Ways to Save More Without Earning More

We all want to save money, right? After all, it’s pounded into our heads everywhere: if you aren’t saving, you’re setting your future self up for failure. Now, we’re not into fear mongering, but it is a bit scary to think that by not saving money–or not saving more–you’re falling behind where you “should” be in life, isn’t it?

It can also be cause for sadness and despair–when you’re just scraping together enough to get by and aren’t able to suddenly bring in more money, how are you supposed to save more than the little bit you are? It can feel hopeless and helpless, but it doesn’t have to. Through proper budgeting, smart spending, and taking advantage of some helpful savings opportunities, you can increase the amount you’re saving each month and start to build that nest egg that protects you from emergencies or future expenses.

1. Find extra money in your budget

Hopefully you’ve created a budget to help you keep track of your money–it’s the single most important thing you can do to set yourself on the path of financial health. By tracking every dollar in and out and knowing exactly where and when you spend, you can better understand your largest expenses, determine where you can cut back, and set goals for how much you save every month.

So if you haven’t started a budget yet, there’s no better time than the present. But even if you’re already a budgeting expert, you can still use it to save more money each month. A crafty budgeter can look at a monthly budget and see exactly where the fat can be trimmed–a few dollars saved from transportation, a few cents cut out of groceries, every penny you find can be redirected towards your monthly saving goals. By doing so, you’ll see your savings grow faster and faster over time.

2. Spend wisely to save more

Of course, finding money in the budget isn’t just an abstraction–it requires real work and real skill and requires making a real commitment to pulling money from some areas of your life, and that’s not always easy. It’s simple to say “take a few bucks out of your transportation budget,” but where do those dollars come from?

Fortunately, a little creative forethought can help you pull extra pennies out of even the tightest budget. Go through your budget and create a budget checklist: this will allow you to find ways to save on almost every category. Whether it’s finding cheaper car insurance, analyzing your utility bills, or doing a subscription audit, going through every line item often results in the surprising discovery of extra dollars that can be immediately reinvested into your savings strategy.

3. Stash your savings in smart locations

Finding the money to save is one thing, but did you know that where you save has a huge effect on your future financial stability? The smartest savers aren’t just stashing cash under the mattress but are saving in a way that helps their savings grow, even when they aren’t actively adding in funds.

Of course, you can always invest your money. Investment in the stock market is inherently risky and this is not professional investment advice, but many people are able to make investments in areas like high-yield savings accounts that grow at a fixed percentage, savings and corporate bonds, and dividend-paying stocks and grow their wealth over time with relatively low risk of loss.

4. Use financial technology to make your saving easier

Lastly, consider using technology to help you save more effectively. This could mean using a budgeting app to better track your household funds and ensure that every penny is accounted for accurately. It could mean utilizing a robo-advisor to help create an investment portfolio that gives you the greatest likelihood of growing your money without losing it due to market fluctuations. Or, it could even mean using banking apps that help you save more easily with services like automatic round-ups, which round up every purchase to the nearest dollar and deposit the change into a savings account automatically.

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