We all know that a savings account is a good idea. The more savings you have put aside for a rainy day, the more comfortable you’ll feel about your future. After all, it’s impossible to predict what happens in your life from one year to the next. A good savings account will ensure that you’re protected if you end up with a broken-down car, a huge health insurance bill, or even if you lose your job. Of course, you need to find a way to create that savings account first.
When you’re already living on a tight budget, finding enough money to make a real difference to your savings can be tough. The good news is that there are a few tips you can try to speed up your chances of success. Here’s are a few things you can try.
1. Try Rounding Up
There are a few banks around the US today, including the bank of America, that offer programs which allow users to round up their purchases, then transfer that left-over money into a savings account. This is a great concept because it means that you can put more of your money aside, without noticing too much of a difference in your regular spending.
For instance, when you’re spending $9.50 on your lunch, you’ll notice that $10 gets removed from your current account – with fifty cents going towards your savings. It might not make a huge difference straight away but wait until you see the results after a year or two.
2. Make Sure You Pay On Time
This might sound like an obvious tip, but a lot of people spend extra each month because they don’t pay attention to the additional monthly charges, late fees, and other expenses that come with missing payment deadlines. If you know that you need to pay something at a certain time each month, make sure that you set up a direct debit so that you don’t fall behind. Remember to keep this tip in mind when you’re paying off your payday loans too. The faster you get rid of your debts, the less you’ll need to spend on interest in the long-term.
Just make sure that you don’t use your automatic payments as an excuse to forget about your monthly expenses. You should still be checking these every so often to ensure you’re not spending more than you need to be.
3. Cut the Cords
Cable is still a huge expense for a lot of households today – but it doesn’t need to be. When you’re working on building your savings account, consider switching to streaming services like Netflix and Hulu instead. These solutions can give you plenty of amazing shows and movies to watch each night, without you having to rely on an expensive cable subscription.
You might find that you enjoy your time in front of the TV more with a streaming service because you get to choose what you want to watch according to your schedule.
4. Enjoy more Dinners at Home
There are plenty of things that can eat into your budget over a year. One of the main issues for many of today’s consumers is eating out and getting fast food. Although it can be exhausting to think about cooking when you’ve already spent all day at work – it’s essential to do whatever you can to eat at home as often as possible. You don’t need to swear off fast food completely – unless you’re doing it for your health and weight. However, you should be eating at home at least five days out of every seven.
Consider prepping some of your tougher meals in advance, so that all you need to do when you get home from work is pull a Tupperware container out of the freezer and put your food into the oven or microwave. You can save about $30 a week doing this – particularly if you’re buying food for your whole family when you eat out.
5. Appreciate the little things
Finally, remember that reaching your savings goals faster doesn’t have to mean giving up every penny you earn. Instead, it just means looking for little extra ways that you can save throughout the month. A loose change jar where you store all your extra coins when you buy something from the store can help you to save some extra dollars at the end of the year. When you’ve saved up all your change, don’t just spend it. Take it to the bank and ask them to put it into your savings account for you.
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