Is Saving Your First $500 Fast Realistic in Today's Economy? Finding Realistic Strategies Toward Saving

I read a book by Dave Ramsey where he talks about saving your first $500 or $1K as fast as possible before starting your journey toward getting out of debt. This is often discussed on his podcast as well. One way he recommends doing this is by picking up extra jobs for more income. Now, I am a huge Dave Ramsey fan and I admire the idea of having at least $1K in savings while paying off debt, however, upon conducting further research, I found that many people in today's economy are already working multiple jobs just to pay expenses and make ends meet. So then, how else can we realistically save this kind of money without working more being our only option?

Through my research, I found that some people may not have been able to pick up more jobs, but these same people also found that their spending habits could’ve still changed. While most don't like to admit it, even when there is a tight budget people will still find a way to spoil themselves and have what they desire. It's not that it's bad to spoil yourself but learning when and how to put a limit on how much spoiling is being done.

How do we keep money on a tight budget and in a growing economy?

Try to watch spending in these areas:

Sugary snacks - Those who worked multiple jobs and were on tight budgets found that they were still often squeezing money out for sugary snacks. I am guilty of this as well. Recently I realized that I've been spending between $4 and $8 at least 5 days a week on sugary snacks from the gas station (and I wasn't always going for the gas). If I were to limit my spending on snacks to $3 a day that would still leave me with a few satisfying items and leave me a savings of nearly $40 a month. Evaluating the type of things we spend money on can help us make small yet impactful changes. Do you have a sugary snack problem?

Cancel the subscription - While many may take this one lightly, many have found that this has been a huge pocket breaker. This was also a huge issue for me; I found that I have been paying more than $200 a month in subscriptions, and these subs were never accounted for in my budget, so when it was time to pay a bill and a subscription came through, oh boy, it messed me up big time! We often see this part as small but if you add up your subscriptions, you may find it to be a part of the problem.

Cut out the coffee - Coffee is one of those things that most tend to think they need. Even with inflation, people are still getting their coffee no matter what! But I think it may be worth temporarily cutting to save your first $500 to $1K. You don't need to go cold turkey but minimizing the amount you consume within a month can help you put money back in your pocket. I used to spend at least $5 a day on Starbucks even on a tight budget. So again, we squeeze out what we want for pleasurable moments. We must create the discipline and strategy for squeezing out small amounts each month to save for our future.

Examine the Budget

Examine your spending and see if you have truly been sticking to the budget or if you have been adding unknown costs to the list. This can help you to move forward. Small spendings here and there do add up! Not being able to enjoy your funds I would say is probably not the most realistic and humanistic, but it may be worth the cut for a short period of time until you have met your savings goal.

Question? Do you find yourself spending on things that are not in your budget? How has it affected your budget? How do you think you can change any habits? Let's chat in the comments.

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Discipline is key

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