7 Ways We Saved $1,000 While Living Paycheck To Paycheck

What would you do if you had the opportunity to escape your debt while living paycheck to paycheck? How would it make you feel to know that there is an outlet? I am going to share with you 7 steps on how we saved $1,000 and stopped living paycheck to paycheck.

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A little more than a year ago, we wore the same shoes as you. Living paycheck to paycheck. Wondering how we ever got into this situation. Watching friends go out or travel without us because we just could not afford to go. It bought on stress, depression, anxiety, and all the negative feelings that relate to money. We knew we wanted to get out and we had no choice but to figure out how.

At the time, I had taken a major pay cut. I was making decent money after the pay cut and my fiance' was as well, but there was literally no extra money after all the bills were paid. Credit cards left and right, loans, car notes, and bad spending habits all consumed our income.

One day my fiancé and I woke up tired. Tired of making excuses and tired of being broke! We sat down together and followed these very steps towards saving our first $1,000.

•  We stopped all excuses

•  Created a budget

•  Cut back on spending

•  Worked extra hours/side job

•  Agreed to put any extra into savings

•  Took advantage of discounts

•  Held one another accountable

We Stopped All Excuses

We deserve it, we don’t have enough money, we are still young and we have plenty of time, or the infamous we will start tomorrow. These are just a few of many that we made up.

Yes, you do deserve to buy yourself things but it doesn’t hurt to pay off that one credit card then celebrate a small win.

Yes, you do make enough money to save. You don’t have to save in lump sums, start small. Start with $5 every paycheck or even every time you receive a $5 bill. Here’s a bonus, I collected $5 bills in a tide pod holder. When I reached close to $400 I put it in our savings.

Yes, you are young but time still waits on no one. You get older faster than you think.

Don’t put off tomorrow what you can start today. Start with what is in your purse or wallet right now. Change Is money and pennies do add up if you don’t have any bills.

We Created a Budget

Every month we would write out what we knew we were bringing in and subtract it from what we knew was going out. This helped up create a sense of what we had leftover if we didn’t spend another dime outside of our monthly essentials.

We Cut Back on Spending

We agreed to stop eating out as much as we were and to start cooking at home. Let me just tell you now, going from spending $400+ per month on eating out to just under $60 is a huge diff! It was a bit of an adjustment as well. We didn’t get it right the first couple of months so it takes time. We trimmed our “me time” trips down to a few times a month versus every Friday which saved on gas as well.

We Worked Extra Hours/Side Job

He picked up extra hours at work and I picked up a side job to help contribute extra money to what we saved. This was a real game-changer! We worked more so neither of us had time to spend as much.

We Agreed to Put Any Extra Toward Saving

We both had opportunities at work to receive bonuses and boy did we take advantage! I won money at one of the company Christmas parties and received my annual bonus at the next. He received an annual bonus as well. Ching! Ching! Money in the bank!!

We Took Advantage of Discounts

Working for a major company can come with benefits. I worked for a company that partnered with our cell phone carriers so all employees received a 24% discount! They also provided us with a discount card to different places such as hotels, restaurants, etc.

We Held One Another Accountable

Without an accountability partner, it can get hard. I cannot tell you how motivating it is to have someone that understands that you want something so badly and helps you every step of the way. It wasn’t always pretty, there were a few disagreements but it worked for us.

We were more than motivated by the time we reached our first $1,000! We celebrated with a small date night. This very day we are still on our savings journey. If we can do it then so can you! Get yourself an accountability partner and start saving.