If adulting has taught us anything, it’s that there is no shortage of unexpected expenses, unplanned events, and no real security in the job market, business market, or the stock market! Being a millennial is hard! And while I can go on and on about it, it won’t change the fact that we all need to prioritize saving more money. Not investing, but money in a savings account, in the event of an emergency.
Unfortunately, with the cost of living on the rise, stagflation refusing to budge, and wages failing to keep up, it’s easy to wonder how you can save anything extra. I want to help! I’m sharing 5 simple ways to put more money into savings. While you may not be able to put large amounts of money into savings on a regular basis, small amounts can be just as effective when they’re consistent.
5 Simple Ways to Put More Money into Savings
#1 Automate Your Savings
I’m all about getting the biggest result for the least amount of effort. It’s not that I’m lazy, it’s that I know I only have so much effort to give on a daily basis. If there are opportunities for me to save more, make more, or just make my life easier with minimal effort, I’m game! And you know what? Automation makes that possible.
If you want to put more money into savings without any additional effort, make it a priority to automate your savings. Set up automatic transfers to a savings account every payday. Review your budget before setting the transfer up. The goal is to automatically save what you can afford to keep in savings.
It will also help you to think of your savings transfer as a recurring bill. Your bills get paid, right? Your savings should follow the same rule. This will help you keep more in savings and ensure consistency with your efforts.
You can also automate savings by using bank or digital features like “round-up savings” or setting up rules like “every time you swipe your debit card, $1 goes into savings”. A lot of financial institutions have added technology like this to help consumers save. Take advantage!
#2 Cut One Small Expense and Redirect It to Savings
One of the best ways to save more is to spend less. I understand, it’s not always that simple, especially if things are tight. However, having just one less takeout meal a month or one less streaming service to pay for can instantly translate into that money being saved. You were already spending it, so why not just transition it straight to savings? Remember how I said you should treat your savings as a bill? Well, you’re just swapping out one bill for another!
When you do take the time to cut out a small expense (or a few, if you’re up to the challenge), make sure you instantly redirect that money to savings. Letting it sit in your checking account will make it easy for it to be spent. Trust me, it will disappear into other spending if you don’t save it immediately!
Not quite convinced that cutting out a small expense can make a big difference in your savings? Well, let’s assume you buy coffee every day of the workweek for $5. If you reduced it down to 4 days a week, you’ll be saving $20/month. Take it further and cut it in half, and you’ll save $50/month. That monthly savings WILL add up over time!
#3 Use Cash Windfalls Wisely
Do you have a bonus or tax refund coming your way? Were you given an unexpected commission at work? Finally seeing financial traction in your side hustle? One of the simplest ways to put more money into savings is by banking any extra money that comes your way – especially cash windfalls.
Ideally, your budget should be created with normal, consistent income. That means, everything is already covered with that money, so anything extra truly is extra. Instead of spending extra money that comes in, put all (or most) of it into savings.
If you need the extra to get buy, implement a percentage structure to leverage for future windfalls. Maybe 50% of any extra income automatically gets saved and the rest goes into your checking account to help with bills. A system like this will help you build your savings account without impacting your regular income.
#4 Set Micro-Savings Goals
Instead of setting overwhelming savings goals, break them down into smaller, achievable milestones. For example, save $10 a week instead of $500 all at once. Finding $10/week is much easier than trying to figure out how to put $500 into savings without impacting your budget.
I personally use this strategy for goals outside of financial! Breaking down major goals into small, more manageable milestones makes life much easier. It doesn’t feel so daunting to make progress towards the goals you’ve set.
In addition to breaking down financial goals into smaller, more achievable milestones, you can “gamify” your savings efforts. Make it a competition with yourself to save $1 a day, or $10 a week. See if each time you add money to savings you can add more than the last. This will help you build the habit of saving without feeling deprived. I love community savings challenges for this. No-Spend Days and daily savings challenges are also great options.
#5 Sell Unused Items for Extra Cash
When all else fails to put more money into savings, look around your house! Pinpoint things you no longer use or need and sell them! Declutter your space and grow your bank account! Items like clothes, purses, electronics and furniture are usually easy to sell. I wouldn’t count on making a lot of money, but anything extra that can be saved is a win!
Use platforms like Poshmark, eBay, or Facebook Marketplace to list your items for sale. Whatever ends up getting sold, put 100% of the profits directly into savings.
#6 Bonus: Join the CGS Summer Savings challenge
I mentioned that I love community savings challenges for extra motivation to save. If you haven’t tried one, the free Summer Savings Challenge is starting soon for the CGS community! Save your spot now!
Related: 5 Steps to Save Your First $1000
If you take anything away from this article, let it be this: even with a tight budget, saving money is possible. More importantly, saving small amounts consistently over time can have major positive impacts. It’s those small, consistent actions that lead to long-term financial security!
Sometimes it can feel overwhelming with all of the options. To help you avoid that overwhelm, I encourage you to start with one strategy shared today and use it to build your momentum to move on to the other strategies as well. Before you know it, you’ll be a money-saving machine!
What simple ways have you found to put more money into savings? Do you have any go-to savings tricks? Drop a comment below to share!
-Raya
The CGS Team
