When you are paying for rent or mortgage, car payments, groceries, utilities, phone bill, and struggling to pay off bills, it can seem nearly impossible to set aside any money for a rainy day fund.
However, it’s very important that you have cash on hand so that when something breaks down and needs repair – car, air conditioning, heater, etc. – or the roof starts leaking or you’re sick and you’ve used up all of your sick days…it doesn’t cause you to get even further behind.
Little things can make a big difference when saving money. Here are some ways that you can set aside a little cash, that will add up big time:
Dump all of your change into a change jar every day and deposit it at the bank when it gets full.
When you pay off a bill, take the money that you USED to put into that bill every month, and put it into savings.
Get a part time job one day a week for a few months until you have saved up a good sized rainy day stash.
When you get a raise, put the extra money from that raise into your rainy day fund.
The same goes for annual bonuses – put it into your rainy day fund.
Don’t blow your tax refund on luxuries – treat yourself to something inexpensive so you don’t feel deprived – and put the rest into your rain day fund.
Sell off anything in good condition which you don’t use regularly, and put that money into a rainy day fund.
Instead of having a “save what you don’t spend” mentality have a “spend what you don’t save” mentality. Establish the amount that you are going to save every week or every month. Whatever is left over is yours.
Make sure to put your savings in an interest bearing account so the money isn’t just sitting there.