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The hack with any money-saving hope is to turn it from a dream to a goal. How to save $7000 in 7 months in 7 steps started with a specific amount and why I was going through the hassle of saying no to shiny objects only a click away on Amazon.
This year’s annual goal is to save $15,000. Saving 7K is one piece of that overarching goal. Technically, saving 7K in 7 months means I’m already behind on the 15K goal. I should have $8750 by month 7, so I’m behind even though I feel closer to it than not trying at all.
This year, my goals are $3,000 for travel, $1,000 for a sinking fund, $5,000 for an emergency account, and $6,000 for a Roth IRA. I’ve saved 4K for the travel and sinking fund. Currently, I’m 3K into the emergency fund.
Now that a goal is set, the next step is where the real work begins behind the how to save $7000 in 7 months in 7 steps.
A budget is a blueprint for progress.
For some, budget is a dirty word. Whereas, I thrive in the budget mud pit!
If I don’t track how much I’m saving and spending, how do I know if I’m close or far from my goal?
We count calories, work hours, and Starbucks rewards, a saving goal gets the same treatment, just without the caffeine kick.
A budget is powerful for tracking goals and peering into spending habits. When I follow the money, it offers insight when I get a little too wayward with my spending. If I bust a budget, I can see where to tighten areas to bolster the important ones.
A budget is like a strict teacher. She has to wrangle all the littles to go from point A to Z and has random pop quizzes along the way. The grade at the end of the year is if the goal was accomplished.
No A’s for effort, only accomplishment.
Demolish debt to supercharge saving.
Debt is the dementor in the personal finances world. It sucks the joy and happiness right out of an unsuspecting human.
The only way to vanquish its soul-sucking ways is to destroy it. However, the method to demolish debt, from avalanche to snowball, discarding debt is the best way to give a raise to personal finances.
Instead of each dollar getting sucked away by interest, it’s boosting power to savings. As a modern girl with modern ways, I’ve had a smattering of debt through car loans and a mortgage.
When I had car loans, I’d pay more than the minimum balance and always paid it off early.
The home loan is getting similar treatment with each payment there’s an extra $50 tacked onto the principal. Though a mortgage is longer than any car loan, it will be paid off early, eventually.
A home is still a home even if I live below my means.
Though I could afford more, I live in a house below my means. I prefer to live in a house cheaper than the bank proffers because I can use the extra money to chip away at the principal.
Plus, if an emergency arises, I don’t live so close to the line that a strong breeze would trash any future financial dreams.
Housing is one of the most expensive items in a budget. Usually, it’s more expensive than food or transportation.
Having cheap housing increases the odds it’ll be paid off early and shave off years of interest.
A cheap ride is the way to thrive.
My car is nine years old. Despite her age, she’s reliable for every mile of her 89,000. I support her best life by following the maintenance schedule, updating tires and lights when worn out, and driving her as a sensible grandma would.
My car has been paid off for the seven years that I’ve had her. Outside of standard vehicle costs, I’ve saved money by keeping a car for a long time.
Staying with the current car instead of upgrading has allowed me to shift a vehicle payment to a financial goal.
Groceries are an easy way to save.
Food is a necessity, but it doesn’t have to be an exorbitant expense. There are many ways to save, and Nerdwallet suggests these faves:
See what you have first, then make a list;
Shop less (I shop once a week);
Stick to the list;
Try generic brands; and
Look at the price per unit.
I recommend:
Using the store’s loyalty program;
Maximizing credit card rewards, if the card is paid off every month;
Shift for sales (instead of buying full-price bananas buying apples on sale);
Keep shopping short, like a dental visit;
Go early when shelves and self-control are at their peak; and
Avoid danger zones (anything with creamy, sugary goodness).
Between the other biggies, housing, and transportation, groceries have way more opportunities to save. Some of that is frequency since buying a house or car is a rare event, compared to buying groceries. Also, food is cheaper than the large looming price of a home or car.
Many little reasons that could turn groceries into a big line item. It can either be a big savings or a big cut to a savings goal.
Whether it’s saving or making, a savings goal demands more.
For many years, I tussled with a low income, where it was easier to save more. I could save more, right now, as the human I was, versus trying to make more.
Ways I saved more was:
Using cash back apps;
Churning credit cards and their little rewards too;
Having a high-interest savings account; and
Avoiding shopping.
As the years waned, and I saved as much as I could, I had to shift to making more. At first, it was using sources outside my job to make more then it become using sources inside my job to make more.
I’ve made more by:
Decluttering and selling stuff;
Participating in paid surveys; and
Accepting overtime.
Having a strong base in saving when I made so little and had to sacrifice so much helped me to stay firm with my savings goals. When I did start making more, I had the resolve to direct that new flush of money towards a goal instead of blowing it all on a short-lived thrill.
Investing in free fun is a super saver skill.
I hear about it every year. An aunt gives a toddler the best, shiniest, most expensive toy for Christmas. The toddler happily tears open the pretty paper (proof of a human’s innate ability to destroy flimsy, shiny things) and gleefully plays with the box instead of the toy.
Humans are capable of having fun without funds. The famous quote, the best things in life are free, seems to resonate with that sentiment. There are times when skydiving, an expensive sushi dinner, or a bat boat ride need to reestablish someone’s YOLO card, but life can be lived remarkably well with little.
Along with not paying to play, it’s saving naturally. If money isn’t being siphoned into someone else’s bottom line, then it’s staying and making friends with interest.
Everyone wants to be friends with interest.
How to Save $7000 in 7 months in 7 steps requires more effort than binge-watching Netflix but less effort than a college degree.
Despite the effort, it’s worth it. Making progress with a savings goal, even if I’m behind with the annual goal, is always worth the effort.
Always.
When I hark back to prior saving goals, I don’t think about all the little gyrations that got me from a zero to a $12,000 hero. Instead, I think of a girl who accomplished a big goal one day at a time.
