Saving money in 2025 should be a goal for most Americans. According to Bankrate, the median savings account for Americans is $8,000. This amount is clearly not enough if one was to lose his/her job and be out of work for three months. Dave Ramsey suggests that everyone should have a $1,000 emergency fund to start. Then continue to save until you have six months of expenses. Today we are going to look at several ways to build your savings.
Automatic Savings
You can set up an automatic transfer from your checking account to a savings one after each paycheck. If you can afford it, aim to save 10%. This will build your savings quickly and effortlessly. You won’t even have to think about it. At the end of the year, you will have saved 10% of your take-home pay. Not bad.
Envelope Method
This system is great for people who earn tips in cash. It is a simple system involving 100 envelopes labeled from 1-100. Each day you choose an envelope and put in the amount of money that matches its number. At the end of 100 days, you will have saved just over $5,000. So, if you repeated this three times in 2025, you’d have a little over $15,000 saved.
$13.70 Method
For lack of imagination, the $13.70 method is exactly what it sounds like. You save $13.70 a day. It doesn’t sound like much but it adds up to over $5,000 a year. People spend money on coffee, drinks at the bar, impulse buys at the checkout that probably add up to $13.70 a day. This method may not save a ton of money, but at the least, it illustrates how much money we carelessly spend in a day.
$27 Method
Yes, there is also a $27 method, which just doubles the $13.70 method. It might be a little harder to do but the reward is $10,000 in savings at the end of a year. Again, it really depends on how much you are making if you can afford to employ this method. However, it does show how little savings add up to a much bigger amount saved.
Side Hustle or Freelance Work
Another powerful way to save money is to pick up freelance work or start a side hustle in 2025. Every dollar you make can be placed right into savings since we assume that you don’t need the money to live. There are ideas all over the internet with different side hustles to consider. Here is an article from Ramsey Solutions with 27 ideas for a new side hustle. Find one that appeals to you.
If saving money in 2025 is one of your financial goals, hopefully you enjoyed these different options. Evan Esar said, “A dollar saved is a dollar earned but seldom vice versa.” There is a lot of truth in his quote. Let’s make this year the year we save more of our earnings and build a solid savings account.