![\"How](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/how-save-1000-dollars-year-living-paycheck-paycheck-month-1.png\" "\\"How")
Ground Picture | Shutterstock<\/p>\nI know\u2026 I know\u2026 The thought of saving money when you\u2019re living paycheck to paycheck is a joke. Quite frankly, the current state of the economy feels like a joke, as well. Unfortunately, most of us aren’t laughing.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not that working people don\u2019t want to save; it\u2019s just that too many of us are struggling with trying to pay the rent and put gas in the car that by the time the month is over, there\u2019s nothing left to save. Believe it or not, even if you’re living paycheck to paycheck, you can save, and I’ve got the proof. I\u2019m not going to lecture anyone on the importance of saving.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But let me share some tips on how I broke the ‘paycheck to paycheck’ cycle:Month 1:<\/p>\n
Ground Picture | Shutterstock<\/p>\n
Open an online savings account and deposit something, anything. Heck, roll your quarters if you have to. There are a bunch of great online banks,\u00a0but\u00a0one of my favorites is Fidelity\u00a0because there are no monthly fees, and they offer Penny Hoarders a cashback rebate on any ATM fees you encounter.\u00a0Fidelity also offers an interest rate on your balance.<\/p>\n
You can open a savings account at your local bank, but my suggestion is to go with an online bank. You\u2019ll be less likely to withdraw the money.\u00a0And, I know it doesn\u2019t seem worth it to deposit only a few bucks, but getting started is an extremely important first step! Just trust me.<\/p>\n
RELATED: People Who Don\u2019t Do This One Thing With Their Income Live Paycheck To Paycheck No Matter How Much Money They Make<\/a><\/p>\n Month 2:<\/p>\n This month, I want you to save $15 in your new savings account. Again, if you can do more, awesome!<\/p>\n If you need a little help earning an extra $15, I\u2019d check out\u00a0Swagbucks<\/a>\u00a0&\u00a0Ipsos Panel<\/a>.\u00a0They are the two best survey sites, and if you sign up for both, you should easily make an extra $15-$30\/month (most surveys pay between $3-$4 each for 20 minutes of your time). Heck, sometimes I fill them out while I\u2019m watching Netflix.<\/p>\n Another great way to earn $15 is with\u00a0Smart Panel<\/a>. If you\u00a0install their free app on your smartphone, they\u2019ll pay you $15 after only two weeks of it being installed. And they\u2019ll continue to pay you $5\/month. There are also a ton of different ways to make extra money on this site, so start poking around the\u00a0archives.\u00a0Remember, you just need $15 this month.<\/p>\n Month 3:<\/p>\n Our goal is to work up to saving $100\/month in the savings account. I know that seems lofty, but I\u2019m going to help you earn that extra $100\/month. For this month, I just want you to try and put away $30 in the account.<\/p>\n One of my favorite ways to make a quick $30 is with\u00a0InboxDollars<\/a>.\u00a0There are a number of websites that will pay you to read advertisers\u2019 emails, sign up for offers, and take surveys. I\u2019ve tried about a million of them, but there are only a few that I would recommend.\u00a0Inbox Dollars\u00a0is one of those companies.<\/p>\n It\u2019s free to join Inbox Dollars, and best of all, they give you $5 just for signing up. Inbox Dollars just requires that you accumulate $30 in earnings before you can \u201ccash out,\u201d and they pay you by sending a check. Some sample offers include one that asks you to sign up for an email newsletter from AMF Bowling. That pays 50 cents and takes about 15 seconds. Another offer asks you to sign up for a free account at Turbotax.com to earn $3.50. These are simple, and there are nearly a hundred of them to choose from.\u00a0<\/p>\n Need a different idea? Another great way to earn $30 is with\u00a0Bing Rewards<\/a>. They will actually pay you to use their search engine on both your phone and computer. It\u2019s not a ton of money, but think about how many times a day you search for something. Those pennies can start to add up pretty quickly\u2026<\/p>\n Congrats, you\u2019ve saved your first $50. That\u2019s something to be proud of!<\/p>\n RELATED: Money Coach Shares How She Went From $70k In Debt To A Net Worth Of $200K In 5 Years Even Though She Was Living Paycheck To Paycheck<\/a><\/p>\n Month 4:<\/p>\n Alright, this month it\u2019s time to try and put away $100. Daunting, I know. But I\u2019ve got a few ideas that might help\u2026<\/p>\n Try selling some of your old stuff online. For books, use a site like\u00a0Bookscouter.com<\/a>,\u00a0and they\u2019ll compare 30+ different buyback sites and tell you which one is willing to pay the most for your books.Have you tried opening a bank account that offers a signup bonus?\u00a0Chase will give you a $250 bonus\u00a0when you open a checking and savings account.You can try our list of\u00a016 Companies giving away $1,810.25<\/a>. These companies want you to try them out, and they\u2019ll pay you to do so. Some of them are easier than others, but just check them out.Or how about\u00a0mystery shopping? Before I became a blogger, I was a full-time, professional mystery shopper. And I got pretty good at it \u2014 earning around $5,000\/month. Here\u2019s a\u00a0list of the companies<\/a>\u00a0that I worked for\u2026(none of them will charge you money to sign up. And if a mystery shopping company ever tries to charge you, it\u2019s a scam. Stay away from those.)<\/p>\n I know a lot of people are already working two jobs, but mystery shopping can be a way of earning money and relaxing with your friends\/family at the same time. My favorite is the restaurant mystery shops \u2014 you get a free meal and you get paid!<\/p>\n Months 5 \u2013 12:<\/p>\n Continue saving $100\/month for the entire year. We want your year-end account balance to be $950.<\/p>\n Year 2:<\/p>\n It\u2019s important to continue saving at least $100 each month. Use your regular paycheck for living expenses and save any extra money you make from the ideas on this website. Once you\u2019ve reached year 2, you\u2019ve saved nearly $1,000. At this point, my suggestion would be to open an IRA.\u00a0Lending Club\u00a0happens to be my favorite (because I\u2019m earning 14 % per year), but anywhere will do.<\/p>\n Just one more piece of motivating advice. If you can continue to save $100\/month for the next 20 years (at 14% interest), you\u2019ll end up with $106,022! Can you imagine? More than $100,000 in a bank account!\u00a0<\/p>\n You can do this.\u00a0End the cycle today.<\/p>\n![\"How](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/how-save-1000-dollars-year-living-paycheck-paycheck-month-4.png\" "\\"How")
Tom Saga | Shutterstock<\/p>\n