There are many reasons you may need to save $1,000 quickly.
If you follow Dave Ramsey’s Baby Steps, the first step is to get a $1,000 emergency fund.
Or you may just want $1,000 in the bank to feel a little more comfortable. And of course, you could be saving to buy something that costs $1,000.
Either way, these are some ways you can get that $1,000 faster than you think…
1. Get a Side Hustle
If you don’t have a second job, this is a good option.
The most popular side hustles I’ve seen lately are food delivery services. I delivered pizzas for years at Domino’s and it’s a lot of what helped us get out of debt, so I’m a huge fan of delivery.
Some people I know work for all of the delivery services and have turned it into a full-time job, which is nice because the schedule is so flexible. But it’s not the most secure income since you never know how much you’ll make each week. For a side job though, it works out nicely.
Some of your options, depending on your area, are:
There are also plenty of local and country-specific options. I have 24 food delivery apps on my phone and many of those were apps that only worked in certain countries, so if you’re not in the US, see what options you have for delivery employment in your area.
There are plenty of other options for a side hustle:
- Get a Newspaper Route – These can earn anywhere from $500-$2000 a month, depending on the route and where you live. My wife and I had two paper routes at one point. These usually take an hour or two, and they’re done early in the morning. Even if you just keep the route for a month or two, you’ll hit your goal.
- Deliver Phone Books – This isn’t an option everywhere, but many places give you the opportunity to deliver phone books once a year. You can get as many routes as you want, and you can easily make a couple of thousand dollars if you work hard at it. I’ve done this, and it’s effective, but you must make sure you follow the instructions on exactly where to put the phone books at the houses.
- Deliver Pizzas – My favorite second job ever! This is the old-school delivery option. I used to make $15-$25 an hour doing this, and you get to listen to audiobooks the whole time. I’m sure one of your local pizza places is hiring. Again, even if you only do this for a month or two, you’ll get that grand!
- Landscaping – Yes, I’m talking about going door to door and asking people if they need their lawn mowed. You can also add other landscaping services, such as light gardening and spreading mulch. This is something you can do on the weekends — one day a week if you want. You’ll hit your goal. But one word of caution: don’t take this up for one month, beat the landscaping companies’ prices, and then quit after you hit your goal. If you do that, you’re screwing the companies and the people. Why not keep doing this and hit your other goals?
A second job doesn’t have to last forever. This is a temporary thing to reach a specific goal.
2. Sell the Stuff You Don’t Need
You have plenty of things around your house that you don’t need. And you know it.
There are plenty of common things you can sell that can get you to your goal, for example:
- Your CD collection – Just go digital. It takes up less space. Plus, you’re likely using some sort of streaming service anyway.
- Your DVD collection – Do you really watch all of those movies? Again, streaming service.
- Kitchen Appliances – Do you actually use that quesadilla maker? Or that mini cupcake maker? See if you can consolidate uses into fewer appliances and get rid of the ones you don’t need.
- Old Phones – An old iPhone 5 or 6 can earn you a little cash and it’s just sitting there anyway because nobody knows what to do with old phones.
- Clothing – You know you have more clothes than you need. We pretty much all do.
We all have stuff around our house to sell. You wouldn’t leave $50 just sitting around, would you? Why leave something like an old phone sitting around that you could get $50 for? Same thing.
You can sell all this stuff on eBay, or the simpler option is Craigslist, Varagesale, or Facebook swap shops. The latter is becoming the most popular option.
Read: Our Journey Towards Minimalism
3. Stop Spending Money
There is a good chance you can stop spending money for a month. I did it, and surprisingly, I figured out I was able to go for over 90 days.
Stop eating out. Pack your lunches. Open your freezer and your cabinets.
You probably have enough food to last a month. Eat what you have.
Likewise, you can go 30 days without buying clothes. And cut your traveling down as much as possible.
Obviously, you have bills that you can’t avoid, but you can cut your daily budget down to almost nothing. Of course, you could always camp in your backyard for a month and drastically reduce your utilities. Sometimes drastic savings goals call for drastic measures, and it makes a good story once you’ve done it.
You’ll be surprised at how easy it is to just not spend money.
4. Stop Smoking or Drinking
Cigarettes are expensive. If you smoke, you know that. Going to the bar is also expensive.
If you do both and you stop both, you can probably get your $1,000 in 30 days.
If you just give up one, it may take a little longer.
You can always go back to buying three shots for the price of an entire bottle of liquor after you get your $1,000. Or consider just drinking less overall.
5. Cut Your Expenses
Do you know where all your money is going? If not, may I suggest EveryDollar? I did a tutorial on how to get started with it.
You have to see all of your expenses before you can start cutting.
Once you know where all your money is going, review things like subscriptions and reoccurring payments. Such as:
- Streaming Services – Do you need all of them? Can you consolidate?
- Cable TV – If you’re still paying for cable, there are so many other, less expensive options.
- Cell Phones – You can almost always find more affordable plans. There are countless cell services now and many are as low as $10 or $20 a month. This one may require a quick Google search, but it’s worth the search.
All of these considerations can lead to a quick $1,000.
Read: How to Save Money on Literally Everything
6. Swap Cars
This is a huge one that could also eliminate a lot of your debt.
If you have a car payment and you still owe more than $5,000 on your car, consider selling it and buying something less expensive.
Plenty of people are struggling financially and they don’t even think about selling their $50,000 SUV and swapping for something they can actually afford.
You can always save and pay cash for a vehicle later, but right now, if you’re still just trying to save that $1,000, you shouldn’t have a hefty car payment.
Read: Stop Living a Car-Poor Life
How to Keep it Saved
The important thing is to believe you can do it and keep it. Stop telling yourself it’s so difficult.
And don’t touch the money unless you have an actual emergency.
I recommend putting it in a money market account that penalizes you if you withdrawal more than a few times per year. That will help remind you not to touch it unless you really need it, but they have mostly done away with those fees since COVID hit.
I’m sure you won’t have more than a few major emergencies in a year. If you’re just that unlucky and you do, you may want to consider saving $2000.
Read Next: How COVID Changed Personal Finance and How to Be Prepared for Anything
What are some more ways you’ve used or plan to use to save your $1,000?
Further Book Reading
- How to Save Money by Money Mastery Teacher
- The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey
- Your Money or Your Life by Vicki Robin & Joe Dominguez
