7 Daily Habits That Can Help You Save $10,000 Every Year

Times are tough, so saving money might seem like a fantasy to most of us, but it’s not as hard as it looks. There are ways that you can save some serious cash every month without living on boiled eggs and Jell-O. If you’re constantly wondering where your hard cash is going, you may have to take a look at your daily spending habits that are keeping you from saving hundreds, even thousands of dollars a year. You just need to get a little creative, start seizing opportunities, and adapt these 7 strategies that will help you save up to $10,000 every year.

Get a Side Hustle

Between paying rent, car payments, and your credit card debt, saving just doesn’t seem to be in the cards, but you can change that. You can rent your room out, or your entire home on Airbnb, and earn a couple of extra bucks a month. You can also rent your home to film crews in your area for thousands of bucks a day, or get a part-time job and work nights and weekends. Upwork, Freelancer, Guru, and People Per Hour are great platforms to start looking for a myriad of side gigs and freelance jobs you can do from home, once your shift is over. These global freelancing platforms are a bit of a hassle to figure out in the beginning, but if you’re persistent, and learn to ignore the low-ballers and low-paying clients, you can easily find high paying gigs.

Seasonal Spending Is Your New Best Friend

People want to make their homes stand out on Halloween or during Christmas, but they just don’t have the time. That’s where you come in. You can easily earn thousands of dollars offering your interior and exterior decorating services. Just make sure you hit up the more expensive neighborhoods, where people have extra money to throw on luxuries such as festive decorations. You can also make expensive-looking holiday crafts online and sell them on Etsy, or create some awesome cosplay costumes for Halloween to sell in your hometown. You’ll rake in the dough on the last one, as most costume stores have really low quality costumes.

Stick To The Bare Essentials

Contrary to popular belief, Netflix, Smartphones, Wi-Fi, and cable are commodities, not necessities. So consider going cold turkey on at least some, if not all of these things. While you’re at it, prepare to say goodbye to your high end shopping habits, which includes eating at fancy restaurants, or ordering takeout 3 to 4 times a week. If you’re used to buying a bottle of Coke every day, at approximately $2,35 a pop, you’d be saving $857,75 each year if you switch to water.

Dollars And Percentages, What’s The Difference?

Cutting out coupons from the Sunday newspaper won’t help you to attain your 10k goal, and neither will taking advantage of those 50% off sales at your favorite clothing store. Percentage savings doesn’t equal the dollar value. So, consider focusing on moving to a more affordable apartment that costs 1/3 of your salary or less, or buying a cheaper car that’s not a gas guzzler. It’s little things like this that will help you save up a ton of your hard-earned cash.

Get A Roommate

You could wind up saving around 19% of your income, particularly in places like New York or California where the cost of living is high, if you share your space with another person. That doesn’t just include splitting the rent, but also the utilities, and maybe even the groceries if you move in with a friend or a relative. Rent costs an average of $900 every month, which could be slashed to $400 if you share an apartment with someone else, immediately allowing you to save $5400 per year. See how things start to add up?

The Pros Of DIY

You can go to the store and buy an expensive cake, hire someone to paint the interior of your home, repair your pipes, or mow your lawn and trim your plants. But have you ever considered how much money you’d save if you actually figured out how to do these things yourself? Not only do you learn how to be more self-reliant and efficient, but you end up saving money.

Save, Don’t Splurge

Say you made it to the halfway mark. You’ve saved $5,000. You might be tempted to spend it on a fancy vacation, or to put a down payment on a brand-new car, but then you’ll be going in reverse. Increase spending doesn’t equal saving. You’ve made a financial goal, so you have to try to stick with it, and while you’re at it, adopt a minimalist attitude. Sell all that extra stuff that you know is worth money, but is just sitting there and once you make some extra cash, put it in your savings account, and just forget that it’s even there for the next 12 months. It’s the ultimate step towards achieving financial freedom!