Four MoneyTricks to Help You Save

In a perfect world, everyone would put at least 20 percent of their income in a savings account. Unfortunately, there are many people who cannot afford to do this. Some have overextended themselves and cannot afford to save. Fortunately, there are ways even the most meager of budgets can find room to save a few extra dollars. It may not be much, but something is better than nothing.

Allowance

Once your bills and expenses are taken care of, it is time to give yourself an allowance for fun. This is for new clothes, meals, drinks, whatever you want. Designate a specific amount of money and take it out of the bank in cash. Place it in an envelope and use only that cash until your next payday, when you give yourself another allowance. Once you spend your allowance, you are not to do anything else until your next allowance. Everything else is for your savings.

Spend a Little, Save a Little

Each time you spend money, saving the change. If you don’t use cash, you will have to work a little harder at this, but it is doable. Say you go to the grocery store and spend $175.50; round your purchase up to the next dollar and save that $.50. You will be surprised how much you can save by doing this.

Direct Deposit Your Savings

You don’t miss cash you never had, so have your employer automatically transfer a set amount of your income into your savings account. This way you won’t miss the money, because you never had it to begin with.

Start Slow

Saving is hard for many people, which is why you should start slow. Start saving $25 a month for a few months and then increase the amount by $3 each month or two afterward. An extra $3 isn’t much, and it doesn’t feel like such a big deal when you do it slowly.