Saving 10k in 1 year requires preparation and a lot of motivation. Here’s how to do it:
Saving 10K requires preparation
Saving 10K requires preparation! Reaching this amount of money will not happen without some work on your part.
Why save 10K in one year?
Before you jump in to save drastically, you need to be able to understand why you are doing this.
Setting aside 10K could be useful in your life for several reasons. Such a sum of money provides a comfortable cushion in case of financial problems (health, credit to be paid back, unexpected big expense…).
It can also allow you to anticipate a future change in your situation requiring the mobilisation of additional capital. For example, if you decide to carry out work on your house, change your car, have a child, move abroad, etc., using this available budget will allow you to get closer to your life goal without taking out a loan.
Prepare yourself mentally to reduce your expenses
By trying to reach 10K in savings, you have realised that you are spending too much money. Or that you are not making enough. In both cases you will have to take action to remedy the problem.
You can already prepare yourself (and your brain) for the financial restrictions you will have to face! Rest assured, if your savings plan is well prepared and implemented, it won’t be a pain.
3 simple ways to save money easily:
- Use a kakeibo: a small Japanese notebook designed to understand your expenses.
- Use a banking application
- Use a cash-back solution
Save 5K in 1 year
If you only want to save 5000 dollars in 1 year, the method is as follows :
- Make a budget and set achievable goals
- Reduce your expenses and eliminate unnecessary purchases
- Avoid getting into debt
Set achievable goals for yourself
Do not immediately assume that you can save this amount of money simply by not spending anything overnight. It is essential to determine what is and is not possible by defining your financial profile and goals.
What are my goals with these savings?
Define the purpose of the transaction, what do you want to do with the money ?
- Invest in an investment that pays?
- Do you need the money to help your family?
- Perhaps you just want to regulate your expenses and build up a safety cushion?
Answering this question will enable you to understand how and how much to save per month effectively, but above all to remain motivated in all circumstances.
What is my savings profile ?
Everyone is different when it comes to money and spending.
For each investment strategy, it is important to define your investor profile.
For savings it is the same, you have to define your risk profile. There are 3 main profiles:
- Conservative profile: investment security, low risk exposure
- Moderate profile: balanced performance and security, reasonable risk-taking
- Dynamic profile: exposed to volatility, high risk
Defining your investor profile will allow you to understand your attitude towards money, to know if you are ready to take risks to make your savings grow and to reach the 10K savings more quickly.
List and analyse your expenses
Identify the nature of your expenses
This is probably the longest step to take but it is also the most interesting.
Paper & pencil for the more old school among you, an excel spreadsheet for the others, you must now list all the expenses you have made in the last few months.
Rent, internet subscription, electricity bill, restaurant visits, food shopping, car repairs… Identify each expense.
Analyse your expenses and reduce what can be reduced
Classify your expenses by assigning them one of the following two statuses :
- Need
- Want
In this way, you make a first sorting, eliminating the “needs” from your field of action and focusing only on the “wants“. It is these wants that you will be able to work on as they are non-essential outgoings.
By reducing these “wants”, you will significantly increase your savings capacity and will be able to put aside 10K over the year more quickly.
For the other expenses (needs) you will have to think about it a bit more:
- Is it possible to reduce your rent ?
- Can you use public transport instead of your car to go to work ?
- Can you do your food shopping in a cheaper supermarket ?
It won’t be easy or even possible to optimise all your expenses, but if you can at least make a financial effort on one or more of these points, then saving 10K in 1 year will be more accessible.
How to save more ?
There are a number of simple techniques and tips to help you save and reach the 10K savings. For example, you can use the 50 30 20 rule, use a cash-back solution or have several bank accounts.
The 50 30 20 rule
This rule echoes the classification of expenditure discussed in the previous paragraph.
What is the 50 30 20 rule ? It is about dividing your budget by adjusting the weight of your expenses into 3 categories :
- Needs
- Wants
- Savings
Each of these expenditure categories must respect the percentage allocated to it.
Thus, your needs should represent a maximum of 50% of your expenses. Your desires should not exceed 30% of your expenses. Your savings should ideally represent 20% of your expenses.
This rule is quite affordable whatever your income. It can be a good start to saving 10K in 1 year, but it can also be applied over several years and even throughout your life.
Use a cash back solution for your expenses
Although not very widespread in Europe, cash back is a success in many countries, particularly in the United States.
The idea of cash back is simple: each time you spend money, you are rewarded with a sum proportional to the amount of your purchase.
For example, you spend €100 on a website. Thanks to the cash back solution, let’s say you can get back 5% of your amount: you have therefore earned €5.
How to activate cash back on the internet?
Several cashback solutions exist depending on your country of residence. Find out about the best cashback sites and check their quality.
Use multiple bank accounts
Beyond the different advantages that each bank can offer you compared to the others (a cheaper credit card, reduced management fees, the possibility to pay abroad without fees, etc.) having several current accounts in different banks will allow you to have a clearer vision of your expenses.
This strategy can be a continuation of the 50 30 20 rule we presented earlier. You don’t have to apply this rule if you open several bank accounts but it is a rather interesting combination.
The first bank account
The first bank account is where you receive your main income or salary. It is also where all your direct debits and transfers are scheduled: rent, credit repayments, internet subscription, insurance, mobile phone subscription, etc.
This first bank account is an “automatic” account, all the operations carried out are not linked to your bank card, which is why with this first account you are not obliged to attach a credit card to it (yet another cost saving!)
As you will have understood, in this way, the sum remaining on this account after your salary and recurring withdrawals constitute the amount available for your leisure activities and your savings/investment.
You are sure to prioritise essential expenses first.
The second bank account
The second bank account is your real current account. This is the bank account that you will use on a daily basis in your life for shopping, travelling, entertainment, etc.
This is the account where you should select an interesting bank card! Since this account will concentrate all your expenses, make it work for you! Debit or credit card as you like but remember to choose a bank card that offers cashback or benefits in kind like American Express cards.
The third bank account
Finally, the third and last bank account is the one that will serve as your savings account. It is in this account that you accumulate your dollars to reach the sum of 10K in 1 year.
Depending on the nature of your savings, you can adapt the type of account selected:
- Do you want to have your savings available at any time? Choose a traditional savings account such as a passbook to get your money back at any time.
- You don’t need these savings? Invest it by choosing a higher-yielding locked-in account
If you can, the ideal would be to set up a system equivalent to that of your first account, with the programming of automatic transfers.
Even if it’s a small amount to start with, €20, €50 or €80 in the first few months will always help you more to reach your 10K goal, rather than scheduling nothing at all. Every little bit of money you put aside to save counts !
Check out our article on how to get rich with no money.
To save faster 10K : earn more
It may seem simplistic at first, but to save more money you don’t necessarily have to spend less, you can just earn more through work.
Negotiate a salary increase
It’s the first thing that comes to mind, if you want to earn more money at the end of the month, you have to increase your salary.
So how do you go about earning more money?
If you feel that you are qualified and performing well in your job, then go ahead and ask your boss or manager for a raise.
You don’t want to arrive empty-handed without any justification for your efforts? In that case, prepare them! List everything you have achieved in your job over the last quarter or year and focus on the turnover: the important thing is to show how much money you bring in to the company, justifying the salary increase.
Separate yourself from your useless possessions
Vinted, Ebay… Are you familiar with all these platforms?
They are also totally free and allow you to connect with millions of people ready to buy. Take a look around your flat (or house) and ask yourself in front of each item/clothing you own: do I really need it?
If not, sell it! You’ll be surprised how much money you can save if you get rid of all the useless stuff in your wardrobe.
Take up a secondary activity
This last point will be the one that will allow you to save 10K in 1 year the fastest.
By creating an additional source of income, previously non-existent, you are certain to be able to give 100% of this new income to your savings. Your savings will then grow inexorably towards 10K and beyond. So how do you increase your income and earn more money ?
Think about a skill you have. There is bound to be one that you are good enough at to sell or teach to others:
- Mastery of an instrument
- Skills in a school subject (economics, mathematics…)
- Marketing and social networking skills (especially the new ones like TikTok)
- Manual skills (you are good at DIY or mechanics)
Go ahead and offer your courses and services! Thanks to Google and social networks, it is very easy to promote yourself for free.
If you don’t have any particular skills, several jobs are available on a part-time basis: working in a bar or restaurant, being a delivery boy, renting your car to individuals…
None of these examples of a secondary activity is feasible for you? Then it might be a good idea to invest some of your money and time in a training course to develop skills.
Bonus: the table to help you save 10K in 1 year
Saving 10K in 1 year is almost like putting aside 1000 dollars per month… We agree that at first sight this may seem complicated.
Before you are able to make such savings it is worthwhile to start by following this chart which suggests you can easily save 1400 dollars, week after week.
The challenge takes place over the 52 weeks of the year and tests your ability to manage your budget and your money : each new week invites you to save one dollar more than the previous week.
It allows you to start slowly but surely towards your savings goal.
If you’re looking for other savings challenges, we recommend the 5 pounds challenge.
To succeed in saving 10K you need to be prepared! By determining your goals and following this precise plan you will increase your chances of achieving them. Once you have reached your goal, don’t stop: keep saving as much as you can and remember to invest it. Sitting on your dollars in a bank account won’t make you any money. Shares, real estate, crypto-currencies, choose your favourite sector and medium to make your savings grow.
Discover our other articles on the topic of savings :
- The best books on financial education
- Adopt the minimalist lifestyle to save money
- What is the rat race and thow to escape it
- How to become rich without working