The process of saving money is one of the most important, yet difficult parts of our respective financial journeys. It requires not only an understanding of our true money situations but also commitment and discipline over time to successfully reach our savings goals. While having these traits is a must, there are some more subtle adjustments that can be made to help speed up the process. Here are a few of these rather effortless hacks that can assist you.
MAKE SAVINGS A NECESSARY “BILL”
Chances are that you have a budgeting plan for your monthly income that covers your necessary expenses for things such as rent, food, gas, and other bills. One way to mentally trick yourself into staying disciplined in savings is to carve out a monthly bill for yourself that is completely dedicated to savings. Although this is simply a mind trick and nothing more, it will enforce better discipline and financial habits over time that will help you save.
USE SAVINGS APPS
There are various financial tech apps on the market that are designed to help analyze your bank account, income, and spending habits. Through an examination of these factors, these apps can help you come up with a plan to save and even do your savings automatically.
An example of an app like this is Digit. Another type of savings app is spare change investing apps such as Acorns. Although this is technically an investment service and not a savings service, you can build up a nice sum of money simply through the investment of spare change on all of your purchases.
MAKE YOUR SAVINGS DIFFICULT TO ACCESS
One of the greatest hindrances to savings is when people lose their sense of discipline and immediately withdraw from their savings accounts. The key to solving this is to make your money difficult to access instantly, perhaps in an online bank account where it is nearly impossible to access an ATM and takes a much longer process to withdraw. Another trick to this is to use a high-yield savings account, as this will reward you the longer your money goes untouched, adding an incentive to continue your savings.
SAVE UNEXPECTED SOURCES OF MONEY
It is a great feeling to come across some extra money away from our full-time job. Sometimes we get money for our birthday, a nice work bonus, or some extra money for winning our office fantasy league. Whatever the reason is, this is likely money that was never factored into your monthly budget and can provide a major boost to your savings.