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Save Money Fast: When every dollar is already accounted for somewhere else, it can be hard to save for other expenses. But if you have goals, want a vacation, or are looking to build a nest egg, saving little by little is the only way to get it done!
Short of winning the lottery, if you need to save money fast, you’ll need to make some big changes. Some of them might be gradual habit shifts, while others will give you immediate funds in your hand.
When you’re ready to do whatever it takes to reasonably bring in extra cash quickly, try these five quick tips.
1. Take Control of Your Spending
You knew that was going to be number one, of course. You can’t keep spending like you’re currently doing if you want to start saving.
First, you’ll need to take a good, hard look at your current spending habits. Where is every penny you are bringing in going to?
There are two easy ways that you can do this. One is to go back to your last few bank statements. Categorize all your expenses, like utilities, rent, food, car and gas, and entertainment.
Put any unnecessary spending in the “entertainment” category. Total all your debits up and you might be in for an eye-opening answer!
The second way to do this is to write down everything you spend for one week. Keep a notebook on you and any time you pull out your card or cash, write down exactly what you bought and, to the penny, how much it was.
Once you see where your money is going, you can start to cut back on your spending habits.
2. Download Cashback Apps
If you are going to be shopping for groceries or playing games online, you may as well make some money off of them, right?
When you use apps like Ibotta or Rakuten (formerly eBates), you can get cashback on purchases you make. Other apps will pay you in the form of gift cards to take surveys or play games.
You can use these cards in place of heading out to restaurants or getting groceries, or give them as gifts. Then put the money that you would have spent into your savings instead.
3. Get a Second Job
Any safe, extra way to make money is a good one. If you have some free time on your hands and there’s a part-time job out there, take it!
The worst that could happen is that you hate it. Give it a week and see how things go! At the end of the pay period, you’ll have money you didn’t have, and you can always quit the job.
On the other hand, you could totally love it and have an extra income stream. It’s worth a shot!
4. Clean Up Your Junk
Decluttering is a popular, trending way to make some money by selling your unwanted things. You can have cash in your hand quickly if your unused junk is someone else’s treasure.
Electronics are a big seller. Take your video games and consoles to Gamestop or sell them at your local Facebook Marketplace. Online sites like Decluttr will cover the postage if you have titles they’re looking for.
There are also lots of places to recycle your gently used clothes, toys, and household appliances. Look around your home, room by room. Do you have hundreds of dollars sitting around that you could sell?
5. Reduce Your Bills
This sounds like an option we all want, right? It’s actually easy to do if you know what you’re looking for.
Make a list of your expenses. There are some on there that you are probably stuck with, like your rent and car payment. However, being the savvy shopper that you’re becoming, you know you can price check other bills!
Start with your credit cards. If your interest rates are high, look into applying for a card that will give you a 0% balance transfer.
Move on to your health and car insurance. Go online and do some price comparisons and see if you can save money on a comparable policy. There might be more available now than there was when you first took out your coverage.
Finally, look at your monthly subscription services. Do you really need all those TV packages, or could you get by with one streaming service until you get your savings and expenses where you want them? Are those monthly boxes being put to good use, or could you cancel?
Every few dollars adds up, so if you want to save money fast, put your extras on hold.
Conclusion
The world we live in today is full of potential money-making and cost-cutting opportunities. You just need to know how to take advantage of them!
With a few habit changes and some extra effort, you can have a decent nest egg or your vacation funded well in hardly any time at all!
