This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more information.
We all do it.
Call it YOLO. Call it cravings.
I love a good Gingerbread Latte.
But what are you sacrificing for that latte?
A grande latte from Starbucks® is $5.25 with tax. That’s a lot of gingerbread do-ray-me. Money you could use for something else, ummm like making more money.
As the saying goes “It takes money to make money.” So spending your money all the time on even small splurges could be preventing you from something bigger and better.
Putting that money into a savings account instead can eventually yield big results. You just need to stay motivated and set your savings goals.
If you need money saving motivation, here are three things you can do with your saved money to start making more money, even with a small amount.
Movey Saving Motivation: 3 Ways to Make MOney from Your Saved Money
If you need save money motivation tips, take at look at these things you can do with saved money to make more money!
1. Purchase a home
Did you know you can purchase a home with as little as 3.5% down?
If you are throwing away money on rent, saving money for your own home is a smart money move. And it is some strong saving money motivation to keep you going!
Every month you are paying down the loan on your house, which makes you money. Plus, you have the option of renting out a room or two to make even more money.
Saving Up for a House is not as hard as you think either! Or, if you can save a larger down payment, you could consider purchasing a rental property of your own.
Saving money is how I purchased my first home, a home that is now exclusively an Airbnb property that makes a profit every month!
Earn your first $25 on Airbnb with this link.
And best of all, once you have that extra income coming in, you can use it to save money to make another investment!
Learn the 6 steps to buying a home!
2. Invest in stocks
While the stock market can be a volatile place, it can also be a great way to make your money grow.
You can choose safer stocks, like funds and make sure to keep them long term to see an overall increase with less risk.
Tools you need to get started investing in the stock market:
Open a free investing account with SoFi. Sign up with this link and get $25 in free stock just for signing up!
Motley Fool will give you insider information and tips on what stocks to buy.
Even if you only have a small amount of extra money, you can easily and instantly start investing with an app like Acorns. Acorns allows you to invest in stocks with just spare change!
You can invest as little as $1, or as much as you want. It syncs with your bank account so that when you purchase an item with your debit card, it rounds up the purchase to the nearest dollar amount and invests the spare change for you.
You can choose the risk level of the fund you invest in and Acorns will do all the work of picking the right stocks and funds so you don’t need to even understand the stock market to use it. Use this link to get $5 to start your Acorns account!
Plus, it will help you on your savings journey but automating the process of saving money for you.
Looking for a Quick Way to Earn Extra Money Online? Try These:
Kashkick: Average users make $250 a month! KashKick.com is the newest way to make money right from your phone. Play mobile games, take surveys, or try new products. Try this super easy way to earn real money, from a trusted source. Join now!
Survey Junkie: Sign up for the highest paying survey site around and start earning money with your phone. Join Survey Monkey now!
Related reading: 10 Money Saving Hacks
3. Start an online business
An online business can be started without much capital. And there are a ton of options!
For example, you can buy and sell vintage items online or your talents in art or photography. Or you can start a site to sell your freelance capabilities.
The best thing about starting an online business it it is easy and cheap. You just need a url and a hosting service-I suggest Blue Host where you can get both! Or for an easy-to-set up ecommerce store selling products, Shopify is awesome.
The result? You could be making extra cash every month for something you enjoy doing anyways! Which by the way will make saving money that much easier!
Here are a few of the many options for an online business:
Start a Blog
Get your creative ideas and expressions out while making money! A blog is fairly easy to set up, and there are a ton of ways to generate revenue with one. You can make money off affiliate ads, click-through ads, and product sales.
Here are the easy steps to starting your own blog.
Easy Click Start
Get a free domain name!
Click below to start your blog the easy way by signing up with Blue Host and get your blog domain for free. Blue Host will take you step-by-step through the set-up.
Etsy shop
There used be requirements for selling on Etsy that your product be handmade but they have widened the options.
You can sell vintage items, arts and crafts, photography prints, digital graphic templates and even baked goods!
Setting up an Etsy store is easy and the cost to list your first item is only $0.20. They do however take a 5% commission on your sales. For this online business you will not need to purchase a url or hosting, everything is handled by Etsy which makes things easy.
I actually had my own Etsy store for a time selling abstract original artwork. Painting was enjoyable for me, like therapy so making a little extra money off it was such a bonus!
Plus through Etsy I was contacted by not one, but two interior design firms who commissioned a piece from me!
Online store
If you like to shop, you might like to sell!
Another great online business is product sales. You can choose anything, jewelry, clothes, home decor.
You can set your own store up with Blue Host and WordPress if you make sure to use a theme that integrates with woo commerce or is compatible with a woo commerce plugin.
Another option if you would like to do less set-up yourself is to use an ecommerce solution like Shopify. The hosting, url and eCommerce store setup is built in.
How to Stay Motivated to Save Money
Here are some actual tactics to help you stay on track with saving money and not lose motivation.
Write Down Your Goals
We’ve already given you 3 ways to use your money to make money. Having a goal like this in mind will help you stay on track and keep motivation to save money.
Whether your goal is to save for vacation, or a down payment on a home, write down your savings goal and keep it top of mind!
You can then use these long term money goals to help yourself set up a savings plan. Make a poster and put it on your fridge as visual reminders!
Here are some financial goals to help you stay motived to save money:
- Early retirement and FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early)
- Vacation fund
- Emergency fund (you must have one of these just in case)
- Investment
- Starting a business
- New car
Automate Your Savings
If you automate your savings then you literally don’t have to do anything to stay on track! Set up direct deposit from your paycheck straight into a savings account.
Make sure you open a high yield savings account though so that your money is earning money while it sits. CIT Bank has the savings connect account that earns over 5%.
You can also use the money saving app Acorns that we mentioned above. But if you get set up for automatic savings, you won’t even have to worry about having the motivation to save money. It will be done for you!
Create a Budget and Stick to It
Writing down your income and all your expenses will help you keep track of how you are spending money and stay on top of your financial situation and your money goals.
You just need to use a budget template that will allow you to track everything. You can use this to identify possible expenses you can cut as well.
Here are 21 Free Budgeting Templates you can use.
A budget template will help you find new ways of saving money by examining all your spending habits.
Create Short Term MIlestones
Another way to encourage self discipline and money saving habits is to set milestones along the way to meet.
So if you want to save money for a down payment on a home, you can also set up a savings goal to meet each month.
These can keep you positive and motivated. There are also some money challenges for saving money that you can try:
Get an Accountability Partner
One thing that will help you stay motivated to save money is if you find someone to be your accountability partner.
You will tell this person your savings goals and the dream you are working towards. They can help you stay focused and keep your motivation to save money.
It will also make it easier to spend time with them doing free activities as they will understand when you don’t want to go out to eat!
Final Thoughts
Using your money to make more money is simply fun.
Much more fun than a grande latte. So stop spending, start saving money, and start dreaming your dream today!
Next Posts:
Psychological Reasons for Overspending
$15 an Hour is How Much a Year?
$18 an Hour is How Much Salary?
How to Save $5,000 in 6 Months
5 Tips When Using a Planner to Track Your Monthly Expenses
40 Cheapest Foods to Buy When You’re Broke
Credit Saint vs. Lexington Law
7 Best Credit Repair Companies
Amazing blog! Do you have any suggestions for aspiring writers?
I’m planning to start my own blog soon but I’m a little lost on everything.
Would you advise starting with a free platform like WordPress or
go for a paid option? There are so many options out there that I’m
completely overwhelmed .. Any tips? Bless you! http://Www.Crescentmoonhky.com/
I think it is a good idea to use the paid, blue host and WordPress.org option! Learn how to do that in my How to Start a Blog tutorial.