Anyone can save $10,000 with discipline, patience, and a plan. If you’re thinking you make too little to achieve this or your expenses are too high, I’m here to tell you those are only excuses. Bad excuses. To get motivated, think of what you could if you had $10,000 right now. You could pay your car note, have an emergency fund, a deposit to buy a home, invest or take that vacation you’ve wanted to take since the start of 2020. If you want to improve your finances, your life and your overall state of being, read this to find out how to save your first $10,000.
Start With A Plan
If you’re going to do this right, you need to have a plan. First define your goals. What do you want to achieve, why do you want to achieve it and within what time frame. Your first goal could be “Save $10000 to buy a car for myself by Christmas 2021”. When developing your goals, you want to focus on what is motivating you to save your first $10000. Do you want to start saving for your child’s tuition, buy your first home or pursue a new skill? Then think how you’ll feel once you achieve this goal. Trust me, it will feel good. You’ll feel validated when you see the fruits of this journey you’re about to embark on. Next, devise tactical activities that you need to do to achieve your stated goals [Personal Finance: Setting Goals]. Here are examples of what I did to achieve my saving goals.
Saving Tactics
Budgeting
If you have read any of my previous blog posts, you’ll see I always promote budgeting. This is the basic building block of your personal finance strategy [How To Create Your Personal Budget]. This tool supports your objective by allowing you to track your progress to achieving your goals. Take the time to think about what budgeting strategy you want to employ then apply it to your own finances. Track your spending using either Microsoft Excel, google sheets, or some other budgeting applications/tools. Once you have an idea of your regular spending, look for pockets of opportunity where you can pull back temporarily on your spending. Remember do not be so restrictive that you become miserable and the quality of your life decreases. Give yourself room to enjoy the things you usually do in moderation. Emphasis on the moderation here.
Side Hustles
A side hustle is a great way to bring in extra income. This can be in the form of a service or product. If you have a passion for photography, start a photography business. If you’re an accountant, offer small businesses bookkeeping services. There has never been a cheaper or easier time than now to start a side hustle. Just remember it does not have to be grand and it will not be easy. Make a plan and work at it.
“You’ll feel validated when you see the fruits of the journey you’re about to embark on.”
Some may disagree but, taking a second job can also be considered a side hustle. Some ideas can be coaching a kid’s league, driving for Uber or delivering with GrubHub. However you choose to go about it you will not regret using some of your free time to increase your income.
Adjust Your Lifestyle To Your Goals
We all know someone who complains that they are broke all the time but spends their money irresponsibly. Don’t be that person! If you want to save your first $10k and the next, you’re going to have to change your mindset and thus change your lifestyle. This does not mean to become a hermit, it means living within your means. Or better yet, living within your budget. You will have to resist impulse spending, stop trying to keep up with the Jones and manage your debt responsibly. You’ll have to start prioritizing how you spend your money and your time. So instead of partying every weekend, party every other weekend. Instead of buying the latest phone, go for last year’s model. Instead of having 10 different subscriptions, narrow that list down to what you actually use that bring value to your life.
Saving your first $10,000 may seem daunting at first. Take comfort in knowing that myself and millions of others who started out with nothing were able to achieve this. It will take time, It will take effort. Once you have achieved this milestone, you’ll see that saving $50,000 or $100,000 is achievable.
One thought on “How To Save Your First $10000”