8 Money-Saving Tips, Tricks, And Habits That Helped Me Save $30K In One Year (2024)

@fabianabuontempo / Via instagram.com

A little money-saving trick I have is to reward myself when I make a healthy money decision. An example of this is if I order food, instead of ordering delivery for an extra $3, I pick it up myself. Then I take that money that I just saved and put it right into my savings.

Another time I did this when I was really trying to save was at the salon. Instead of paying an extra $20 to have my hair blown out after getting it cut, I went home with damp hair, gave myself a blowout, and put that $20 right into my savings. Sounds extreme — but it's a helpful way to make smart money decisions and also reward myself for it.

Although I have a few credit cards open, I don't use them all. I really only use one or two of my cards at a time. Make sure you're rotating through all of your credit cards. If a card has been inactive for a year more, the issuer mayclose it for youwithout giving you a heads-up — which can cause your credit score to dip. Even when I make small purchases with these cards, I pay them off immediately.

Overall, it's much easier to stay on top of what I'm spending, how much my credit card bills are, and to avoid any credit card debt from accumulating by only using a few cards.

I like to use a journal to write down what I spend each week, and I keep it as basic as possible. I make a few categories, write down the purchase I made, and how much it was for. Then I add everything together and write the total dollar amount I spent that week.

This habit each week helps put things into perspective for me and helps me realize where I spend the most money and where I could cut back on things. I'll admit, those Starbucks iced coffees definitely add up!

Don't get me wrong, it's definitely tough to have self-control when it comes to buying new things. If it was up to me, I would spend all my money on makeup and skincare. So to refrain from doing this and to put myself on a strict budget, I set time limits for when I allow myself to buy different things.

I'll restrict myself from buying new clothes for two months or not buying makeup for three months. This is a strict tip of mine, but I've found it to really help when I want to cut back on spending and think twice about buying something.

My friends definitely make fun of me for this, but let the haters hate! I save 👏🏼 every 👏🏼 receipt 👏🏼for every purchase I make. After the purchases clear on my bank statement and the amount I was charged for dinner matches the total on my receipt, I'll then get rid of the receipt.

I do this because I've had instances where I left an $11 tip on a restaurant bill and then it showed up on my bank statement that it was changed to a $17 tip. 😒 Luckily I had my receipt to prove my case. If you're not staying on top of things, you can easily be getting overcharged or have a discrepancy somewhere and not even be aware of it.

To be honest, setting a goal for how much money you want to save sounds a bit daunting. But like any other goal, if you set small ones for yourself, it's more doable and easier to achieve. Although I managed to save close to $30,000 within the last year, I originally set out to save only $15,000 by the end of the year. I started off by putting a little over $1,000 each month into my savings because that didn't sound that too intimidating to me.

As I got into the habit of that, if I had a month where I made some extra money, I contributed even more to my savings. Before I knew it, my original money goal doubled by me consistently contributing to my savings.