You may think that you don’t have enough income to put money in savings. The truth is even if you’re on a tight budget, you can save money.
People often think that just because they don’t have a lot of money to save they shouldn’t bother. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Let’s look at how to save money on a tight budget.
Pay Yourself First
Before you use any of your income on variable expenses, put as much as you can afford into savings. Even if it’s just 5% this can add up over time. For example, if you make $500 a week, that’s $50 you would put into savings each week. Over a year’s time that’s $2,600. Think of all the money you could have saved by now if you had done this.
Save Your Change
Anytime you pay with cash, take your change at the end of the day and put it into a jar. It’s not going to add up to a lot of money over a year’s time, but it will still help. If you apply several tactics to saving money, you’ll be amazed at how all these little amounts add up to a good bit of money.
Use an App Like Acorns
There are apps out there (like Acorns) that will round up your purchases and put the money into a savings or even a retirement account. Imagine not having to do a thing and money being saved for you automatically. You’ll never miss that bit of change that gets put into savings. Best of all, it’s a foolproof method for saving money.
Roundup Your Debit Purchases
When you write down purchases in your checkbook, round up. Over a year’s time, this can create quite an overage in your bank account. Let’s say you use your debit card ten times per week and the average round up is $0.50 per purchase. That’s $5 per week or $260 a year. Some banks will automatically do this for you when you sign up for a program with your debit card.
Make the Most of the Money You Do Save
Last, but not least, because you don’t have a lot to save, make sure you’re getting the most from what you do save. This means finding a savings account that has a good interest rate and transferring money over to your savings account on a regular basis.
Whatever you save is better than nothing. Even if you’re saving just a $1 a day, you’re doing something good for your finances. Try these methods and see how much money you’ve saved over a year.
Leave a Reply