First published: 14 August 2022 @ 6:00 pm
It’s easy to think that the hard part of saving money is finding the money to save.
In reality, though, it’s actually much easier to put money aside for future use than it is to stop spending.
But even if you can’t stop spending entirely (which is never a realistic goal), there are some simple ways you can increase your ability to save and make saving money a habit that you can rely on.
Here are five ways:
1. Create a budget that makes sense for your life
Many people don’t think they need a budget when they save because they don’t see any immediate need for savings. However, without having some sort of plan for your finances, it will be impossible for you to build up any savings at all.
That means starting with a budget will be key in helping you get into the habit of saving and setting aside money for the future.
Having a plan for how much money each month should go toward savings will help guide your decisions about how much you should save and when.
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2. Make it a point to not spend money
You may have heard that you should stop spending when you get paid and start saving, but that’s not the only way to build a savings habit. You can also avoid spending money on things that don’t make financial sense for your life.
It also means avoiding things like buying something at the last minute, because this is usually an impulse purchase and isn’t something necessary for you.
When it comes down to impulse buying, these small choices add up over time, and being able to avoid them will make saving much easier in the long run.
Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on Unsplash.
3. Stick with a savings plan
When creating a budget, you need to make sure that you’re sticking with it long enough to see results. This means setting aside a certain amount of money each month for savings, even if it’s only a small amount.
It’s hard to stick with a budget if you only have a small amount of money in your savings account, but once you make minor sacrifices like this, the habit will become easier and easier to maintain.
This is also the reason it’s important to set aside some sort of automatic transfer from your checking account into your savings account each month.
That way, when you get paid, the money is already there and there’s no temptation to spend it on something else instead.
4. Start small and increase slowly
Even though building up a habit of saving money may seem like an impossible task at first, it can actually be done easily once you start small and accumulate your savings.
This means that even if you only start by saving $5 per week, that $5 could be enough to help build up a habit of saving money.
It also means that even if your first goal is only to save $100 per month, you can still start with a small amount of money and increase it.
This is because once you have the habit of saving, you’ll realize that there are more and more ways to save money that don’t involve going into debt and cutting spending.
You’ll also be able to make more rational decisions about how much you should save and when.
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5. Look for opportunities to save money
If you’re having trouble building up a savings habit, then it might be time to look for some opportunities to save money that you weren’t even aware of before.
For example, if you’re planning on getting a new cell phone, then maybe you can find a discount on the phone if you buy it on a payment plan. Or maybe you can get your utility bills lowered by looking into solar panels.
This is also the reason it’s important to stay in touch with your financial advisor, because they’ll be able to point out things like this for you.
You can also ask them about ways that they think you could save money, and they’ll be able to give some suggestions.
Build Your Savings Now
Building a savings habit is something that can be difficult, but it’s not impossible. In fact, if you take the time to create a budget and stick with it long enough, you’ll be able to build savings in no time at all.
Once you save money regularly, there are many things that you can do to increase your ability to save even more money in the future.
Our blog, HandyWork, has some great ideas for saving money. Read more articles on finances here.