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This posting is for anyone who has trouble saving money, and needs an example for how its actually done.
So, I was able to save about $1,000 in roughly six weeks. Here is how I did it.
I used about six methods to scrap together the cash.
1. Surveys: I used Qmee, Google Opinion Rewards, StreetBees and 1Q. (Non-referral links). All of these pay either immediately or next day via Paypal. What I did was I stopped watching TV in the evenings and instead focused on generating the extra cash. This worked pretty well.
2. Gathered smaller cash sources. I know this sounds silly, but I've been walking a lot more to work, and as a result I'm finding money on the ground. It usually not much - a couple of pennies a day, or a dime or a quarter, but its added up over time. I've made maybe $10 from finding cash on the ground. Another smaller cash source is bottles and cans. When I'm on the way to work, and I see a can, I'll throw it in my lunchbag. Then when I have enough I take them to the grocery store and get the deposit money.
3. Cash back and passive income apps. The three that contributed were a cash back gas app called Getupside, and data collection app called SurveySavvy and a "sell your unused bandwidth app" called EarnApp. (non-referral links). These aren't game changers, but they're low effort and pay, so I was able to add the cash they generated to the pile.
4. Salary. About 71% of the total was salary from my day job. Whenever I had a surplus I would add it to savings.
5. Tax credit. About 51 bucks of the total came from Uncle Sam in the form of a tax credit.
Here are the actual transactions:
Behavior Hacking
I also hacked my own behavior to make the savings happen.
How it worked was I set up a checking account with a bank on my way to work. Then I hooked up my Paypal account with the bank so I could divert the smaller amount of money from the apps to the account. If I had to make a larger transfer I would write myself a paper check and walk it to the branch. This built in the added incentive of walking more and I didn't have to go out of my way - so there were no excuses or hassles in physically getting to the bank.
I also set the goal and wrote down the target number and the date I wanted it done by - then posted in above my workspace at home. I spend most of my waking hours in front of my computer, so I looked at the goal about five or ten times a day.
Now, $1,000 isn't a lot of money for some people. But if you have no savings or have historically had trouble saving, it's entirely doable. You just have to put the pieces together and make it happen.
So, I was able to save about $1,000 in roughly six weeks. Here is how I did it.
I used about six methods to scrap together the cash.
1. Surveys: I used Qmee, Google Opinion Rewards, StreetBees and 1Q. (Non-referral links). All of these pay either immediately or next day via Paypal. What I did was I stopped watching TV in the evenings and instead focused on generating the extra cash. This worked pretty well.
2. Gathered smaller cash sources. I know this sounds silly, but I've been walking a lot more to work, and as a result I'm finding money on the ground. It usually not much - a couple of pennies a day, or a dime or a quarter, but its added up over time. I've made maybe $10 from finding cash on the ground. Another smaller cash source is bottles and cans. When I'm on the way to work, and I see a can, I'll throw it in my lunchbag. Then when I have enough I take them to the grocery store and get the deposit money.
3. Cash back and passive income apps. The three that contributed were a cash back gas app called Getupside, and data collection app called SurveySavvy and a "sell your unused bandwidth app" called EarnApp. (non-referral links). These aren't game changers, but they're low effort and pay, so I was able to add the cash they generated to the pile.
4. Salary. About 71% of the total was salary from my day job. Whenever I had a surplus I would add it to savings.
5. Tax credit. About 51 bucks of the total came from Uncle Sam in the form of a tax credit.
Here are the actual transactions:
Behavior Hacking
I also hacked my own behavior to make the savings happen.
How it worked was I set up a checking account with a bank on my way to work. Then I hooked up my Paypal account with the bank so I could divert the smaller amount of money from the apps to the account. If I had to make a larger transfer I would write myself a paper check and walk it to the branch. This built in the added incentive of walking more and I didn't have to go out of my way - so there were no excuses or hassles in physically getting to the bank.
I also set the goal and wrote down the target number and the date I wanted it done by - then posted in above my workspace at home. I spend most of my waking hours in front of my computer, so I looked at the goal about five or ten times a day.
Now, $1,000 isn't a lot of money for some people. But if you have no savings or have historically had trouble saving, it's entirely doable. You just have to put the pieces together and make it happen.
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