Setting actionable and exciting goals is key to keeping you motivated when you are learning how to save money!

Tip #2: Create A Realistic And Personalized Budget 

When my husband and I sat down in March of 2023, looked at our accounts that were past due, and realized our home was officially in pre-foreclosure, we knew we had to make a change.  

If you want to improve your finances and get out of this cycle of living paycheck to paycheck, creating a realistic and personalized budget is KEY to your success.   

I go over in more detail the steps to building a successful budget in my budgeting post and in my Beginner’s Budget Blueprint Course, which you can check out both here: 

Budgeting Course: Beginner’s Budget Blueprint

Blog Post: The Complete Beginner’s Budgeting Guide

Tip #3: Cash In Your Change 

This is a simple one, but every cent counts!  

And if you’re like my husband and I, you probably have a jar of coins waiting to be used. Cash it in and add it to your savings fund!  

My husband and I cashed in our change while we were getting started on our financial journey, and we were able to cash in over $200! 

That was 1/5 of our emergency fund right there!  

Check your car, look through your old purses and wallets, find a designated jar, and fill it up until you’re ready to cash it in!

You’ll be surprised how much you can throw towards your emergency fund that way! 

How To Save Money Tip #4: Find A Side Hustle 

I know, I know. This is on every list for saving money and improving your finances…

But, it’s becoming harder and harder nowadays to break the paycheck to paycheck cycle without a side hustle.  

Sometimes you simply need to make more money and that’s okay!

The key to finding a side hustle that works for you is to be intentional about what you do. 

Do not spend your precious time outside of work on something that isn’t going to help you reach your goals. 

Having a side hustle does not have to be permanent, either. 

It could end up just being a temporary thing while you settle into your budget and learn how to save money…

Or… it could turn into something that replaces your primary income and more! (Which I hope to do with this blog VERY SOON!)  

Here are some side hustles I’ve done + ones that I have seen people recommend: 

• Bartending/Serving – My main gig. But you can easily pick up 1-3 night/weekend shifts and bring in a few hundred dollars a week! 
• Poshmark/Reselling – My first successful side hustle! I could make $500+ monthly from a few hours of work and items I found thrifting! 
• Doordash / Instacart / Uber – These are the ones almost everyone knows about. They are easy to start, but some areas may not be as profitable as others. Great for fast cash, depending on location!
• Virtual Assisting / Interesting Skills – Love website management + design, administrative work, content creation, video editing, or have other valuable skills? Market them on sites like Fiverr, Upwork, and more to gain clients or become a virtual assistant for content creators!

This is just a small list! There are so many possibilities! 

Tip #5: Cut Spending / Expenses As Much As Possible

While I know living on a “bare-bones” budget is not glamorous or desirable, cutting your spending and expenses does not have to be a forever thing.  

If you are ready to break the cycle of living paycheck-to-paycheck, learn how to save money, and pay off debt, reviewing your budget and making cuts to your spending and expenses can be so impactful. 

Not only does this free up money in your budget that can go towards saving your first $1,000, but it also helps you reflect on your spending habits, lifestyle, and how you ultimately spend your money. 

For us, we realized we ate out too much, we ordered DoorDash way too often, and we didn’t buy groceries that were easy to make when we were lazy and didn’t want to cook. 

You may be like we were, and that’s okay.  

By reviewing our spending and cutting our expenses, we saw how much our finances could improve by budgeting and starting a meal plan (+ by having a frozen pizza in the oven for emergencies). 

When you review your budget, you will likely notice areas where you tend to overspend, so make it a goal to cut that spending or designate a cash fund for that category and only spend the amount given.  

It may be hard at first, but you’ll find over time that more money is available to you because you cut your expenses and changed your spending habits along the way.

These FREE budgeting worksheets and organizers will help you see what you can cut from your budget to help you save money! 

Tip #6: Sell Things You Do Not Use Or Need 

I used to feel almost mortified(?) when I read posts telling people to sell their things to make some extra cash. 

Like, “How dare you command such a thing?! I worked hard for my things!”  

But in America, we live in a capitalistic society that rewards us with adrenaline when we buy something new.  

We stockpile what TikTok influencers are pushing through their Amazon links and mindlessly spend money on things we do not need or use. 

I was never too big of a spender, but I did spend a fair share of my time and money thrifting clothes I would wear once or never.  

When I became overwhelmed by the amount of laundry I was doing for clothes I felt I never wore. 

When I realized most of my items were never used, but I still cleaned them, I still held space for them in my home, in my mind, and in my energy, I was finally able to declutter my house, and with that, I found lots of items I could sell! 

I recommend looking around your home, finding items you no longer use or need, and deciding if they are worth donating or can be sold.

Make it a goal to find and list a certain amount of items! Depending on what you sell and how much you sell your items for, you could make almost your entire $1,000 by selling things in your home already! 

Tip #7: Stop Using Your Credit Cards 

For some people, this may be a huge struggle, and for others without credit cards, unrelatable, but when you are ready to stop living paycheck-to-paycheck and save your first $1,000, you have to make an agreement with yourself that you will no longer use your credit cards. 

Freeze it, cut it up, place a hold on it– I don’t know, but make sure you do not have access to them, so you will not make any purchases on them.  

Now this is a controversial take because credit cards can be used to improve your life and can be beneficial for your finances. 

But for many perople, using a credit card means living beyond their means.

For me, it used to be so easy to put small purchases on my credit card and say I would pay it off when I got paid… 

Those purchases added up, and eventually I was spending my money before I was even making it!  

And if you’re using credit cards to live beyond your means, it is time to make an agreement with yourself that you will stop using your credit cards!

How To Save Money + Improve Your Finances Bonus!

There are many more tips I could have dived into for this post and for saving your first $1,000, but that would have been entirely too long.

The number one takeaway from this post is that having a solid, personalized, and realistic budget that works for you is key to saving money and improving your finances.  

And I have the blueprint for you all mapped out in my Beginner’s Budget Blueprint course! 

Since my husband and I have been budgeting with the method in my course, we have become debt-free and have paid off over 30K in debt in less than ONE year! 

The peace and contentment that comes from knowing your bills are on autopay and you can afford minor emergencies that arise is unmatched. 

It’s freeing. And I want you to feel that way too!

In this course, I take you step-by-step through overcoming your personal spending habits, organizing your finances, creating your budget, staying consistent, and SO. MUCH. MORE! 

If you’re ready to learn how to budget, get out of debt, build wealth, and create your dream life, enroll in Beginner’s Budget Blueprint course today!