14 Little Tricks To Help You Actually Save Cash In 2016 (2024)

FAQs

What is the trick to saving money? ›

Save money automatically.

Set up a direct deposit from each paycheck to your savings account. That way you don't even think about the money you're saving—you're just saving. Start budgeting with EveryDollar today! And if you really want to get serious, use a separate bank from your existing checking account.

50 - Consider allocating no more than 50 percent of take-home pay to essential expenses. 15 - Try to save 15 percent of pretax income (including employer contributions) for retirement. 5 - Save for the unexpected by keeping 5 percent of take-home pay in short-term savings for unplanned expenses.

The 50-30-20 rule recommends putting 50% of your money toward needs, 30% toward wants, and 20% toward savings. The savings category also includes money you will need to realize your future goals.

If you struggle to stick with a budget, try using the 1% rule for spending money. It's simple: When something you want to purchase exceeds 1% of your annual gross income, wait a day before buying it.

The 50/15/5 rule for spending and saving provides guidelines that could make budgeting a little easier. It allocates 50% of your income to essential expenses, 15% to retirement and 5% to short-term savings.

The idea is to divide your income into three categories, spending 50% on needs, 30% on wants, and 20% on savings.

Stick with swiping your card to get groceries or stock up on toiletries, but pay with cash when you go shoe shopping or out to eat. Any $5 bill you receive in change goes — you guessed it — straight to your savings. The cash envelope system is a good budgeting method for those who use physical cash.

It works like this: Gather 100 envelopes and number them from 1 to 100. Each day, fill up one envelope with the amount of cash corresponding to the number on the envelope. You can fill up the envelopes in order or pick them at random. After you've filled up all the envelopes, you'll have a total savings of $5,050.

The 100-envelope challenge is pretty straightforward: You take 100 envelopes, number each of them and then save the corresponding dollar amount in each envelope. For instance, you put $1 in “Envelope 1,” $2 in “Envelope 2,” and so on. By the end of 100 days, you'll have saved $5,050.

How to save $100 in 30 days? ›

The goal of the Challenge is simple: save $100 in a 30-day time period through a series of gradually increasing deposits. November has 30 days so every day is a savings day. As shown in the picture below, daily savings deposits start at $1 a day for five days followed by $2, $3, and $4 each for five days.

What is a 'pay yourself first' budget? The "pay yourself first" method has you put a portion of your paycheck into your savings, retirement, emergency or other goal-based savings accounts before you do anything else with it. After a month or two, you likely won't even notice this sum is "gone" from your budget.

Are you approaching 30? How much money do you have saved? According to CNN Money, someone between the ages of 25 and 30, who makes around $40,000 a year, should have at least $4,000 saved.

The premise of the 30-day savings rule is straightforward: When faced with the temptation of an impulse purchase, wait 30 days before committing to the buy. During this time, take the opportunity to evaluate the necessity and impact of the purchase on your overall financial goals.

The 30-30-30-10 system allocates 30% of your money to housing, and another 30% goes for necessities. You devote 30% to financial goals and keep the remaining 10% for personal spending.