Methods That Make Saving Up Money Easy

This may just sound familiar to you: You receive your salary and go about your daily spending, as usual. After around four weeks you realize, to your disappointment, that there is nothing left over to save. Putting money aside can be a real challenge, and requires discipline.

In this guide, moneyland.ch shows you methods for saving up money in the course of everyday life, and explains how they work. Important: You are always free to adapt the rules to suit your reality. Often, just the ideas behind these methods can already help you save. You can find tips for everyday savings and saving on groceries, restaurant dining, and car ownership in other moneyland.ch guides.

1. Save the change

This rule follows a very basic principle: You pay for purchases in cash and save up the money that you get as change.

Advantages: This rule is easy to implement in everyday life. And if most of the change you receive is in coins, then there is a good chance you will hardly even notice the difference – other than in how much your wallet weighs.

Disadvantages: Using this method consistently requires using cash for all your purchases. Strictly adhering to the rules can also become difficult or unsustainable, especially if you frequently get larger amounts as change, and no longer have that money for your budget. Tip: Use some flexibility in how you apply this method. For example, you can choose to only save up the loose change.

2. Round up your spending

In this rule, you round up each purchase you make to the nearest whole number and save the difference. For example, if a purchase costs you 75.55 francs, you would round up the amount to 76 francs, and save up the 0.45 centimes. This method can become somewhat tedious, over the long term. But there are some banks that give you the option of rounding up spending – when you pay with your debit card, for example. The difference is then automatically placed in a savings account or retirement account.

Advantages: The small amounts set aside are hardly noticeable, but can add up to substantial amounts of money over the course of time.

Disadvantages: Using this method requires some mathematical effort – unless the process is automated. That is especially true if you make many transactions every day.

3. The 52-week challenge

This method aims to make saving easier by adding a gaming element. The rule is simple: In the first week of the year, you set aside one franc towards your savings. The second week, you save up two francs. The amount you save increases by one franc per week until you finally save 52 francs in the fifty-second week that culminates the year. By the end of the year, you will have saved up 1378 francs.

Advantages: This method turns saving into a game, which can have a motivational effect.

Disadvantages: This challenge, with its steadily climbing sequence, fails to account for the possibility of changing financial circumstances. You may have a lot of surplus money available at the start of the year, but then be short of cash towards the end of the year when the challenge requires you to put aside the biggest amounts.

4. The 50-30-20 rule

The 50-30-20 rule is meant to help you plan your budget. You divide your budget into three categories: 50 percent for basic expenses like groceries and housing; 30 percent for other purchases; and 20 percent for savings and investments. You can find detailed information in the guide to the 50-30-20 rule.

Advantages: This method provides orientation for planning your budget.

Disadvantages: The rules are very general, and do not account for all the eventualities you may come up against in the real world. Additionally, you may have expenses that do not clearly fall into any of the three categories.

5. The 30-30 rule

The basic idea behind the 30-30 rule is to allow yourself to reflect on whether a purchase is really necessary. The aim is to prevent impulse spending. The rule: Before you buy anything that costs 30 francs or more, give yourself 30 hours to think about whether or not you really need it. If a purchase would cost 100 francs or more, you should wait 30 days to ponder the purchase.

Advantages: Following this rule helps you avoid costly impulse spending, and teaches you to make conscious purchases that are thoroughly thought through.

Disadvantages: There are times when this method can feel limiting – such as on shopping trips and holidays. If you stick to the rules too rigidly, you may miss out on spontaneous purchases of items that are not available in other shops – or other countries if you are traveling. The 30-day waiting period for bigger purchases is also relatively long. Following the rule consistently means you have to plan each larger purchase well in advance. But it is always possible to make special exceptions, such as holidays and special occasions like Black Friday, and budget for those in advance.

6. The 10-minute-30-day rule

This method’s premise is similar to that of the 30-30 rule: A waiting period before purchases should help you avoid impulsive spending. A 10-minute waiting period applies to small purchases like home décor items or a new t-shirt, and a 30-day waiting period applies to larger purchases like furniture, for example.

Advantages: This method also helps you make more conscious spending decisions and avoid unnecessary purchases.

Disadvantages: The disadvantages are similar to those of the 30-30 rule. The 30-day waiting period for bigger spending, in particular, makes it difficult to be spontaneous, and forces you to plan larger purchases in advance.

7. The envelope system

The envelope system, sometimes called cash stuffing, uses envelopes to budget spending. Each envelope covers a different expense in your budget, such as groceries, leisure activities, and books. At the start of each month, you place the exact amount of money you have budgeted for an expense into the corresponding envelope. If you need money for spending, you take the amount you need from the envelope designated for that expense. Money left over in the envelopes at the end of the month can be placed in your savings.

Advantages: The envelope system can make it easier to plan and follow your budget. With time, you will develop a clear picture of how much money you spend on different kinds of expenses so that you can optimize your budget. Cash stuffing also teaches you discipline because if you can only spend money if there is money available in the relevant envelope for that expense.

Disadvantages: Cash stuffing requires some effort. You have to take time to divide your money between the different envelopes each month. The envelope system also requires using cash – which may feel limiting or uncomfortable for people who are accustomed to using debit cards, credit cards, or mobile payment services.

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