Saving money doesn’t have to be hard or intimidating. With a few simple steps and some discipline, you can be on your way to financial freedom! Discover 3 easy steps to start saving money and create a budget that works for you in this guide.

Step 1: Create a budget with saving money in mind

This is the most essential step in learning how to start saving money. It allows you to know exactly how much money you are spending and where it is going. You will be able to see the areas where you may need to make adjustments in order to save more money.

To create a budget, you’ll need to start with tracking expenses. After tracking your expenses, you’ll know what your necessities are and what you can lower your spending on. After that, you will need to figure out how you would like to budget. I personally like spreadsheets, but a lot of people like to use apps. Either way, being attentive to your method is what’s important. This link will bring you to My Financial Equity’s Budgeting category page. Or, if you would prefer to check out our free budget spreadsheet templates first, you can go to my Resources page.

Step 2: Automate monthly transfers into a savings account

After you create a budget, you can set up an automated transfer from your checking account into a savings account every month. Make sure that the amount transferred is not painful on your budget, even saving $5 a week will grow over time to be much more.

There is a saying about saving money, it’s called “paying yourself first”. When you pay yourself first, you are more likely to attain your goals and less likely to find yourself in financial trouble. If a portion of each paycheck goes directly into savings, you’re less likely to spend it and will have a much easier time building your savings. Even just depositing $10-20 every week will add up over time!

Step 3: Generate multiple sources of income

If you find yourself short on money after you create a budget, you could consider looking for ways to bring in extra income such as freelance work, side hustles, or online surveys that can help supplement your day job salary and further increase the amount of money being saved each month!

If you are interested in side hustles or freelancing, you could check out this website on how to start freelancing (even when working full-time). There are also various websites where you can sell your online services as a freelancer. These include Fiverr, Upwork, and others included in this link on the 22 best freelance websites to find jobs. Unfortunately, it is very common in this day and age for people to need another source of income. There is nothing wrong with it, and it can even help to freelance using a skill you enjoy. That way, you have extra income and you are doing something that is fulfilling!