I’ve never been one for New Years Resolutions. Instead, I think of resolutions as healthy habits I’d like to develop. My biggest habit in 2018 was having healthier spending and saving habits. I’ve always been quite frugal and love to save a few bucks whenever possible. But this year, I kicked my savings into overdrive and saved over $4,000.
Now, before you stop reading and think, this girl is crazy, she’s about to tell us she ate ramen for a year and never did anything fun, or she must be a millionaire, NOT TRUE! If you’ve been keeping up with me on the blog, you know I had quite the fun-filled 2018 even with a very millenial cash flow.
The way I see it, frugal people place value over convenience. Cheap people place cost above everything else. I’m the type of person who will walk into a store and check if I can buy the same item for a lower cost online. I’M NOT the type of person who will go to a store, find the most defective item, then haggle for a cheaper price. I value my time spent finding a good deal, but I refuse to sacrifice quality.
So, if you’re in the frugal camp, you too probably understand that sometimes it’s a sacrifice to spend wisely. Sometimes you just want to be carefree and ball out on something, but your inner Coupon Kween won’t let you. But this year, I created a savings account for “fun money”. I saved aggressively all year and whenever I felt the urge, I used that account to spend money on whatever I wanted no matter the cost.
Because of my aggressive savings, I was able to purchase a Gucci luggage from Italy that I had always dreamed of buying; I saved enough money to pay for all of my graduate school expenses (GRE’s, Application Fee’s, etc.); and I STILL HAVE MONEY IN MY SAVINGS.
Here’s how I did it. Each week, I set an automatic checking to savings account transfer for $77. That’s it.
Now at the end of the year, I have saved a little over $4,000. A quick caveat, I did spend some of my savings prior to years end so although my savings account doesn’t currently have $4,000 in it, the total sum of my savings was over $4,000 over the course of the year. The point is, I was intentional about my savings. Forcing myself to save forced me to become more aware of what I spent money on.
Still not convinced? Check out this handy dandy chart.
|
Week |
Total Savings |
|
1 |
$77 |
| 2 |
$154 |
|
3 |
$231 |
| 4 |
$308 |
|
5 |
$385 |
| 6 |
$462 |
|
7 |
$539 |
| 8 |
$616 |
|
9 |
$693 |
| 10 |
$770 |
|
11 |
$847 |
| 12 |
$924 |
|
13 |
$1,001 |
| 14 |
$1,078 |
|
15 |
$1,155 |
| 16 |
$1,232 |
|
17 |
$1,309 |
| 18 |
$1,386 |
|
19 |
$1,463 |
| 20 |
$1,540 |
|
21 |
$1,617 |
| 22 |
$1,694 |
|
23 |
$1,771 |
| 24 |
$1,848 |
|
25 |
$1,925 |
| 26 |
$2,002 |
|
27 |
$2,079 |
| 28 |
$2,156 |
|
29 |
$2,233 |
| 30 |
$2,310 |
|
31 |
$2,387 |
| 32 |
$2,464 |
|
33 |
$2,541 |
| 34 |
$2,618 |
|
35 |
$2,695 |
| 36 |
$2,772 |
|
37 |
$2,849 |
| 38 |
$2,926 |
|
39 |
$3,003 |
| 40 |
$3,080 |
|
41 |
$3,157 |
| 42 |
$3,234 |
|
43 |
$3,311 |
|
44 |
$3,388 |
| 45 |
$3,465 |
|
46 |
$3,542 |
|
47 |
$3,619 |
|
48 |
$3,696 |
| 49 |
$3,773 |
|
50 |
$3,850 |
| 51 |
$3,927 |
| 52 |
$4,004 |
It’s simple multiplication and even simpler savings. Now I know you’re probably thinking, I can’t save $77 a week, I don’t have that kind of money! That’s fair, but neither do I. Between my rent, utilities, car payment, student loans, insurance, and other expenses necessary for survival, about 60% of my monthly income goes towards things I need to spend money on before I can even think about spending money on things I want.
More importantly, you don’t need to save $77. I picked $77 because it works out to be a great number to track your progress with; each quarter of the year means another $1000+ saved! You can save $7, $25, $50, or $777 (if you’ve got it like that). The point is, if you’re intentional about your savings, you’ll be surprised by how quickly commas and zeros appear in your bank account. By setting an automatic deposit to my savings each week, I was forcing myself to make savings part of my financial budget.
BONUS TIP: Even a savings account that gives low percentage dividends can add even more to your end total so take advantage of whatever interest rates are out there.
Although I didn’t end the year with exactly $4,004 in my account, that wasn’t the goal necessarily. The goal was to be deliberate about saving money so in the event I wanted to ball out, or I ‘d have to spend a large sum of money at once, I could do it guilt free.
In addition to tracking my savings, I also tracked my discretionary spending (money spent on mostly Bottomless Mimosa brunches) month to month. At certain points, it did feel like an exercise in futility but it was fun at the end of each month to write down how many “No Spend Days” I had in my planner. In March, which is arguably the most boring month of the year, I managed to have 21 “No Spend Days”.
I am not a finance guru, and I certainly am not perfect when it comes to managing my money, but I’m proud of what I accomplished this year and it gave me the confidence to know that I can be a responsible adult.
This is so impressive! I’ll have to try this, or some variation of this, this year! Thanks for sharing!
Good for you! I need to set up automatic withdrawals. I used to have them, but at my bank, they expire. I do use a Christmas Club account–if Christmas is paid for when I get the check at the beginning of November (often it is), then I deposit it directly into savings.
My mom would sign my brother and I up for those Christmas accounts when we were kids!
This is such a great idea. $77 seems like a lot, but it’s also manageable. I have automatic savings as well that puts a little over $2000 in our account annually and I swear by it. It is just a nice bit of comfort to know that I’m building a savings account and if we need to dip into it a bit I am less stressed than I would be if we weren’t automatically saving.
I don’t think I can do it weekly but I think I might start saving more consistently again
My New Years resolution is to save more. I have been doing the envelope trick. It seems to be working.
This is so impressive I know so many millennials that are struggling with trying to get ahead and have more in saving.
Great suggestions!! Being a blogger I sometimes tend to over spend, end up losing my savings. This year I decided to save some money! Love your ideas and really helpful ?❤️
Great job! I was so good at saving until I went to Europe… I came back and didn’t have a job right away so I’m still paying off some bills. Going to hop back onto the saving train. Thanks for the inspo!
I love the idea of no spends days! I do this already because I have days I stay at home all day but I think I am going to start tracking these days as well.
Great job! definitely something I am going to try this year!
You are right, the intention of doing the things is the first step and then go for it. A written budget to check where we can save has been our best tool. We are still in it 🙂
Right! It’s all about being intentional.
Great tips girl!
This is definitely an area I need to work on…I’m pretty good with money but saving money, not so much!
As a milennial myself, saving $77 a week doesn’t sound all that bad! Thank you so much for sharing girl! ?
These are great tips! I’m purposefully working towards saving more this year. I actually started last year, when I started the minimalist mindset.
This is such a great idea!! Love your tips and sitting down to see what amount I can commit to each week.
Oh my goodness, that’s AMAZING! I love the idea of choosing one number to transfer into savings every week, and it’s crazy to see how much money you saved last year just by doing this! I’m definitely going to try this this year!
These are such wonderful tips. I really need to be more frugal and it seems like this plan is not too difficult to stick to!
This is awesome, I love the idea of tracking how many no spend days you had per month!! Definitely going to implement that method.
xo, Laura
You go girl! I’m studying abroad in Italy this summer so I definitely want to be better about saving before then. I may have to try this out!
xoxo,
Katie
Great tips! I have recently went back to the “shoebox” method of saving to avoid fees and penalties. Last year I was able to save about $500 in total. Not too much but it’s better than nothing. This year I plan to start saving $5 from any income I receive whether it be graphic design income, blogging income or my regular 9-5. Once I begin to receive more income, of course that $5 amount will increase each pay period. Great post!
$500 is a great savings!
Yes girl! Thats such an amazing accomplishment and I love the idea of how you did this! Something I definitely need to implement in my own life ASAP.
This is so cool! I love this idea. I honestly have zero income right now but I will be finally done grad school and on my own this year so I’d love to start something like this by the end of 2019!
Kayla |
This is awesome, Shay! I’ve never been great at saving money but it’s a large goal for me this year. I’m going to sit down and work out how much I can afford to transfer into my savings each week and try to set it up automatically. Thanks for the tip!
Lauren
Yes yes! I love this! I actually just have a portion of my paycheck go into my savings so I’m really saving every other week but I think the method still applies. I agree with you about being frugal. As a child of immigrants, smart shopping and strategic saving have been ingrained in me since birth!
Yes! My parents also instilled some great money habits in me as well…
21 no spend days is great! I did a no spend challenge that ended up lasting 2 years! Today i’m really slow to purchase anything and always focus on paying myself first into my savings and retirement accounts!
Wow that’s incredible. I love to #TreatMySelf thought too much lol
This is awesome. I do the same thing, automatic deduction of $50 biweekly. I do save quite a bit. I want to increase it but my freelance income is sometimes unpredictable. I may try $50 weekly next year to see if it’s easy to maintain.
You got this. Even a little savings makes a difference!
This is so amazing! I’ve always wanted to try this – I save some money each month but I would love to try this out.
Wow that’s awesome girl! good for you!
I always say automating your savings is the way to go! You did an excellent job with savings this year! 🙂
I love this. I am apart of a savings group where we put in a certain amount of money every 2 weeks into a “money pot”. Its about 25 ladies and each lady has a cash out date. Even after your cash out date you continue to put money in the pot so that everyone can cash out equally and initially “save” the same amount of money.
Thanks for sharing!
Wow what an incredible way to hold people accountable (pun intended).