Saving Without Feeling the Pinch

There’s no doubt about it: saving is hard work. Especially when things are tight. It may feel impossible at times to save any amount of money, let alone enough for an emergency savings account or a retirement fund. Thankfully, there are a few ways to save without feeling like you’re giving up every fun aspect of life. Let’s take a look at a few.

Moonlighting for Savings Cash

One way to save some money without living on Ramen for weeks is to bring in some additional income. There are tons of traditional part-time jobs that could help bring in extra dough, particularly around the holidays, but if you’d rather find a non-traditional second job, you may be surprised at how many work-at-home paychecks you could land.

The important thing about getting additional employment is to save that cash. You may wish to designate a second job account to help you stay away from your new savings or implement a rule in your household that the funds are entirely designated for your savings goals.

Don’t Take That Raise

This tip sounds funny if you simply read the heading, but I promise that I’m onto something. When you get a raise from your job, it may be tempting to spend the extra money. However, if you designate the additional income toward savings, you could save thousands of dollars over the course of a year. Of course, this means that you must actually accept the raise; just make sure you don’t take that money to the store but save it instead. Essentially, you may need to pretend that the extra income does not exist.

Automatic Transfers

While we’re talking about pretending additional income doesn’t exist, let’s touch on how automatic transfers can help you save. Often, if you don’t see the money, you will be less likely to spend it, and when you set up an automatic transfer, you won’t see the money hit your checking account. Instead, whatever amount you want to save on each paycheck gets directly deposited to your savings account.

This can often be best accomplished when you receive a raise. Simply set up the auto transfer with your employer; transferring the amount of your raise directly to savings will barely make a dent in your established spending. However, you can also set up an automatic transfer at any time to make your savings dreams a reality. This may seem a little more difficult since you will feel a pinch, but I guarantee if you stick with it for a while, you should get used to your smaller paycheck deposit.

Overall, saving cash without the pinch is possible with a little creativity. Finding a perfect second job, plugging away money from a raise, and setting up automatic transfers can all help make your savings goals seem a little less intimidating.

Does anyone else out there have some savings tips? Let us know below!

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