Five Easy Ways to Start (And Increase) Your Savings

How can you set a solid foundation for your savings?

Sometimes it’s the little things that can yield small savings that add up over time. Don’t look past the low hanging fruit. These tips will set you up with a strong foundation for saving and can easily be scaled as you earn more, spend less and start to expand your financial goals!

Start Small

Setting lofty goals can seem inspiring but they can also set you up for disappointment. If your goal was to start exercising and you currently did no physical activity, would you start by going to the gym seven days a week? Probably not. Manageable and sustainable are more important as you form new habits. Just as you would start going to the gym one day a week, try saving small amounts and increase as you feel comfortable. Can you spare $1.00 per day? I’m sure you can. So setup a $30 automatic monthly deposit. Next month, increase it to $2.00 per day.

Automate It

Save it without thinking about it. Yup—you can set up your bank account to automatically transfer funds from your checking account into a savings account every month (or week, or day…) You can also set up your direct deposit to automatically transfer a percentage of each paycheck into your savings account.

Fill the Piggy Bank

When you get home at night, empty your pockets and start collecting that extra change. I used to keep my spare change in a fishbowl and about every six months it would fill up for an extra few hundred dollars in my pocket. Not bad for spare change! Take that found money and put it directly into your savings account instead of your checking account. Want to make it easier? Check out services like Acorns and Stash that will do this for you automatically for you with each credit card swipe (bonus: they put them into investment accounts for you!)

Squeeze Your Boss

If your employer offers a 401(k) match and you aren’t taking full advantage of it, you’re missing out big time! That’s FREE MONEY! Plus, your contributions do not get taxed! In simple terms, this means that if you were to set aside $100 from each paycheck to go to your 401(k) your take home pay would only go down by about $70. So with an employer match, you could be taking home ~$70 less per paycheck but saving over $100 per paycheck! FREE MONEY!

Don’t Automate Your Spending

Chances are, you’re paying for multiple subscriptions like Netflix, Hulu, Spotify, gym memberships, trendy subscription boxes and Amazon Prime. It’s time to cancel any subscriptions you don’t use on the regular – or don’t need. And make sure that you turn off “auto-renew” when you make a purchase. If you cancel it and decide you can’t go without it, you can always subscribe again – but you’ll do it consciencely. Also consider membership sharing with some family or friends on the subscriptions you do want to keep around. Many streaming services, like Netflix and Hulu, let you watch from two or more screens. What to do with that $14.99 you just saved every month? Automate it!