{"id":1239,"date":"2023-03-10T00:15:00","date_gmt":"2023-03-10T08:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cultofmoney.com\/?p=1239"},"modified":"2023-03-10T13:13:21","modified_gmt":"2023-03-10T21:13:21","slug":"7-savings-hacks-the-lowdown-on-increasing-your-savings-fast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cultofmoney.com\/7-savings-hacks-the-lowdown-on-increasing-your-savings-fast\/","title":{"rendered":"7 Savings Hacks: The Lowdown on Increasing Your Savings Fast"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"yard<\/a>Self-employment has always been a big dream of mine. However, this dream comes with its own set of pros and cons.<\/p>\n

While the freedom of working for yourself and getting paid what you\u2019re worth is one of the most appealing aspects, there are some downsides as well. The biggest con of being self-employed is that your income is not guaranteed and can be unreliable.<\/p>\n

This is why having a year or more worth of expenses saved is so important – your emergency fund<\/a>.<\/p>\n

However, saving money isn\u2019t just important for the self-employed<\/a> \u2013 it\u2019s important for everyone. You never know when the unexpected will happen and you\u2019ll need to have cash on hand. In addition if you ever dream of retiring, saving and investing should be one of your top priorities. The sooner you save and the more you sock away the earlier you can retire.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s apparent that all of us need to be saving and for many similar reasons. So, let\u2019s speed things up with these seven money savings hacks.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

# 1 \u2013 Save a Set Percentage of Your Income<\/h3>\n

I always admire those who are able to save a high percentage of their income. Imagine how well off you\u2019d be if you could save 50-75% of your paycheck every week! Financial security and early retirement would definitely be in the picture.<\/p>\n

Figure out what percentage of your income you can save and stash it away each month. Increase the percentage whenever you see fit to do so.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

# 2 \u2013 Automate Your Savings<\/h3>\n

Sometimes I can be a bit forgetful. I have every intention of saving that $50 a week but I forget and before I know it my money is gone.<\/p>\n

I can simplify my savings by making it automatic and so can you. Select a specific amount to be transferred directly in your savings account each pay period.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

# 3 \u2013 Pick Up Side Jobs<\/h3>\n

The money from my day job barely covers my monthly expenses. In order for me to save money I have to work on creating extra income.<\/p>\n

As it has been going lately this income is well on its way of surpassing that from my day job. Luckily, this gives me a good portion to save.<\/p>\n

I would suggest picking up a side job that you enjoy. There\u2019s no sense in working yourself to the bones if you don\u2019t like what you are doing.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

# 4 \u2013 Create Multiple Income Streams<\/h3>\n

In order to save more money you may need to make more money. In addition to picking up a side job you can also work on creating several income streams<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Some possibilities are investing in dividend stocks, writing an eBook, blogging, or anything else you see fit. Creating passive income is a dream for most people but can be hard to do. I prefer trying to create semi passive income to diversify.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

# 5 \u2013 Sales, Coupons, and Less Shopping<\/h3>\n

A dollar saved is a dollar earned, right? I am committed to reaching my savings goals and hopefully you are to.<\/p>\n

In order to reach my goals I have to stick with my budget. Shopping as little as possible is what I shoot for. But of course there are some unavoidable expenses. For these I look for sales and coupons to lower the cost. I also search for coupon codes every time I purchase something online.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

# 6 \u2013 Sell Your Stuff<\/h3>\n

Do double duty for yourself: de-clutter and earn some cash. Thoroughly clean out your house and sell all the unwanted or unused junk. I recently did this and ended up with several items to sell.<\/p>\n

I plan on having a yard sale here in a couple of weeks but that isn\u2019t the only route you can go. If you aren\u2019t into yard sales sell your unwanted items on Craigslist, Facebook Garage Sales, or EBay. Put the money you make straight into your savings account.  You can even setup an iPad credit card reader so that you can take mobile payments at your house or at a garage sale, and then you can quickly and easily take payment and put the money into savings.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

# 7 \u2013 Don\u2019t Eat Out<\/h3>\n

I used to eat out for lunch every single day at work. I struggled to brown bag it for many months. Finally, a light bulb came on and I realized the price I was paying for food was just way too high.<\/p>\n

I have been a successful brown bagger for a few months now and haven\u2019t had any major relapses. I still do occasionally eat take out on the weekends or for dinner but I have vowed to stop doing this until I hit my savings goal.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s shocking to see how fast money spent on take-out food adds up.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Stick With the Plan<\/h3>\n

I am always up for a challenge and for me creating a savings goal is fun. It can be fun for you, too. Once you have decided on your savings amount set yourself a deadline and race to beat it.<\/p>\n

Come up with your own savings hacks and dedicate yourself to the plan. All of the sacrifices that you make will feel so rewarding in the end.<\/p>\n

Do you have any other savings hacks that you’d want to add?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here are seven savings hacks that can help you increase your savings and emergency fund fast.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":8785,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[132],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cultofmoney.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1239"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cultofmoney.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cultofmoney.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cultofmoney.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cultofmoney.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1239"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.cultofmoney.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1239\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8789,"href":"https:\/\/www.cultofmoney.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1239\/revisions\/8789"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cultofmoney.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8785"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cultofmoney.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1239"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cultofmoney.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1239"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cultofmoney.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1239"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}