Clever Ways to Save Money

While being careful to keep spending under control is admirable, it’s easy to fool yourself into believing that you’re a money-saving genius, when in truth you’re just spending all that you earn, wishing you made enough money to save some of it.

Getting started with actual savings—and by that I mean money that is put away into a safe place—can be difficult if you have a spending habit, a small budget or some of each. The way to remove the pain is to trick yourself into thinking you’re not really saving that much. Check out these tricks and get started today.

Call it a bill. This may sound silly, but just go with me here. Create a new monthly bill that you are obligated to pay and call it “Paying Myself First.” Make it look like an invoice of $5, billed toy ou. I don’t care how little money you earn or how poor you believe that you are. Anyone who really wants to start saving has $5 they can devote to the effort. Put this tiny bill at the top—ahead of the rent, food or phone bill. Your smallest bill will soon become your favorite.

Save all $1 and $5 bills. Whenever you get a $1 or $5 bill, save it. Make this your new personal rule. You do not spend $1 or $5 bills. Ever. Just find a cool place to stash them and don’t look back. You are going to be amazed how quickly your savings will add up–especially if you receive tips in your job. Can’t do both denominations? Then start by saving $1 bills. 

Save all coins. This could be an alternative or addition to saving paper currency. Think this couldn’t possibly turn into anything useful? Think again! In just one year my hubs and I saved more than $1,100 in coins. We were shocked because it was so painless. Try it but make sure you are diligent. The rule: Do not spend coins, period.

Make payments to yourself. Once you make that last car, credit-card or other payment, celebrate lightly, then just keep making the same payments every month. But instead of making them to the finance company or bank, make them to yourself—straight into your savings account. After all, you’re used to not having that money to spend, so don’t change anything. Tricky, no?

Coupon savings. As you leave the supermarket so proud of yourself for all of your coupon savings, make a note of the exact amount you “saved.” Now really save it by depositing that exact amount into a savings envelope, drawer or account.

52-week challenge. This is cool. You’ll need a yearly calendar to pull off this trick. Look at each week’s placement in a year. Now save the number of dollars during that week that correspond to its placement in the year. For example, the first week in January you save $1 because it’s Week One. Second week in January you save $2 and so on. By the end of January you will have saved $10 ($1 +$2 +$3 + $4=$10). Then the first week in February you must save $5 because it is Week 5  of the year. Continue without fail throughout the year and you will have saved more than $1,000. You don’t have to wait until January to get started. Just figure out where you are right now in the year, and save that corresponding amount. So much fun!

Source: Mary Hunt