paycheck immediately! If you get paid by check or direct deposit- the minute the money hits your account, you transfer it to your savings account. Many accounts allow you to make automatic deposits, so you can set those up to withdraw money from your checking account and into your savings account the day you get paid.
If you get paid in cash, immediately separate the savings portion and place it aside. Don’t go shopping before having the savings portion in a separate envelope that you won’t spend. Tell yourself that it is not your money. It belongs to your savings account- not to you.
Dream About Your Future
Your state of mind is very important when it comes to saving. If you feel like you are depriving yourself to save, you are more likely to keep spending the money instead of saving.
If you allow yourself to dream and imagine what opportunities your savings will allow you later in life, you will have an easier time putting that money away.
Think, write down, and discuss what financial security can do to your life. This will help you feel like you are working towards something instead of just denying yourself something today. If you have a partner, do it with them!
Celebrate Small Goals
Set small achievable goals for saving and then celebrate when you reach them. You can make a visual aid to help you stay on track and celebrate those small successes!
Visual aids are great because you can really SEE what you are doing. You can color, have a physical jar or chart, etc.
Check out this savings tracker now: Holiday Savings Tracker
I put $5 a month into my retirement account. Why do you ask? To create good financial habits!
Are you clueless when it comes to your finances? The Basic Guide to Budgeting and Personal Finance will help you get started.
Saving is the hardest part for us, being a family of six living on under 25000 a year. I’ve been setting aside a little here and there as needed, but eventually it ends up going to bills in months where my husband doesn’t bring in as much. So if I get $500 saved in a year, we are lucky, but at least we have the money when we need it, rather than having to go into debt to cover basic bills.
Absolutely! I’m pretty low income myself, so I am all about doing what you can to help your family be secure-even if it is very small amounts! every little bit counts!
My income (working full time) isn’t high so in order to save money I cut back on expenses. I have the cheapest health insurance, moved to an apartment that is smaller and with lower rent, wear extra clothes instead of turning on the heating (unless it’s really cold of course), and hardly ever buy clothes – and thenmostly second hand. My Achilles heel are groceries. I love cooking and love fresh fruits and veggies. Sometimes I spend much more than budgeted, but I’m getting better at being more thrifty in this area luckily. I autimatically save money each month and booking back money from my savings account because I overspent (on groceries) is not a fun thing to do, so good incentive to watch what I spend at the supermarket …
These are all great ideas! Sticking to a budget as best as you can is the best way to become financially secure.
Automate savings and investment deposits. YEARS ago I set up auto deposits into savings and investments. These were figured into our budget as “Bills” that HAD to be Paid, just the same as our real bills. In doing so, these payments became real bills that had to be paid, same as the others.
Simple, and straight to the point which I like. I think automation and our mindset plays a huge role in trying to save more money. I categorize this into optimizing your income or living expenses. I like the save it first mindset it’s a great wealth hack.
Thanks for this post.