How to Include Savings in Your Budget Without Breaking the Bank

Having some money in savings is so important, but it’s something that a lot of families just don’t have. It’s something that we all know we should do, yet for many families,  having a savings account feels like it’s just out of the reach of their budget. Often, due to circumstances it is, but just as often that isn’t really the case. Building a savings account can actually be pretty budget friendly if you know how to do it correctly. You can make sure to include savings in your budget without breaking the bank!

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Now don’t get me wrong; saving money when you don’t have any extra to spare is work. If you don’t have any extra to spare, it can seem like a mountain too tall to climb. Don’t let it get you down. Use it to motivate yourself so you can get your savings account funded!  Here are some ideas to try:

How To Include Savings In Your Budget

1. To start, always take a good hard look at your budget. When you’re trying to build your savings account up, you’ll want to get rid of any unnecessary expenses. This can include things like cable, magazine subscriptions, books and more. Be sure that you give this the time that it needs because often, our initial reaction on something is “but I need that!” when in truth, we really don’t. Your kids might like that network show, but why pay for that each month when you can rent a DVD from the library for free or pay for Hulu or Netflix (which are most times much less expensive than a cable package)? Building your savings is more important (and these budget cuts don’t have to be forever). My simple budget worksheet will help you see where your money is going.

Go through your list of expenses once and cut the items that jump right off the page at you. Then, a week or so later, go through it again. This gives your brain the time it will need to do its thing and decide whether or not you truly do need to keep something on your budget or if you can let it go. Chances are that if you’re giving it a second thought, you can probably cut it without too much pain.

2. Put all your change at the end of the day in a change jar (I actually found a glass egg on clearance one year after Easter that we use). We’ve been doing this for years! Then once every few months or so you can take your change to a Coinstar machine (most grocery stores have these) if you don’t have time to roll it yourself. It counts your change for a small fee.  Take that money and deposit it in your savings account.

3. Look through all your “stuff” and sell something. Books, clothes, furniture, knick knacks, toys etc. All these things can be sold in a variety of places. You can have a garage sale or sell on local Facebook garage sale groups, consignment stores, Craigslist, Ebay, Amazon and many more places, or just put up a message on your personal Facebook page with items you have to sell. Take this money and deposit it into your savings account.

4. Do a no-spend weekend/week/month and put any extra money in your savings account.

5. Also, check out my post on Creative Ways To Add To Your Savings Account for more ideas!

After you do all these things you will have extra money in your budget! Take the money that you’re saving; whether it’s $10.00 or $150.00 and deposit it into your savings account. You’re now including savings in your budget! This will allow you to build up your savings account and you’re doing it without breaking your budget!

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