How to Save $500 in 3 Months — How Do You C.U. (2024)

Jun 15

How to Save $500 in 3 Months

Saving $500 dollars can be challenging. In college, I always had 3 jobs at any given time and still found myself getting “Below $100” alerts for my checking account with no cushion. When someone asked me if I had a savings account, I wistfully recalled the last $90 I had saved in it when I was 19 and quickly spent it on college expenses. I had no idea where all my money was going.

Five years later and I’m finding myself with a comfortable savings account with my credit union and I couldn’t be happier to have a fund for emergency situations. I know those funds will also grow and turn into a down payment for my first home.

If your financial struggle is anything like mine, here’s what you can do to jump start saving $500 in 3 months.

1. Open a savings account. My entire deposits went straight into my checking account. Big mistake. As it turned out, I had terrible financial discipline.

What I did: Put $5 in a savings account with my credit union. You have to start somewhere! It enabled me to feel like I could keep saving.

What you can do: Open a savings account today!

2. Create a budget plan. Line up all of your monthly expenses, including the average cost spent on gas and groceries.

How to Save $500 in 3 Months — How Do You C.U. (1)


What I did: Took advantage of my credit union’s budgeting tools and found $200 a month--$100 per paycheck—that I could comfortably save.

What you can do: Get on the budgeting track and start your own system for smart spending.

3. Get rid of one frivolous expense. It’s fun to have the latest technology and monthly subscription treats (hello, Ipsy), but what can you live without?

What I did: Looked at all of my monthly subscriptions and tried the “30-Day Challenge”. If I could live without it for 30 days, I found it wasn’t that important to keep spending money on it. Because of this challenge, I eliminated cable and saved $50 a month.

What you can do: Talk to your s/o, kids, or roommate about what you consider a “guilty pleasure” and see if you can complete the 30-Day Challenge.

4. Set a savings goal. After you save $500, how will you use it? Get together and make a plan for the money you worked hard to save.

What I did: Saving money felt so great that our family kept going and doubled it. We averaged the cost for most large vehicle repairs ($800-$1,000) and decided to dedicate the savings for vehicle emergencies.

How to Save $500 in 3 Months — How Do You C.U. (2)

What you can do: Split up your savings goals! Talk about how you want to use your savings. Consider investments, like CDs or Holiday Savings accounts, or plan a trip in one year to use with a small portion of what you’ve saved.

How can you save $500 in three months? Share your saving tips in the comments below!

How to Save $500 in 3 Months  — How Do You C.U. (2024)

FAQs

How to Save $500 in 3 Months — How Do You C.U.? ›

Emergency savings goals

Rule of thumb? Aim to have three to six months' worth of expenses set aside. To figure out how much you should have saved for emergencies, simply multiply the amount of money you spend each month on expenses by either three or six months to get your target goal amount.

How much money should I have saved in 3 months? ›

Emergency savings goals

Rule of thumb? Aim to have three to six months' worth of expenses set aside. To figure out how much you should have saved for emergencies, simply multiply the amount of money you spend each month on expenses by either three or six months to get your target goal amount.

Is $500 a month enough saving? ›

The short answer to what happens if you invest $500 a month is that you'll almost certainly build wealth over time. In fact, if you keep investing that $500 every month for 40 years, you could become a millionaire. More than a millionaire, in fact.

How can I save $1000 in 3 months? ›

If you wanted to save $1,000 in three months, for example, you'd need to save roughly $84 per week. That timeline can also provide you an opportunity to invest in a high-yielding time deposit account.

What is a realistic amount to save per month? ›

At least 20% of your income should go towards savings. Meanwhile, another 50% (maximum) should go toward necessities, while 30% goes toward discretionary items. This is called the 50/30/20 rule of thumb, and it provides a quick and easy way for you to budget your money.

What is the 50/30/20 rule? ›

The rule is to split your after-tax income into three categories of spending: 50% on needs, 30% on wants, and 20% on savings. 1. This intuitive and straightforward rule can help you draw up a reasonable budget that you can stick to over time in order to meet your financial goals.

Is saving $50 a week good? ›

If you invest $50 per week, that's the equivalent of $200 per month, or approximately $2,400 per year. Over a 30-year period, that would result in more than $72,000 in savings. It's a good chunk of savings, but it isn't a life-changing amount.

How to save $5000 in 3 months challenge? ›

You can save over $5,000 in just over three months with the 100 envelope challenge. It works like this: Gather 100 envelopes and number them from 1 to 100. Each day, fill up one envelope with the amount of cash corresponding to the number on the envelope. You can fill up the envelopes in order or pick them at random.

How to save $100 in 30 days? ›

The plan works like this: Start off by saving just a dollar every day for five days. For the next five, save two dollars. Increase the amount every five days by a dollar until you reach the point where you're saving five dollars per day, which you'll do for the last ten days of the month.

What is the $1000 a month rule? ›

One example is the $1,000/month rule. Created by Wes Moss, a Certified Financial Planner, this strategy helps individuals visualize how much savings they should have in retirement. According to Moss, you should plan to have $240,000 saved for every $1,000 of disposable income in retirement.

How to get $500 today? ›

If you need cash now, you may be able to get $500 or more via a payday loan, payday alternative loan (PAL), cash advance app, credit card cash advance, and some personal loans. However, some options are better than others, and what's available to you depends a lot on your credit score and history.

How can I save the most money in the shortest time? ›

Cut extra spending.

The fastest way to save money is to cut those expenses you simply don't need. What I mean is, instead of doing the most, it's time to start spending the least (who would've thought?). Start by logging in to your bank account and taking a good, hard look at your purchases from the last month.

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