Before we start this article, I would like to ask: What purpose do you have in saving money?
Is it to pay your debts? Are you saving for a wedding? Are you planning to own your dream house or car soon? Do you wish to secure your children’s future?
We all have different reasons for saving and setting a minimum amount as a goal is a great way to develop discipline and motivate ourselves to achieve it.
In this article, I will share with you my personal journey to saving over $5,000 in a year. You’ll be surprised by how easy these can be with the right focus and determination!
1. Set up a Direct Deposit From Your Payroll to Your Savings Account
Setting a direct deposit from your payroll to your savings account is one of the best ways to force you into a secured monthly savings without even noticing!
Through a direct deposit, the payer or the company issues an electronic payment that is transferred automatically to your savings or checking account.
After I accomplished all the direct deposit requirements, I successfully set up $50 of my paycheck to go to my savings account.
I do not consider this $50 in my monthly budget and act as if this transfer does not exist.
Just imagine my surprise when I accumulated $600 by the end of last year. I plan to double this direct deposit next year for an even higher savings.
Pro Tip: When setting up a direct deposit, create an exclusive savings or checking account that is different from one that you use daily. This will prevent you from touching your savings.
Total Savings: $50/month or $600/year
2. Go for Home Made Meals
In one of our articles, I wrote about the money habits of frugal people. I specifically mentioned there that one of their best practices is frequently cooking meals at home.
We used to eat out a lot as a family. My kids loved going to the regular fast food shack to get their fix of burgers and fries.
It was not too long before I realized that we were already spending about $200 monthly on dining out.
As we focused on practical meal-planning methods at home, we were able to cut our dine-out expenses in half!
Total Savings: $100/month or $1,200/year
3. Open a High-Yield Savings Account
Standard savings accounts usually have an annual percentage yield (APY) of just about 0.01% to 0.02%.
Unless you have multi-millions on your account, you won’t even feel this.
They just practically become “vaults” where you store your money, but does not really grow significantly.
On the other hand, a high-yield savings account (HYSA) is a smarter way to grow your money.
Many of the banks offering HYSAs offer an average of 4% to 5%, with some accounts even compounding interest daily for maximum growth.
We tried this with a bank that offered a 5% APY on its HYSA, and we ended up having a passive income of a little above $200 — without doing anything!
Check out some of the banks that offer high-yield savings accounts, arranged from the highest to the lowest APY offer:
Bank | Annual Percentage Yield (APY) | Minimum Deposit Requirement |
Brio Direct | 5.35% | $5,000 |
Ivy Bank | 5.30% | $2,500 |
TAB Bank | 5.27% | $0 |
UFB Direct | 5.25% | $0 |
EverBank | 5.15% | $0 |
Bask Bank | 5.10% | $0 |
LendingClub | 5.00% | $100 |
Laurel Road | 5.00% | $0 |
Varo | 5.00% | $0 |
Quontic Bank | 4.50% | $100 |
Pro Tip: Watch out for additional promotions by these banks that offer even higher APYs!
Total Savings: $200/year
4. Be Your Own Handyman!
Did your sink break? Is your light busted? Does your kid or husband need a haircut? Is your car up for an oil change? No, don’t call the repairman or the mechanic!
Can you imagine how much you can save if you invest time in learning DIYs?
And yes, with the power of the internet, you can study how to do all sorts of things, even for free!
Combining my skills with my husband’s, we were able to do much of the household repairs ourselves, saving us an average of around $40 per month.
Total Savings: $40/month or $480/year
5. Be Conscious of Grocery Saving Techniques
I am sure many of you can relate to me when I say that food and household needs are among the biggest expenses in my home.
Honestly, I never gave too much thought to how to save money on groceries, not until the pandemic hit.
As we worried about our jobs and our limited emergency funds, I had to find creative ways to approach purchasing.
From ensuring that I have a weekly meal plan to buying items in bulk and being more conscious of the price differences between the brands, I realized that I got to save a lot.
In fact, I carried over some of these best practices, even when I was able to go back to physical stores again.
From an average of around $550 a month before, I am now able to do well with a budget of only about $400. That is an extra $150 that goes to our savings account.
Total Savings: $150/month or $1,800/year
6. Use Coupons and Cashback Apps for Gas, Groceries & More
If you haven’t tried any of the cashback apps or clipped a coupon in your life, you are missing out on a lot of savings!
In fact, those with lower incomes also benefit a lot from coupons and cashback apps, showing their effectiveness.
For physical coupons, I highly suggest getting the Sunday paper. It usually contains a lot of coupons you can use for your groceries.
Meanwhile, here are some of the best apps that can give you a lot of savings for your usual purchases:
- Ibotta: Whether you are at the physical store or shopping online, Ibotta allows you to earn cash back each time you upload your receipt to the app. You can even earn as much as 30% on some of the most popular online stores, like Hotels.com, Walmart, and Kohl’s.
- Checkout 51: In addition to groceries, you can also earn cash back from Checkout 51 when you gas up at over 5,000 participating gas stations. You can get your cash back by adding the offers you can find in the app, heading to the store or gas station for your purchase, and then uploading a photo of your receipt in the app.
- Fetch: With hundreds of brands to choose from, I personally use Fetch to earn points, which I eventually redeem for gift cards that I use at my preferred store. All I need to do is snap receipts and shop for offers that meet my needs, then I earn points that easily!
- Upside: If you want a cash back app that has a wide scope, Upside is a great choice. You can use it to purchase gas, dine at restaurants, or purchase groceries. Your cash back can be redeemed directly to your bank or PayPal account or through a gift card.
- Dosh: Unlike other cash back apps, Dosh has a unique way of rewarding cash back. You need to link your credit or debit card to the app first. As you swipe your card in participating stores, restaurants, and hotels, you conveniently earn your cash back.
Though many of these apps support hundreds of brands, I find no harm in having all of them installed for maximum coverage.
These coupons and apps have saved me almost an average of $70 per month due to all the cashback and gift cards I use for shopping.
Total Savings: $70/month or $840/year
7. Maximize Your Credit Card Rewards
If you own a rewards credit card, maximizing its use instead of paying cash directly will help you take advantage of its rewards.
A good example of this is my Amazon Prime Visa rewards card. Check out this list of benefits I get that help me save a lot:
- 5% back on all Amazon.com and Whole Foods purchases
- 2% back at restaurants and gas stations
- 2% back on local transit and commuting (including rideshare)
- 1% back on all other purchases
- $0 annual fee
With this alone, I am already able to save about $50 monthly, and sometimes even more, depending on how often I use the card.
Meanwhile, just imagine how much you can save if you have a miles credit card, like the Delta SkyMiles Gold American Express card.
In addition to your 40,000 bonus miles, using the card also earns you twice the miles at most restaurants worldwide and supermarkets, takeouts, and deliveries in the United States.
As you earn more points, your rewards can virtually pay for your entire plane ticket on your next trip!
Your savings here will also depend on how much you use your card. Personally, this saved me about $500 on my trips last year.
Pro Tip: To avoid paying interest, I always make sure to pay the full amount of my card online.
I only use it for regular purchases, and I do not swipe on unnecessary items just to accumulate rewards.
Total Savings: $1,100/year
8. Grow Your Own Garden
Wouldn’t it be nice if you cooked your own meals and picked most of your ingredients outside your own garden?
I started this backyard garden project four years ago with my father, with the thought of being self-sufficient, especially in times of crisis.
Little did I expect it would also help me save significant money every month.
Here are some of the vegetables and root crops that we grow in our garden:
- Carrots
- Onions and shallots
- Radish
- Horseradish
- Sweet potatoes
- Pepper
- Bell Pepper
- Green beans
- Tomatoes
- Basil
- Lettuce
- Blackberries
- Cucumber
On top of my father’s knowledge of gardening, I watch a lot of videos on YouTube on how to successfully grow these in my own backyard.
And I am planning to add more soon for even bigger savings!
Total Savings: $40/month or $480/year
9. Remove Unused Subscriptions and Memberships
How many of you are guilty of going for cable or Netflix subscriptions that are more expensive and end up not utilizing all the features of your premium plans?
When we subscribed to Netflix, we easily got the premium package, which allows us to have up to four supported devices running simultaneously.
However, we soon realized that we never really run Netflix on more than two devices at any given time.
We were also very satisfied watching movies in full HD instead of ultra HD.
Hence, we switched to just a standard plan, which saves us $7 every month.
In addition, I had a monthly gym subscription when I was single. This $40 monthly subscription ran on auto-debit from my credit card, which I was guilty of not paying too much attention to.
Analyzing my routine, I realized I was wasting about $480 a year because I had barely gone to the gym since I married.
This prompted me to cancel my membership immediately and invest in much cheaper home-based fitness tools.
Total Savings: $47/month or $564/year
10. Negotiate With Utility Companies to Reduce Monthly Bills
We normally pay our water, electricity, and other utility bills based on their worth, and that should be the case!
However, if something does not seem to work out the way it should, do you let it pass, or do you negotiate to lower your bill? It will not hurt to try!
I previously had a bundled plan that included a TV cable subscription, internet services, and a phone line.
This plan cost about $145 per month, and everything worked fine at the start.
After two months, the phone produced a static sound whenever I was talking to someone. I couldn’t let this pass since I wanted a better line.
However, after several attempts to fix the issue, it remained unresolved. Their solution? $30 slashed from my monthly bill!
So long as my cable TV and internet are working properly, I am okay with keeping the phone in that condition. I have my mobile phone to use for calls, anyway!
Pro Tip: Did you know that there are apps that can negotiate your bills on your behalf? Try checking out Trim, Rocket Money, and Billshark.
Total Savings: $30/month or $360/year
If you do the math, combining all the strategies above will save you more than $5,000 annually — with a lot of extras!
Do you have any further money-saving tips to add? Share it with us in the comments below!