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How to build up savings quickly

So you've set yourself a savings goal (great job). Be it your emergency fund or a down payment on a house we all have something to save for. But sometimes it feels difficult to work towards that goal. Here are some savings methods that should make the process a little easier (and a bit more fun).






Automatic savings. Pay yourself when you are paying your bills by setting up a standing order to one of your savings account. This way you won't even think about saving because it just happens. You can set up a standing order from your checking account into your savings account so a set amount is saved automatically each month this means that saving becomes part of your basic monthly budget. Often savings accounts need only £1 to be opened so anyone can start this process. Or you can use a service like Digit where by the amount saved is based on what you can afford after analysis of your spending habits. The disadvantage of digit is that the cost is essentially your interest. So once interest rates begin to rise again it may be worth looking into alternative options. 

52 week challenge is where you save every week the amount that the week is into the year. The 1st week you save £1, the 23rd week of the year you would save £23 and so on. What's good about this method is that it increases your savings incrementally and at the end of the year you'll have £1378 !! By increasing your savings incrementally it doesn't feel like such a large amount to have to save making the savings process a lot less painful. 

Savings jar (put every 1 dollar bill, £5 note etc. away)- this method involves putting every one of a certain currency denomination away in a savings jar for a set proof of time. Saving coins is also a great option and you can cash them in at the bank, post office or a coin star. However, this method assumes that you use cash and would not be appropriate for those who mostly use their debit card. 


Spending ban for a month/week etc- Hold off from luxuries spending for a month (or however long you want to challenge yourself). This means you still buy food, transport, necessary clothes and pay your bills. But everything else that isn't absolutely essential is put on hold for that period of time and what you would have spent on those categories is put into savings. A spending ban is quite a humbling experience and makes you realise what is really essential to your life and how much superfluous things you have. 


What fun saving methods do you use?


Disease Called Debt

7 comments

  1. Great suggestions. I have done them all myself at one time or another. In fact, we continue to automate our savings/investing and we maintain a spending jar (bucket in our case) that works very well.

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  2. Saving coins is such a fun an easy way to rack up a little extra money! It really adds up! I have a cute piggy bank that I dump all my change into and take to the bank every few months!

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    1. I love this method too. I'll go to coinstar every now and again and be amazed how much i've saved in just coins.

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  3. I've done all of these except the 52 week method before! Also roll my own coins to avoid coin star fees and keep an eye out for the ones that have a bit more than face value.

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  4. Automatic savings via payroll deduction is the way to go!

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  5. Spending bans are kind of incredible. I've done a few No Spend weeks and I'm always astonished at how healthy my bank account looks after one. They can be a little painful, but really, how difficult is it to actually make sure you eat all the food in the pantry and only do free activities for a week? Not as bad as you think.

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  6. Great tips Rebecca. My favourite is the automatic savings. As the name sugget it is automatic - It is something you set up and forget all about it. This saves me time and also helps prevent the temptation to give up down the line.






















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