Saving money can feel like a boring slog, but it doesn’t have to be! There are lots of ways to increase your income and decrease your expenses while still having a blast. You just have to get creative to find ways to turbocharge your savings without making yourself miserable. If you’re wondering how to save 5000 in 3 months, here are 4 fun financial strategies to help you reach your goal.
How to Save 5000 in 3 Months While Having Fun
Freeze Your Credit
You’ve heard of freezing your credit so criminals can’t take out fraudulent loans in your name. But have you ever considered literally freezing your credit to save money?
Putting your credit cards on ice can prevent you from racking up a credit card balance and help you transfer more money to savings. Depending on your spending habits, freezing your credit cards in a block of ice could even help you hit your $5,000 saving goal in three months.
You’ll still need a way to pay for essentials like groceries, so we suggest using a debit card or paying in cash. Seeing the cash leave your wallet or bank account will help you keep track of your spending and be more intentional about your purchases. Don’t forget to delete your credit card information from websites like Amazon so you can’t make any purchases without defrosting your card first.
In our experience, you’ll probably reach for your credit card a few times per day at the beginning of the challenge. When you remember that your credit cards are in your freezer, you’ll definitely chuckle, making this challenge a pretty funny way to save money. Plus, your friends and family will think it’s hilarious that you literally iced out your credit cards to stick to your budget!
Start a Swear Jar
Did you know that the average American swears 21 times per day? If you use bad words as frequently as the average person, starting a swear jar could be a fun way to reach your savings goal while kicking a bad habit. Someone who curses 21 times per day only needs to deposit about $2.65 into their jar or savings account each time they swear to accumulate $5,000 in 3 months.
However, as the challenge goes on, you’ll probably start catching yourself before you swear so you don’t incur a financial penalty. For that reason, you may need to deposit a larger sum each time you cuss to ensure you reach your savings goal, such as $10 or $20.
You can even get the whole family involved and turn this into a fun challenge by getting each person their own swear jar. Whoever has the least amount of money in their jar after three months could win a small prize, or just get bragging rights for being the most polite member of the family!
If you don’t swear, you could start a “bad habit” jar for a different behavior you want to change, such as eating junk food. Whenever you eat a bag of chips or candy, you’ll have to deposit a certain amount of money into your jar or savings account.
Pantry Challenge
A USDA report from January showed that the average family of four spends between $1,047 and $1,576 on groceries each month. Many families also eat out or grab takeout a few times per month, which increases their food costs even more. So if you’re wondering how to save 5000 in 3 months, try to avoid eating out and consider doing a pantry challenge.
A pantry challenge involves using up the ingredients you have on hand instead of going to the grocery store. Doing this helps you save money and avoid food waste. Depending on how much food you have stored in your pantry, you can take on this challenge for a week, a month, or potentially even longer.
Doing a pantry challenge is sort of like being on an episode of Chopped. You have to improvise in order to create full meals from the random ingredients in your cupboards. As a result, you’ll probably end up with some pretty unique and hilarious food combos. One of the funniest dinners from my last pantry challenge was “fishy mac,” which is simply boxed macaroni and cheese sprinkled with leftover Old Bay seasoning I needed to use up.
Although fishy mac hasn’t joined my regular meal rotation, I did discover some new favorite recipes during my month long pantry challenge. And even when I messed up and made a meal that didn’t taste great, my partner and I had a fun time laughing about my cooking failures!
Do Odd Jobs
For anyone wondering how to save 5000 in 3 months, getting a side hustle is a good option. On average, people who work side gigs on top of their full-time jobs earn an additional $800 per month. Just imagine how much money you could save with all that extra cash flow coming in!
Doing odd jobs could net you an even higher hourly wage and give you some funny stories to tell. For example, very few people want to remove pet waste from people’s yards, which is why this side hustle pays $35 to $45 per hour on average. Here are a few examples of high-paying odd jobs you can do to turbocharge your savings:
- Voiceover artist
- Stunt double or film extra
- Online dating profile ghostwriter
- Participate in paid clinical trials
- Become a professional line sitter
- Start a home organizing side business
If these jobs don’t appeal to you, then you can always drive for Uber or deliver groceries to earn extra cash. However, these unique side gigs are far more interesting and can make saving money less boring!
What are your favorite funny or weird ways to turbocharge your savings? Share your tips in the comments!
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Image and article originally from www.savingadvice.com. Read the original article here.