Do you often find yourself scraping for coins or wondering where all of your money in your account has gone? Chances are it didn’t disappear- you spent it. And if you have no recollection of what that money was spent towards, then chances are you are not budgeting effectively. As most of us silently exit our twenties, we are faced with the dreaded reality that we are just not in a position to make careless decisions anymore, especially when it comes to finances. Some of us have families to support. Some of us have an overwhelming amount of bills to pay. Some of us aspire to own a home. Whatever the goal may be, it usually requires money. With the way society is currently, cost of living seems to rise in price, but no raise in our salaries to be found. This is where the benefit of savings comes into play.

I know what you’re thinking- HOW? How can you build a savings when you barely have enough to cover the bills? Honestly, it’s more attainable than you think. Here’s how:

1. Process of Elimination:

Many times we don’t realize that some of our monthly expenses are more of a luxury rather than a necessity. Make a list of your expenses and cancel those that are not necessary. For example, that Ipsy bag you invest in monthly is definitely a luxury. By cutting that you automatically have 10 extra dollars to tuck away in savings each month. Paying for a cable bill? DON’T! There are plenty of streaming services that are way cheaper or even free. I personally do not have cable. I have Hulu and Netflix, and whenever I want to watch live tv, there is a free streaming site, ustvgo.tv. You’re welcome.

2. Split Your Paychecks:

This is something I’ve started doing as of last year. I opened a new account in hopes of building a savings that is stored securely. Once I did that, I set my direct deposit to have my net pay transfer into one account (my main one that I use to pay bills) and then designated 10% of my paycheck to transfer into the new account I opened. 10% is what I decided but it can honestly be a smaller percentage as well. Determine what is doable based on your own finances. This has helped me tremendously. Since the transfer is automatic, it’s like I never see the money to begin with. You can’t miss what you do not have. It has trained me to work with the money I do have in my main account, while the money in my other account slowly builds.

3. Cash Stash:

This is similar to splitting your paychecks, just at a smaller and more tangible scale. In addition to having my paychecks split, each paycheck I withdraw $5-$10 and place it in my ‘Cash Stash.’ The money you gain from the ‘Process of Elimination’ step is also perfect for this, by the way. Often, I place this stash in a hidden place in an attempt to hide it from myself. Out of sight, out of mind. Plus, it is always helpful to have easy access to cash in case of an emergency or natural disaster.

4. Acorns are NOT just for squirrels:

For those who are unfamiliar with the Acorns app, it is an app that charges you a monthly subscription and invests that money into multiple stocks within the market. You can set the monthly amount to whatever is most comfortable for your situation (I do $10 a month), and watch the investment grow. You also have the opportunity to do one time investments in addition to the monthly ones. What I like most about this app is the compounded interest and dividends added. Often, this app also has promotional partnerships where you can gain more towards your profit. For example, if you book a flight through CheapOAir through the app, a percentage of your purchase is also invested into your Acorns account. Basically free money! And this app can serve as a savings account. You have the ability to withdraw the money from your account and have it deposited into your bank account. I believe its only a 3 business day process time.

I’m not sure if you’re keeping count, but I have given you 3 different streams of savings… anyways, onto my last tip!

5. Save Your Coins!

It seems simple, right? That’s because it is. My fiancé is constantly dealing with cash and so many times he is left with a bunch of change. I always encourage him to give me the change and drop it into a piggy bank. I keep collecting the change and normally won’t cash it in until we are traveling somewhere. Granted, a fee is associated with Coinstar to convert coins into cash. I’m personally too lazy to go old school, and roll my coins to give to a bank to cash out. However, that is always an option if you don’t want to pay fees. You don’t think that the change adds up, but it really does! The minimum amount I have cashed out is $30. That might be considered a small amount, but that is extra money you did not have before.

I hope you have found this information helpful. I cannot stress enough the importance of handling your finances responsibly. How many of these steps do you think you can start practicing? Are you using any of these tips now? I would love to hear feedback! And of course, if any of you have additional suggestions, I am all ears 🙂 Happy Fri-yay everyone!