18 Top Money Moves if Your Resolution Is to Save More Money

Saving more money is the most popular New Year’s resolution — even more than exercising! Considering that just over a third of Americans could cover a $400 emergency, this is a wise goal for many households.

If building up your emergency fund or saving for a major purchase is at the top of your to-do list for 2024, we’ve got some ideas to get you started.

We often think of certain expenses as fixed and unchangeable, such as your car payment, rent, cell phone bill, and so on. In reality, any of these could be changed by shopping around, switching providers, or downsizing your car or house.

Scrutinize each line item in your budget and ask yourself if you could make a switch to something less expensive and if it would be worth the effort to do so. It could help you avoid wasting money.

We often think of credit cards as an enemy of saving money, but they don’t have to be. If you pay off your balance each month, credit cards that offer cash back can be a helpful tool in your financial arsenal.

Great cash back credit cards allow you to get a refund on money you’d be spending anyway.

If credit cards are problematic for you, no matter — you can still get cash back on many online purchases through browser extensions and apps like Rakuten, TopCashBack, and Capital One Shopping.

Each offers different cashback rates for different merchants, and these rates change often. You won’t stock your emergency fund this way, but every little bit helps.

It’s hard to make changes when you’re not monitoring your spending patterns. Tracking your spending each month can help you see where your money is really going.

Dividing your spending by category can reveal which areas you’re keeping expenses low and which ones are too high. Once you get your trouble spots in check, you can redirect that money to savings.

A silver lining of the Federal Reserve’s recent rate hikes is that savings account interest rates have gone up. Certain banks and credit unions offer rates above 5% on savings accounts, which boosts your savings balance without any additional effort or risk.

We’ve done the hard part for you. Check out these top high-yield savings accounts.

If you don’t need access to your savings for a while, consider opening a CD. These rates tend to be slightly better than those on savings accounts, and the structure of the account incentivizes you to keep the money locked away.

For long-term savings, few ways are as effective as contributing to your 401(k) to get a company match.

This money is yours for the taking and part of your compensation package. If your employer offers a match, you can double your savings dollars.

Sometimes the best way to save money is to take the decision-making out of it.

Set your savings on autopilot with automatic withdrawals from your paycheck or checking account. When you configure your finances this way, your default mode will be to save money.

Are you being charged for a free trial you neglected to cancel? Do you have duplicate streaming services? If so, you’re not alone.

Many of us have a subscription service we no longer use. Get rid of these budget leeches by doing an audit of your subscriptions once a quarter and canceling any unused ones.

These apps use psychology to trick you into saving money. They round up your purchases to the nearest dollar and then put the difference in a savings or investment account.

You don’t notice a few cents from each purchase going to savings, so your money grows without you even realizing it.

This can be a fun way to jazz up your savings efforts. Try a no-spend month (where you spend money only on essentials for 30 days) or weather Wednesdays (where you look up the high temperature in your local area and put that many dollars in savings).

Having something tangible you can see to remind you of your savings goal and track your progress can be very motivating.

This could be marbles in a jar or a paper chain. Even a simple picture of a thermometer that you color in as you save can gamify the experience, making it more fun.

The average American household spends $3,639 per year eating out. This represents a huge opportunity to redirect those funds to other financial goals. Reserving restaurants for special occasions (rather than convenience) can save you a ton.

While there are plenty of merchants luring you to spend your tax return on a luxury purchase, resisting the urge to splurge is a positive move for your New Year’s resolution to save.

The average tax return is around $3,000, so dumping it straight into savings would allow you to make quick progress on your goal.

Do some digging to find the cheapest food and clothing prices. They may be at scratch-and-dent grocery stores that you don’t normally go to, a local second-hand or consignment shop, or an ethnic market you’re not familiar with.

Go off the beaten path of your regular shopping routine to explore what deals are out there. You may be overpaying without realizing it.

What’s the fastest way to reduce your spending on transportation? Cut it in half by riding with a friend and splitting the cost.

You’ll reduce your carbon footprint while you’re at it. If carpooling doesn’t work out, consider public transit. Your employer may even offer a free bus pass.

Interest can be an invisible drain on your budget, dampening your ability to save money.

Give your savings a boost by paying down high-interest debts, such as credit cards. Once your balances are lower, you’ll have more cash to stash away in savings.

Consider one of the best balance transfer credit cards to get started!

Cutting expenses is only one piece of the savings puzzle; increasing your earnings through a side hustle or small business could give you more money to save. If your main goal is to save money, consider a side gig that requires minimal startup costs.

Most of the ways to save more money aren’t new or complicated, but they all involve time, commitment, and intention. In the words of Napoleon Hill, “Both poverty and riches are the offspring of thought.”

The hardest part about saving money is deciding to do it. You don’t have to do all or even most of these. Your savings is built slowly and steadily over time. Small, consistent contributions eventually and inevitably grow into great wealth.