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If you’re like most people, then you probably have trouble saving money.

Like the rest of the world, you get up every morning, punch your alarm clock (that’s my specialty!), and head to work with the sole mission of paying your bills at the end of the month.

But if you have enough motivation to cut back on your spending habits, you might be able to build a financial nest egg for your future.

In fact, even with an average yearly salary, you can easily save between $5,000 and $10,000 a year.

You just need to make a few life changes along the way.

In this article, you’ll read 10 steps to help to save between $5,000 and $10,000.

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Shall we get started?

Option 1 – Set a $10,000 Goal

Setting the annual goal of saving $10,000 isn’t as farfetched as it seems.

If we do the math quickly, this would mean that you’d have to set aside approximately $209 every week. At first glance, this sounds like a lot, but hear me out.

Those who get paid bi-weekly will need to set aside twice as much every two weeks, or they could just save $834 every month for the next 12 months until the target goal is met.

While there are plenty of tricks, side hustles, and ways to get that money, you might not be able to save as much. If that’s the case, set a lower goal.

Related article: How To Set Your Goals To Relaunch Your Blog – 7 Question To Ask Yourself

Option 2 – Try Setting up a $5,000 Goal

If saving $10,000 a year is unrealistic due to your current financial situation, then a $5,000 annual saving goal might be more feasible.

Let’s do the quick math on this one before getting into the way you can save that amount in a year:

An employee would need to set aside $105 a week, or about $210 for those who get paid biweekly. All in all, you’d need to save approximately $417 a month for 12 months.

It’s time to start looking for unnecessary expenditures in your budget, like that family gym membership no one is using, or your daily eating habits. But there’s more than just cutting back on takeout or giving up your gym membership.

Related article: 9 Reasons Why You Can’t Save Money Every Month

Get in the Right Frame of Mind

It’s easier to save $5,000 to $10,000 a year when there’s an epic reward 12 months down the line. That reward might come in the form of a down payment for a television, a new car, or an incredible trip to Europe.

It’s important to have something that motivates you to make some sacrifices for a whole year to make it worth not eating at McDonald’s every week.

While motivation is important for saving money, determination and consistency is key to success.

On that note, let’s explore how tightening your food budget can help you save more money than you probably imagine.

Cut Back on Eating Out and Ordering Takeout

Eating at restaurants and ordering takeout food can get very expensive if you’re not tracking your monthly habits.

Believe it or not, all those burgers and Starbucks orders really add up.

I get it. Who doesn’t love ordering pizza after a long day’s work? But there are other convenient ways to have a ready-made meal during the week without having to rely on UberEats, Deliveroo, or Postmates.

The easiest adjustment you can make right now is to start buying frozen dinners at the store, particularly when they’re on sale. They’re super easy to cook. All you have to do is put them in the oven or in the microwave and voila!

Meal prepping on the weekend could save you even more cash. Spend a couple of hours planning your weekly meals on a Sunday. Freeze them, and you’ll be able to stretch those dollars even more!

If you feel like you struggle to create a menu, you can go for the $5 Meal Plan. The $5 Meal Plan is a weekly meal plan service that can make your meal planning as simple as possible. For just $5 a month, they will send you a delicious meal plan where every meal will cost about $2 per person, and in most cases less. This will save you money, time, and stress.

You can try the 14-Day trial of the $5 meal plan here.

Here’s how much you can save by tightening your food budget.

Let’s crunch some numbers!

• Let’s say you love indulging in a Quarter Pounder meal at McDonald’s every week. At approximately $7.00 per combo, you’ll be spending $28.00 per month and a whopping $336 per year (for only one person, crazy right?)
• If you’re like most households, then you probably order takeout twice a week. If you order a large pizza at Domino’s and some Chinese food on Uber Eats, you’ll probably be spending somewhere around $50 every week. That’s $200 a month, and $2,400 a year.
• Meanwhile, a frozen meal at the supermarket can easily go for about $4.00. If you replace those two weekly takeout orders with 2 frozen meals, you’ll be spending approximately $384 per year instead of $2,400 on takeout. Deduct that from the $2,400 and you could realistically save $2,016 a year just by changing one single habit.

A person can save up around $2,016/year on average cutting down eating out and take outs. 

As you can see, there is a lot of room to save from food.

Related article: 43 Hacks To Save Money On Groceries

Don’t Buy Bottled Water

Drinking tap water is okay in most cities, and most importantly, it’s free, (except for the water bill, of course!)

Most people are afraid that tap water may contain toxins so they resort to buying bottled water. If that’s the case, then get a water filter for your water nozzle.

This alternative is a lot cheaper than spending money on bottled water which is detrimental to a budget.

A pack of 24 bottles of purified drinking water would last a person a week. They usually retail for $4 per pack. That’s $192 per year. It doesn’t sound like a lot, but eventually, it all adds up.

Related article: 5 Smart Home Gadgets That Will Save You $2,117.50 Every Year

Limit Your Streaming Subscriptions

Pretty much everyone has a streaming service subscription like Spotify, HBO, Disney+, or Netflix.

Some people even have multiple streaming subscriptions. But nip it right in the bud and consider cancelling all your subscriptions for a year.

You can get a family member or a buddy to let you use their streaming service without spending a dime or just watch YouTube and use free streaming services from now on.

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Get a Part Time Job

When a regular salary just doesn’t cut it, then the only other way to save money is to get a part-time job.

There are plenty of things you can do to make extra cash.

Make money bartending

Bartending is a great way to make some money on the weekends.

You can also work at a department store, deliver food on Uber Eats, or sign up for a temp agency.

Freelancing online

However, if landing a part-time gig isn’t possible, you can try freelancing.

There are lots of people who make money doing content writing work, data entry, voice-over recording, editing, or transcribing documents.

Some of the most well-known online platforms like Fiverr, Freelancer, and Upwork – this last one if my favorite as I used to get some extra money building websites for businesses.

Teach English to Chinese Kids

If you’re a native English speaker and you have a BA, you can teach English to Chinese kids on platforms like SayABC, QKids, and VipKid for $15 to $22 per hour.

If you work 10 hours a week as an online tutor at $22 an hour, then you’ll be bringing in an extra $7,200 a year.

If you work 10 hours a week at $15 per hour, then you’d be making an impressive $10,560 a year.

Start Your Own Money-Making Blog

Did you know you can make money blogging?

Of course, you can, you can do it as a part-time too – that’s actually what I do.

This blog is making us enough money to cover for most of our household bills (including mortgage) meaning that we can save more every month.

If you are interested in starting your own blog, you can enroll in my free email course below.

Get a Roommate or Rent a Spare Room

The easiest way to automatically cut down your bills in half is to get a roommate.

Let’s say rent is approximately $1,200 per month. That’s $14,400 a year. If you move in with a roommate and split the rent, you would be saving $7,200 a year.

But let’s say you already have a roommate. Then consider finishing your current lease and getting a third roommate.

If a 3 bedroom apartment is about $1700 per month, you would all be spending $20,400 a year together. But your share would only be $6,800. A far cry from the $14,400 you were spending per year by living alone. That means that by getting a third roommate, you would’ve saved $7,600 per year.

If you have a spare bedroom, consider renting it out on Airbnb. But if you plan on going on vacation for a few weeks, or you can afford to crash at a family member’s couch, then you can easily make around $50 per day on the platform by renting your entire apartment.

So, let’s say you rent your apartment for $50 a day, only 20 days of the year. That’s $1,000 of extra income (minus the platform’s fee!)

Related article: How To Make Passive Income With Airbnb

Cut Down on Bills

Sometimes the best way to save some extra cash every month is to look over your monthly expenses and weed out any services that aren’t necessary.

Negotiating with cellphone service providers for a more affordable monthly plan is not out of the questions either.

Another option would be negotiating your can insurance, you will be able to save hundreds by adjusting your mileage.

Many people are paying for extra services like an insurance for their phones when they don’t really need to. They might also be paying too much insurance coverage on a car they don’t use enough, instead of paying for the minimal personal injury protection insurance.

And if you can afford to get rid of your car and switch to riding a bicycle, you could potentially save thousands and improve your overall health all at once.

One of the best ways to cure down on bills is to create your own budget. By doing so, you’ll be able to see how much you should actually be spending on bills.

Be Resourceful

Look for things you can sell to make extra cash when you have free time.

Organize your closet and downsize to the bare minimum. No one needs 20 different pairs of jeans, right?

If you’re not using your rollerblades anymore, sell them on Amazon.

Turn all that junk into an online side hustle and use Facebook’s Marketplace or try Etsy, Poshmark, Ebay, and Amazon to get rid of stuff that’s been sitting around your home for years.

I do hope you found useful ways to help you save more money in the next 12 months.

Remember, it’s a game of numbers, every little adds up!

What is your next saving goal? Do you plan to save $5,000 or maybe go for $10,000? If you already started, how far are you from your goal?