This article may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure for more information.

There’s a range of reasons why you may need to work out how to save money quickly. And if you really need to find out how to save $1,000 a month, doing it this fast may seem impossible. Luckily, it’s absolutely not!

Perhaps you’ve just been hit with an unexpected expense. Maybe you’ve suddenly realized that you should pay off your debt as soon as possible or that you want to start investing to set up your financial future.

You could be planning a vacation in a few months or you’ve finally decided that you really, truly need to have an emergency fund (great decision!).

Whatever your reason, it’s surprisingly simple once you see how to save $1,000 in 30 days. With a few minor tweaks in your day to day life, you’ll easily be able to see how to save money quickly and be on your way to reaching your financial goals.

a couple deciding to save $1000 a month

How to save $1,000 a month

Saving $1,000 in a month sounds like a massive hurdle, especially if you’re living paycheck to paycheck now and are finding yourself unable to save anything at all.

Fortunately, if the scenario above sounds like you, you may be surprised to hear that it’s actually completely doable. After all, it’s equivalent to saving only $33 per day.

When it’s broken down like that, it suddenly sounds way easier, right? This is why, with only a tiny bit of self-discipline, you’ll be well on your way to making one of the best financial decisions you’ll make this year.

1. Work out just where your money is going

The first step in figuring out how to save $1,000 in a month is to see what your current expenses are.

Most people are surprised by just how much they’re spending in their day to day lives. Without even realizing it, many will find themselves with no money at the end of their pay cycle, with no real idea just where all that money has gone.

And when figuring out how to save money quickly, not knowing where your money is going is a real killer. So the first thing you need to do is figure out just where it’s going.

FYI: Personal Capital is a great, FREE tool for doing this. You can connect all of your bank accounts and cards to it and it will show you your exact financial picture.

This is absolutely one of my favorite tools helping to see just where you are financially and, importantly, the areas where you can improve.

By clearly showing you where your money’s going in and where it’s going out, you’ll easily be able to see where you may be over-spending – perhaps without even realizing it – allowing you to focus your budget-trimming efforts on that area.

Sign-up for free to see how to get started.

2. Save on your groceries

If you’re looking for how to save $1,000 in a month, I’m sure that you’ve already trimmed your grocery bill down as much as possible. After all, food costs are one of the top three expenses in most household budgets meaning it offers a lot of bang for your buck if you can make cuts here.

And one great way to save money on your groceries is to use an app that gives you cash back simply for buying groceries and other things that you’d probably be buying anyway?

My absolute favorite for doing this is Ibotta. It’s a super easy way to save money with zero effort.

It does this by giving you cash back on all your purchases at literally tens of thousands of online stores through gift cards for places like Starbucks, Walmart, Amazon and even PayPal – which is essentially like getting cash.

Better yet, if you sign up with Ibotta for free through this link (which takes about 10 seconds – although don’t forget to verify your email address!), you’ll get a free $10 welcome bonus!

Ibotta app cash back example from shopping

Ibotta

Free sign-up bonus: $20

Ibotta’s a completely free app that gives you cash back on what you’re buying already – groceries, medicine, clothes and more.

In fact, users make $150 per year on average – not including your free $20 welcome bonus – with over $682 million having been paid out, so you know Ibotta is definitely legit.

3. Pay yourself first

This is a basic but important habit to get into. That is, you should always pay yourself first by moving money to your savings account (or to paying off your debt or to an investment account) when you’re paid at the start of the month. It’s a great trick to help you avoid the temptation to spend money on unnecessary items that often come up when we are paid.

It also ensures that you’re remembering to meet your financial goal each month while you still have money in your account, rather than waiting until the end of the month when there may not be enough.

a couple counting money and save $1000 a month

In order to pay yourself first, it’s a good idea to set up your direct deposit so that part of your paycheck goes directly into the relevant account instead of staying in your checking account. That way, you’ll know it’s done each month without you having to do anything.

Of course, when aiming to save $1,000 a month, you don’t have to immediately start by transferring $1,000 out of your account each month. Instead, try starting at $500 then building up to the final goal each month as you adjust your financial habits. That way, it will be much more sustainable.

Not sure where to put that money? A great starting point is to open a high-interest saving account. I always recommend one that’s fee-free, like CIT Bank’s high-interest account, to make sure your money is working as hard for you as possible all the time.

4. Bring your lunch to work

A survey found that 66% of American workers buy their lunch instead of bringing it to work, spending an average of $37 per week.

This is equivalent to just over $7 per day. That’s clearly a significant portion of your daily $33 saving goal.

So spending a tiny bit of effort to get your lunch ready in the morning is definitely worth it, especially when you’re trying to figure out how to save money quickly.

Certainly more worthwhile than spending almost $2,000 just on lunch!

Related: 65 Incredible Frugal Meal Ideas to Eat on a Budget

5. Cut back on your coffees

Let’s be clear: I’m not a big fan of the theory that if you stop buying coffees, you’ll be able to buy a house. But it’s true that saving $5 a day (at least!) by not making a regular morning trip to Starbucks can save you a lot of money.

In fact, given there are 261 working days this year, not buying a coffee every day of the work week can save you $1,305.

And it can certainly go a long way to reaching your goal to save $1,000 a month, especially given that it’s a relatively big portion of that $33 a day figure.

a woman drinking her coffee at home instead of ordering to save $1000 a month

Of course, the occasional coffee won’t hurt. But maybe save it for once a week when you meet your friends for a catch-up on Saturday.

There are cheapest ways to live frugally for your daily needs such as, switching to the office machine or making it at home. Your wallet will thank you.

6. Cut your subscriptions (using a free robot!)

Do you ever get the sneaking suspicion that you’re paying too much for your internet or cable or that perhaps your car insurance is overpriced?

If so, you may want to look into Trim. It’s an amazing app which looks at your recurring subscriptions and finds out just how you can cut back on spending.

Even better, it can renegotiate your internet and cable bills, find you better car insurance and more – all automatically.

Better yet, it’s totally free to try with the only cost being that they will take a percentage fee from any money that they save you.

To see just how much money you can save on your bills (automatically!), grab a free 14-day trial of Trim here.

7. Think about what each item really costs you

It’s obvious that you need to factor the cost of any purchase into your budget. But when we think about the true cost of something, we need to take into account more than just the sticker price.

For example, let’s say you buy something worth $500 and put it on your credit card at an 18% APR rate. That means it will take you more than two years to pay off your debt if you make only the minimum payment each month (and that doesn’t even include interest).

How much money do you think this costs you? Well, if we calculate how much interest you’re paying on your debt each year ($36), and then divide that by your monthly minimum payment ($25) for two years, that $500 item is actually costing you $600. We can also see that it would take three months of payments just to cover the interest on your credit card debt alone.

So when trying to save $1,000 a month, it’s important to think about the actual cost and whether it’s really, truly worth it – or whether you can go without that item to work hard towards that $1,000 monthly savings goal.

You may also be interested in: Why Living Stingy Could Be The Key To Achieving All Your Financial Goals

8. Don’t be tempted to buy something just because it is on sale

Don’t be tempted to buy something just because it is on sale. You should first determine if it is a good enough deal for you or not.

A lot of times, we think that the best way to save money is by buying things that are on sale. The truth is, you should only buy something if it will be worth the price to you in the long run.

In particular, buying an item on sale is a great way to save money, but you should only buy it if you need it. Sometimes buying something on sale can be a waste of money if you’re not using the product. You should always carefully consider what you need before making any purchase.

Related: How to Live Cheap: 54 Frugal Living Tips to Save You Money

9. Cancel your gym membership

Now, this may not apply if you really, truly go to the gym frequently and use many of the facilities you’re paying for. But when you’re trying to save $1,000 a month, it’s definitely worth the effort to double check this point.

After all, just take a look at the following figures:

  • The average monthly cost of a gym membership is $58, equating to $696 per year.
  • The average amount of each gym membership that goes to waste due to underutilisation is $39 per month or $468 annually.
  • The percentage of people with gym memberships that never use them is 67%.

If you’re spending the average of $39 per month on your gym membership and not going, that’s a good portion of your $120 of your “how to save $1,000 in 30 days” journey that’s going begging.

Especially when there are so many ways to get fit for free. YouTube is full of workout videos, there are free apps with routines everywhere and the internet is full of experts sharing their knowledge at no cost. Start doing some research to see what’s possible for you.

a man go out jogging everyday instead of going to the gym to save $1000 a month

10. Save your fives

Money saving challenges can be great for helping you to see how to save money quickly. And in the case of this one, it works best if you tend to pay for things with cash rather than card.

It’s simple: every time you get a $5 note, such as when you’re given change, you save it. Keep it in a jar or in a box at the back of your cupboard – it doesn’t matter. Just don’t spend it. You can also do the 100 envelope challenge.

This person managed to save $2,285 using this trick and this blogger claims to have saved nearly $40,000 over 13 years.

While you won’t get anywhere near those amounts in one month, this is a super simple way to be just under your daily quota whenever you spend any cash.

You may also be interested in: 10 Steps to Save $10k in 100 Days With the Envelope Challenge

11. Get a better deal on your cell phone subscription

Are you one of the almost half of all cell phone users in the US who spend $100 per month or more on their phones? Or maybe you’re part of the 13% of cell phone users who pay at least $200 per month (source).

That’s between $1,200 to $2,400 per year on your phone.

a man looking at his cellphone plan and thinking how to save $1000 a month

It’s all well and good to cut coupons to save $0.20 on washing detergent or to buy a generic brand of milk to save $0.40 per liter when trying to see how to save $1,000 a month.

But the real way to truly see how to save money quickly is to look at your major expenses and see how they can be massively reduced, if not eliminated.

One of the main issues with cell phones is that most of us are paying for way more than we actually use. And that’s why, when trying to save $1,000 in 30 days, it’s a good idea to take a proper look at your cell phone usage and see what else is out there that better suits your needs (and your budget).

12. Negotiate insurance and banking fees

Negotiating your recurring insurance and banking fees is a great way to save money.

After all, they much prefer to keep existing customers, many of whom simply can’t be bothered switching or forget to do so each renewal period

This is why you might be surprised at how much money you can save by negotiating with these companies, with the (polite!) threat of leaving them, rather than simply renewing with your existing provider.  

To do this, set a reminder in your calendar about two months before your renewal date and start doing your research. When you find a better deal, contact your current provider to see if they can match or beat it. If they can’t, it’s time to switch!

Related: 50 Proven Tips to Save Money and Live Better

13. Make more money

All of these tricks are about saving money through making some fairly minor changes to your daily habits.

But, of course, another way to work towards saving $1,000 a month is to increase your earnings by that much rather than saving it from your existing earnings.

(Or, ideally, do both!)

You probably won’t make an extra $1,000 your very first month of your side hustle, but with some time, this can turn into a steady income stream that lets you easily boost your budget by this amount.

Similar Posts