Do you want to save $1,000 fast? These 18 tips and strategies will help you achieve your $1,000 savings goal in record time.
Whether you’re building a starter emergency fund or just saving to pay cash for a large purchase, saving $1,000 is a big milestone. And like any financial goal, there are all sorts of ways to go about it.
For the rest of this guide, I’m going to reveal 18 of our favorite strategies to help you build $1,000 of savings faster than you ever thought possible.
1. Define A Timeline For Your Goal
If you want to save $1,000 fast, then you need to define a clear timeline for your goal.
It’s not enough to just say you want to save money fast.
I mean, what does fast even mean to you? A week? A month? Two months? It’s too abstract. And abstract goals are hard to achieve.
Instead, you need to be specific.
Set a date for when you want to have saved $1,000. Then, break down how much money you need to save each week or month to hit that target.
For example, let’s say you want to save $1,000 in two months.
That means you need to save $500 per month; or approximately $117 per week. With a concrete goal like that, it’s much easier to work backward and determine what steps you need to take to achieve your goal.
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2. Use Your Budget To Make A Plan
If you want to save money fast, you need to be intentional with your spending. And the best way to control your spending habits is to live on a written budget.
Now, I know what you’re thinking…
Budgeting is restrictive and no fun. But that’s not true!
A budget is just a tool to help you live within your means and make wise choices with your money.
And if you’re goal is to save $1,000 as fast as possible, then living on a budget will help you determine the exact steps you need to take.
How do you make a budget?
It’s actually quite simple. Just follow these three steps:
1) Calculate Your Monthly Income
In order to know how much money you have to work with each month, you need to calculate your monthly income.
Start by adding up all the sources of income you have coming in each month. This may include your paycheck, freelance work, side hustle earnings, investments, and any other money you receive on a regular basis.
2) Save First
You might think that the next step is to start subtracting your expenses from your total income, but this is where most people go wrong in budgeting.
After you calculate your income, the next thing you should do is allocate enough savings to meet your goal.
To use our previous example, if you want to save $1,000 in 2 months, then you should set aside at least $500 of your income for savings.
3) Budget For The Rest Of Your Expenses
Once you subtract your savings from your income, your next step is to allocate money for all your remaining expenses. This should include everything from your rent/mortgage all the way to the money you spend on recreational activities.
In essence, you need to give every single dollar a “job.”
If you find that your expenses are more than your income, then you have a few options:
A) Decrease your expenses
B) Increase your income
C) Some combination of both
In order to save money fast, you need to figure out a way to survive off of the money you have left over after saving.
4) Make Adjustments
If you just can’t seem to make the numbers work, then you may have to go back to the beginning and adjust your savings goal.
For instance, if you can’t squeeze $500 of savings from your budget quite yet, then you may have to adjust the timeline of your goal to 3 months instead of 2.
The important thing is to not get discouraged. Just because you need to make some adjustments doesn’t mean you can’t save money fast. It just might take a little bit longer than you originally planned.
5) Save Any Extra Money At The End Of The Month
Finally, if you really want to speed up your savings, you should take any money that you have left over at the end of the month, and put that into savings as well.
I like to call this “bonus savings.” While you might be tempted to spend this money on something fun, you’ll be much happier in the long run if you throw it into your savings account.
3. Put Your Savings First
If you’ve worked through your budget and determined your spending and savings plan, then your next order of business is to actually move the money into your savings account.
This is where the rubber meets the road.
After all, what’s the point of creating a budget if you don’t actually implement it?
As long as your budget is accurate, then you can be confident that the remaining amount of money in your checking account will cover your other expenses.
This is known as ‘paying yourself first’ or the ‘save before you spend method’, and it is one of the best financial habits you can adopt.
4. Try High-Intensity Interval Saving (H.I.I.S.)
If you find that you’re struggling to stick to your budget, then you might want to try a new method known as High-Intensity Interval Saving (H.I.I.S.).
If you’re into fitness, you’ve probably heard of High-Intensity Interval Training (or H.I.I.T.). If not, it’s a training method where you alternate between periods of intense effort and periods of lower-intensity rest.
H.I.I.S. is exactly the same, but for your finances.
With H.I.I.S., you alternate between periods of intense financial effort (typically 1 to 2 weeks) and periods of normal budgeting and spending.
This method is helpful because it feels like running short sprints rather than long, drawn-out financial marathons all the time.
Beyond that, if you take it seriously, it can help you develop a stronger financial mindset. Like high-intensity exercise increases your physical threshold, these periods of increased financial effort will increase your tolerance for financial sacrifice.
In fact, you might even develop a heightened sense of financial confidence–which can give you all kinds of money-saving momentum.
5. Get A Second Job
If you want to save $1,000 faster than you currently are able, then you should consider getting a second job.
Even working a part-time, minimum wage job at night can net you a few hundred dollars extra each month.
If you pair that extra income with the expenses you cut from your budget, then you can seriously shorten the amount of time it will take you to reach your goal.
If you are considering getting a second job, be sure to read my recent post, Is Getting A Second Job Worth It? (Benefits and Drawbacks).
6. Start Your Own Side Business
I’ve said it before, and I will say it again, one of the best ways to make extra money is to start your own side business.
And while this might not be the best option if you just need some quick cash, in the long run, it can add ongoing fuel to your savings.
In other words, in the short term, a side business might not generate as much income as a part-time job. However, a year from now, if you stick with it and put in the work, it could be generating several thousands of dollars per month.
The best part about running a side business is that your income is only restricted by your willingness to go out and drum up business.
If you really go all out, there’s no reason you can’t generate $1,000 in 30 days or less. You just need a good idea, a marketable skill or product, and a fearless attitude.
If you can keep your startup costs to a minimum, and focus on sweat equity, you can end up earning a seriously good income.
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7. Sell Your Stuff
When you need to save $1,000 fast, and cutting your expenses just won’t put you over the top, then selling your stuff is always an option.
If you have some unused furniture laying around, then you could post it on craigslist and earn money within a couple of hours.
Or, if you have old, designer clothes that you no longer wear, then you could sell them on Poshmark or eBay and make some quick money.
Of all the things you can do to generate some extra money, selling your stuff is the quickest route you can take.
8. Flip Free Furniture On Craigslist
Along the same lines, if you aren’t afraid to work with your hands, then you could flip free furniture on Craigslist for a quick profit.
You would be amazed at some of the quality stuff people give away if you are just willing to come and take it off their hands. Some of the stuff doesn’t even need to be fixed or updated.
In other words, you can just pick it up and immediately post it on craigslist to make an easy profit.
For all the other stuff, you could just sand it down, slap on a new coat of paint, and sell it for $50 to $100. It’s really that simple.
If you do a couple of those projects each weekend, you could shorten your savings timeline pretty quickly.
9. Carefully Track Your Progress
One of the most important things you can do when trying to achieve any savings goal is to track your progress along the way.
Once again, this is where living on a written budget comes in handy.
If you want to save $1,000 fast, you should get in the habit of logging your expenses into your budget every single day.
Why so often?
Because you’ll be able to spot financial problems early and make quick adjustments to your budget to get back on track.
This daily habit will also help you stay focused, and track your financial progress–which can help keep you motivated to save.
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10. Break Your Goal Into Smaller Milestones
Another helpful tip is to set savings milestones along the way to your ultimate goal.
For instance, you could break your $1,000 goal into $200 milestones. The purpose of this strategy is to set yourself up to experience a bunch of small victories along the way.
These little milestones can fuel your motivation and inspire you to keep working hard when the going gets tough.
11. Automate Your Savings
If you’re confident in your budget and you want to take the “Save First” method to the next level, you can automate your savings.
There are a few different ways to automate your savings, but one of the simplest methods is to have a portion of your direct deposit go right into your savings account.
Otherwise, you may be able to set up automatic savings transfers through your bank.
If you really want to step up your game, you could also incorporate a money-saving app like Acorns into your financial mix. Acorns is a financial app that rounds up all your purchases to the nearest dollar and invests that money for you.
12. Use The “Next Month’s Budget” Rule
Impulse spending is the enemy of saving money.
And unfortunately, the more money you save, and, thus, have available to spend, the harder it becomes to say no to blowing it on a frivolous impulse purchase.
That’s why you should commit to the Next Month’s Budget rule.
Essentially, every time you want to buy something that you didn’t originally include in your budget, you force yourself to wait until at least the 1st of the next month to make the purchase.
This does 2 things:
- It keeps you from making an emotional purchase – By forcing you to take a step back and really assess if it’s something you need, you’ll give yourself time to approach the purchase with a much less emotional mindset.
- You can work it into the following month’s budget – If you still want to make the purchase at the turn of the month, you can work it into your budget and sacrifice spending in other areas. This will keep you from hindering your saving efforts, and keep you in better control of your finances.
The Next Month’s Budget rule is one of the best ways to prevent yourself from making a purchase that will hinder your ability to save $1,000 fast.
13. Set Your Sights Higher
If you want to save $1,000 fast, and you’re the kind of person that likes a challenge, then why not set your sights even higher.
For example, instead of aiming to save $1,000 in one month, try to save $2,000 in a month and a half.
A bigger goal like this will push you outside of your comfort zone and force you to stay disciplined and get creative with your finances.
Plus, in the event that you come up a little shy of your bigger goal, you’ll still probably meet your original $1,000 goal–which is nice.
14. Remove Temptation
One of the best strategies you can employ if you want to save money fast is to simply remove your biggest spending temptations.
In other words, if you know that there’s a store or place where you tend to spend too much money, do your best to stay away from it.
This could mean avoiding certain retail establishments, unsubscribing from promotional emails, spending less time on social media, or even limiting your contact with certain people in your life.
The truth is, we all have a few spending triggers that make saving money a much more difficult task.
So, if you want to save $1,000 as fast as possible, I recommend identifying your biggest spending temptations and figuring out how to avoid them.
15. Reduce Your Fixed Expenses
In order to save $1,000 quickly, you’ll need to find ways to free up some extra cash each month.
One of the best ways to do this is by cutting your fixed expenses.
Fixed expenses are monthly bills that don’t fluctuate much from month to month, such as your rent or mortgage payments, car payments, insurance premiums, and subscriptions.
And seriously, fixed expenses are pretty the holy grail of expenses you can cut from your budget.
Why?
Because every time you cut a fixed expense, you are increasing your ongoing monthly margin. Since fixed expenses occur every month, every time you cut one of them from your spending, you are freeing up immediate and future cash.
So, not only will this help you meet your $1,000 savings goal, but it will give you extra margin to help you achieve the next financial goal you set for yourself, too!
16. Isolate Your Savings
When it comes to saving money, one of the best things you can do is to keep your savings separate from your checking account, at an entirely different financial institution.
This way, whenever you make a deposit into savings, you won’t have the ability to make instant transfers back to your checking account.
I speak from experience when I tell you that this incredibly simple tip can have a profound effect on your financial situation.
In fact, I credit this strategy for helping my wife and I build up a six-month emergency fund, pay cash for our car, and cover a handful of large medical bills.
17. Work With A Financial Advisor
If you want to improve your financial decisions and add a bit of accountability to your finaces, then working with a financial advisor is something you should consider.
A good financial advisor can help you create and implement a budget, save money, get out of debt, and make smart investment choices–all of which can help you save $1,000 fast.
18. Reduce Your Housing Costs
If you’re really serious about saving money, then you might want to consider moving to a cheaper area.
I know this isn’t feasible for everyone, but if you have the ability to pick up and move to a place with a lower cost of living, it can be a great way to save money quickly.
For example, let’s say you’re currently spending $2,000 per month on rent, and your lease is about to expire. If you’re willing to find a couple roommates, or move to a cheaper area of town, you could easily add a few hundred dollars to your monthly savings.
Just operate as if you’re still paying the same amount of rent. Only, instead of giving it all to your landlord, apply the difference to your monthly savings.
These days, with the cost of housing getting borderline ridiculous, this is one of the most effective ways to increase your monthly savings.
Summary
If you want to save $1,000 fast, you need to be intentional and disciplined with every area of your financial life.
Whether that means setting clearer goals, cutting your spending, or employing any of the other tips in this article, the more extreme you’re willing to get, the faster you’ll be able to save.
Got any other tips on how to save $1,000 fast? Be sure to drop your ideas in the comments.
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