How to Save $1000 in a Month (No Latte Skipping Required)

If you found your way to this article, it's because you want to learn how to save $1000 in a month. Maybe you just graduated from college and are out on your own for the first time. Or, maybe you want to stop living paycheck-to-paycheck. Or, perhaps you've heard about what a profound difference having a $1,000 rainy day fund can make. Maybe you just need $1,000 to make your next trip happen or to furnish your first home.

Whatever the reason and how you find yourself on this page, I'm glad you're here. We're about to make some financial magic happen.

Did you know that having $1000 in the bank puts you ahead of 60% of Americans? (That's 2019 research from CNBC.) Grown-ass adults (maybe even your parents) don't have $1,000 in the bank to cover a basic emergency like a flat tire or ER visit.

We want you to be smarter and more prepared than the average bear. Not only does having $1,000 saved put you ahead financially, but it does a lot for your confidence as well.

How to save $1000 in a month: My journey

The impetus for this “mini challenge” – how to save $1000 in a month (or…. as quickly as possible) – came from my realization the other day that at 31 I only possess one savings account.

I'd never really noticed it before until we started getting big gifts to help fund our wedding expenses (This was 2018, I'm now divorced, but the content stands!). At the time, I didn't want to mix in funds earmarked for the event with my own savings. So, I decided to open up another savings account.

I began to wonder if all of my “lack of savings woes” is due to the fact that maybe I just wasn't doing enough; that having more than one savings account could be the magic bullet I needed to finally build a really strong, healthy savings muscle.

What do we do to muscles we want to get stronger? We work them. Day in and day out.

How I managed to save 1000 in a month

There are really only two ways to save money in a month (or at any point, really.)

• Spend less than you earn
• Find ways to earn more

If you are trying to save 1000 in a month, you can cut your way there, but most likely you're going to have to figure out how to get more cash in.

With this post, I want to show how easy it is to scrounge up cash from all the little corners of your life.

Think of it as the equivalent of finding coins in your couch cushions. I have a million (just kidding…. like, four) “save the change/roundups” apps on my phone. And that made a big difference. More recently, I used this method to save up $800 for my divorce party. You can read all about that here.

So, anyway, back in 2018, here's how I saved $1000 in a month

7/1 – $100 initial deposit (from my personal savings)

7/11 – $10 transfer from Qapital

7/12 – $350 savings from my paycheck. (I looked at what I had leftover after bills and decided to cut back on shopping and eating out to make this happen.)

7/13 – (Multiple)

• $43 Venmo cash out from a dinner out with friends
• $68 unexpected affiliate commission check from a closed account from my blog side hustle.
• $25 transfer from Qapital
• $28.50 Ebates cash back from shopping. (I use the Ebates Chrome Extension and it automatically gets me cash back anytime I shop online.)

7/15 – $26.00 – small affiliate commission check

7/22 – (Multiple)

• $65.00 – Another transfer from Qapital
• $142 – Albert transfer (another automatic savings app)
• $73.71 – cash out from ThredUp for clothes

7/26 – $79.23 – transfer from Acorns

+ $.78 in interest

Final Total = $1,011.22

80% of the contributions above are from the pockets of cash the money-saving apps stash away for me that I do not feel at all.

Truthfully, I wasn't paying attention at first. $70 here and there isn't that sexy. But look at how much I was able to save in a monthjust by letting the tech do its thing! Truly, every little bit helps.

This challenge – how to save $1000 in a month – (or as quickly as possible) works for individuals who KNOW they could be saving more but end up living paycheck to paycheck each month.

This is not a challenge for those who are broke, barely getting by, or struggling to make the ends meet.

Intrigued? Consider giving Qapital a try, (especially if you struggle with saving each month). It's one of my favorite money apps. It's free for the first month and then $3 thereafter. I've used it for forever now, but when I first began using the app I saved $75 my first month with Qapital and the best part is that I didn't feel it. You get $25 when you use my sign up link. Click here to sign up for Qapital. 

There are a lot of ways to save $1,000 if you have more time to do it:

• You can set aside money from your salary each month and incrementally save to your goal that way (more here.)
• You can hack your discretionary budget to try and find extra money to save. (For example: cutting back on eating out or a DIY bill audit.)
• You can do the 52-week savings challenge (e.g. $1 week 1, $2 week 2, and so on until the end of the year)
• You can pick up a side hustle and earn an extra $1,000 (would take about a month and a half if you're leveraging one of these side hustles that earn $1,000+ a month. But this would take you between 15-20 hours each week for that month or so to get to your first $1k in earnings.)
• Leverage automatic savings apps, like I did. I also sold a few items to make some extra to get me to that first $1,000 faster. Keep reading to see how I did it.
• Here are more hacks to save money if you need some fresh ideas. Some may take longer than a month, but I love the post.

Or a combination of all of the steps above will get you to that first $1,000 saved lightning fast.

Getting to that first $1,000 is hard work, but once the milestone is behind you, it is easier and easier to continue to save and build your nest egg. Here's a post on how to continue the momentum and save $5,000 in 3 months or How to Save 20000 in one year.