How to Save in a Hurry

As you travel along life’s journey, different opportunities can come across your path that require pooling your resources; buying a house, taking your family on vacation, building an emergency fund, or buying a new car. And when you decide to pursue one of these opportunities, the next step is to think about what needs to be done to achieve the goal. Sometimes the timeline for the goal is long-term, but what do you do if you need to save in a hurry? In this post, we explore different quick-saving tactics to consider when you want to save for a big expense in a timely manner.

The Power of Budgeting

Consider the following two phrases…

• “A penny saved is a penny earned.” – Benjamin Franklin
• “A budget is telling your money where to go instead of wondering where it went.” – Dave Ramsey

In our opinion, the principles behind these phrases are the backbone to developing and staying true to a budget. In a time where saving up for that next large purchase needs to be done quickly, developing a budget can help you discover money you thought you never had. Now, that’s not to say that once you’ve mastered budgeting your money will start to grow on trees! Rather, a budget can help you see where and how changing your spending habits can make saving for that big expense a bit more realistic. Once you have identified expenses that you can reduce, place that money to the side in a consistent periodic manner until the date of the upcoming expense. You may be surprised how quickly those expenses add up! Review the following two areas of your budget to identify opportunities to free up additional cash.

Discretionary Expenses: Cutting back on some discretionary (non-essential) expenses may help you reach your savings goal more quickly. Below are a few starter expenses that, if temporarily halted, could free up cash you never thought you had:

• Subscriptions you may not use too often (Netflix, Hulu, Apple Music, Spotify, Hello Fresh, AudioBooks, etc.)
• Cable TV
• An unused gym membership
• Eating out frequently

These expenses do not need to be eliminated permanently; consider removing them from your budget for as long as it takes to reach your savings goal.

Money-Generating Ideas: Another possible avenue one may explore to create savings is to generate more money rather than cutting expenses. Have you ever re-discovered something that made you think, “when was the last time I used or wore this?” Or, have you noticed that you have some old items piling up and that are rarely being put to use? But have you ever considered selling some of your belongings? E-bay, Craigslist, Offer Up, and Let It Go are just some of many websites people use to help them declutter their garage or attic. You may also consider a yard sale, or taking things to a consignment shop to sell gently-used clothes or items.

There is an Emotional Factor, Too!

The trade-offs associated with a budget can make sticking to that plan rather difficult. As such, it’s important to believe in yourself and try to picture yourself reaching that goal and the fulfillment that it will bring to your life. Once you have saved enough for that first large expense, you will have validated that you are capable of achieving such saving goals, and you may even find that you enjoy saving money fast and develop a practice you never thought you had.

And of course, we are always here to help you plan for your short-term and long-term savings goals. Please don’t hesitate to share these goals with your Yeske Buie team so we walk with you every step of the way to help you make that goal becomes a reality.