Month 1 –
I know… I know… For a lot of our readers, the thought of saving money when you’re living paycheck to paycheck is a joke.
It’s not that working people don’t want to save; it’s just that too many of us are struggling with trying to pay the rent and put gas in the car. By the time the month is over, there’s nothing left to save.
So I’m not going to lecture anyone on the importance of saving, but let me share some tips on how I broke the “paycheck to paycheck” cycle…
Open an online savings or checking account and deposit $5. Heck, roll your quarters if you have to.
There are a bunch of great online banks, but one of my favorites is Aspiration because they offer an interest rate that is around 100x what a normal bank offers, plus there are no monthly fees.
You can open a savings account at your local bank, but my suggestion is to go with an online bank. You’ll be less likely to withdraw the money.
I know it doesn’t seem worth it to deposit only a few bucks, but getting started is an extremely important first step! Just trust me.
Month 2 –
This month I want you to save $15 in your new savings account. Again, if you can do more, awesome!
If you need a little help earning an extra $15, check out Paribus. It’s a tool that searches your emails for companies that owe you money.
It’s free to sign up for Paribus and once you do, they will scan your email archives for any receipts. If it discovers you’ve purchased something from Amazon, Target, or one of the other 16 retailers listed on their website, it will track the item’s price and issue you a refund anytime there’s a price drop!
You don’t have to do anything!
Need a different idea?
Another great way to earn $15 is with InboxDollars. They will actually pay you to watch videos! There are hundreds of them — cooking videos, sport replays, news, and more. Plus, they give you $5 just for signing up.
Month 3 –
Our goal is work up to saving $100/month in the savings account. I know that seems lofty, but I’m going to help you earn that extra $100/month.
For this month, I just want you to try and put away $35 in the account.
I’ve had good success making extra money with these two market research companies: Swagbucks & VipVoice. These panels will pay you for your opinions on politics, movies, etc. If you sign up for both, you should easily make an extra $35/month (most surveys pay between $3-$4 each for 20 minutes of your time). Heck, sometimes I fill them out while I’m watching Netflix.
Need a different idea?
Another easy way to earn $35 is with Smart Panel. If you install their free app on your smartphone, they’ll pay you $15 after only two weeks of it being installed. And they’ll continue to pay you $5/month forever.
There are also a ton of different ways to make extra money on this site, so start poking around the archives.
Congrats! You’ve saved your first $55. That’s something to be proud of!
Month 4 –
Alright, this month it’s time to try and put away $100. Daunting, I know. But I’ve got a few ideas that might help…
– Try selling some of your old stuff online. For books, use a site like Bookscouter.com and they’ll compare 30+ different buyback sites and tell you which one is willing to pay the most for your books.
– You can try our list of 16 Companies giving away $1,810.25. These companies want you to try them out and they’ll pay you to do so. Some of them are easier than others, but just check it out.
– Or how about mystery shopping? Before I became a blogger, I was a full-time, professional mystery shopper. And I got pretty good at it – earning around $5,000/month. Here’s a list of the companies that I worked for. (None of them will charge you money to sign up. And if a mystery shopping company ever tries to charge you, it’s a scam. Stay away from those.)
I know a lot of people are already working two jobs, but mystery shopping can be a way of earning money and relaxing with your friends/family at the same time. My favorite are the restaurant mystery shops – you get a free meal and you get paid! 
Month 5 – 12 –
Continue saving $100/month for the entire year. We want your year-end account balance to be $950.
Here are some ideas on how to make an extra $100/month:
How to Make $750/Month Selling Used Books
Get Paid $50 to Write a Guest Post
What’s in Your Fridge? Get Paid to Share…
How to Make an Extra $50/Week Working for Amazon.com
How to Get Paid $200/Month Testing Websites
Year 2 –
It’s important to continue saving at least $100 each month. Use your regular paycheck for living expenses and save any extra money you make from the ideas on this website.
Once you’ve reached year 2, you’ve saved nearly $1,000. At this point, my suggestion would be to open an IRA. Lending Club happens to be my favorite (because I’m earning 14%/year), but anywhere will do.
Just one more piece of motivation. If you can continue to save $100/month for the next 20 years (at 14% interest), you’ll end up with $106,022! Can you imagine? More than $100,000 in a bank account!
You can do this. End the cycle today.
Good luck Penny Hoarders!
Disclosure: We appreciate you letting us include affiliate links in this post. It helps keep the beer fridge stocked in the Penny Hoarder break room.
Sent from my iPhone
No comments:
Post a Comment