It can feel like climbing Everest to save money; with bills and rent to pay, plus the occasional coffee shop jaunt, it can feel like you are staring at ZERO. But a few months back, I decided to set myself a challenge: save $1000 in 60 days, not just visualize it and vaguely aim for it, actually do it.
And I did it.
And here is exactly how I did it, my step-by-step plan, as well as the shifts in mindets, strategies and basic habits I used to achieve the goal, without feeling
completely deprived.
Step 1: Set a Very Clear and Specific Goal
Instead of saying, "I want to save, or save money", I stated, "I will save $1000 in 60 days." This gave me:
• A specific amount: $1000
• A definite time period: 60 days
• A daily savings target: just under $16.70, or about $16.67 per day.
This enabled me to work backwards from
the plan, and every decision I made was to link and connect to my daily savings goal.
Step 2: Conduct a spending audit
Before I could save anything, I needed to know what I was spending. I had one night of significant dedication, I went through the bank and credit card statements that I had pulled for...
Step 3: Develop a "Bare-Bones" Budget
Once I identified my leakages, I wrote a bare-bones budget, which covered all of the essentials and only the essentials. Everything that was optional was gone.
I temporarily eliminated:
• Streaming services (kept one)
• Eating out (meal prepping)
• Online shopping (put things in cart but didn't check out)
• Expensive plans for the weekend (instead planned free activities)
I was not eliminating all of these things for good - it is short-term sacrifice with long-term gain.
Step 4: Automatically Save
I opened a separate high-yield savings account and set-up an automated transfer of $125 dollars a week.
Why automation worked for me:
• I did not see the money in my checking account
• I was not tempted to spend the money
• It forced me to use the money that was left.
No matter how much you can automate. Automate what you can - consistency is more important than perfection.
Step 5: Discovering Basic Side HustlesStrategies to make extra cash faster:
• Sold things around my house on Facebook Marketplace and eBay ($230 earned)! • Did a few gigs (writing/design) through Fiverr.
• Babysat for a neighbor periodically on weekends.
• I utilized cash back apps, like Rakuten and Ibotta, on necessary purchases. After all of this, I made about $400 from side income over those 60 days.
Step 6: Hold Myself AccountableI used a basic Google Sheets tracker to track my progress. I would add to the tracker daily:
• Money saved.
• Extra money earned.
• Remaining balance to my goal.
This helped me stay motivated throughout the process and kind of felt like a game that I had to win.
What I learned....
• Saving money is all about habit and mindset, not the amount of income you earn.
• Every little daily decision (coffee, takeout food, impulse buys, etc.) adds up quickly.
• When you give your money something to do (spending it towards a saving goal) you are less likely to waste it.
Having a visual tracker makes the whole process feel real and obtainable.
Final Outcome
✅ Money Saved: $1,000
✅ Total timeframe: 60 days
✅ Techniques used: Budgeting, reducing spending, side hustles, automation
If you are trying to save money – whether that’s $100 or $10,000 – the best place to start is defining your goal, and only then taking it step-by-step. You don’t have to be perfect. You just have to be consistent.
You can do this.
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