How to Save 3000 in 3 Months On a Low Salary!

Want to start saving money but notice that you don’t have any extra cash to stow away at the end of the month? So, you want to know how to save 3000 in 3 months?

Lucky for you, I’ve got some sure-fire ways to help you reach that goal and give you some tricks to make sure you don’t feel miserable while doing it.

Maybe you’re thinking, “she’s going to show me how to save 3000? That doesn’t seem real.” Stop right there because this is not fake news.

This is the real deal and if you want to know how to save 3000 in 3 months, then keep on reading because I assure you it’s possible and I’m going to show you just how to do it.

DISCLAIMER

Some of the links on here are affiliate links and I may earn if you click on them, AT NO EXTRA cost to you. Hope you find the information here useful! Thanks.

How to Save 3000 in 3 Months

You’re here because you want to learn how to save 3000 in 3 months. Well you’re in luck because this article will help you figure that out and more.

This post will cover:

How to save money when you don’t make a lot
The importance of making a budget
Why you should track your expenses
How to identify and cut out hidden expenses
Substitutes: How to save $3000 without feeling the pinch

The steps:

Have a game plan
Cut Costs
Increase income
Charts and Budgets
Open a separate savings account

Let’s get saving and dive into the first step:

how to save 3000 in 3 months — Photo by Marissa Grootes on Unsplash

Step 1: The Game Plan

You have a target goal = $3000 in 3 months.

But HOW do you reach that goal?

The first step is to make a game plan, but in order to do that you need to have a clear idea of your income and expenses.

Look at how you’re spending your money

The world is fast becoming a digital one and cashless payments are all the rage right now.

The problem with that is, because it’s so convenient, we don’t think twice about tapping that card on the reader.

Before you know it, you’re checking your bank balance and wondering where all your money went.

But the silver lining to that little problem is, your purchase history is laid out in detail down to every cent -making it easy to see your spending habits.

The first thing you’ll want to do is print out your bank statements from the last 3 to 6 months and add up the following categories for each month:

Rent
Utilities
Gas (Optional)
Eating out
Groceries
Shopping
Essentials (This can be anything from medication, personal hygiene products, toilet paper, toothpaste, etc.)

Assess Your Expenditure

Are you spending more on frivolous things? Is the cost of gas way more than you thought? Are you spending way more money on eating out than you realized?

Having your spending history laid out in front of you can be an eye opener.

But now that you have a clear idea of what you’re dealing with, you now have two choices.

Cut costs
Increase your income
Do both

Option 1:

You cut back on non-necessities.

Option 2:

You find ways to increase your cash flow.

Option 3:

If you’ve got tunnel vision and you want to achieve saving $3000 in 3 months, then you can definitely do this by cutting costs AND increasing your income.

Note- Here is the simple savings formula, please write this down.

REDUCING EXPENSES + INCREASING INCOME = SAVINGS

That’s it. If you follow that formula, you WILL SAVE!

You can use this same game plan for “how to save 3k in 3 months”, or “how to save 3k in 2 months” or even “how to save 3000 in a month”.

Step 2: Cut Costs

You’ve got your plan in mind, let’s put it into action. If you chose to go with option 1 or 3 and cut your costs, here’s how to save 3000 in 3 months:

How?

If you got through step 1, that means you’ve already tracked your expenses and looked at your receipts.

Now you need to be realistic about what exactly you need and what you can do without.

Only Buy Essentials

This is the time to tighten your purse strings my friends. Ask yourself, do you really need that $100 manicure?

Will you die without that luxury brand item you’ve had your eye on? The answer to all of the above is no. If it’s a no, put that money back in your pocket.

If you want to reach your goal, you’ll need to prioritize the essentials. Tell yourself it’s only for 3 months and ask yourself if you really need it.

Hidden Costs

Gym membership or a sinking ship?

Have you noticed that $30 gym membership that gets debited every month? If you’ve visited the gym once since you purchased that membership, it might be time to get rid of that cost.

Utilities

You can lower the costs of your water and electricity bill by taking shorter showers or make sure the tap isn’t running when you’re brushing your teeth.

Utilize the sun and only turn on lights when you really need to, try candles if you really want to cut back on costs.

You’re not only putting money back into your pocket but you’re also saving the environment. It’s a win-win.

Eating out

This is often the bulk of people’s expenditure because it’s easy and you don’t have to do the dishes but whatever you’re saving on time or pruney fingers, you’re losing on savings.

Eating out is not necessary and you often end up paying for a service cost, tips, and tax on top of the cost of the meal.

You’ll be surprised how much you can save by cutting this out entirely of your budget or even limiting the amount of times you go out.

Coffee

Liquid energy, our best friend or the unsung financial leak that is getting in the way of your savings?

The average cup of coffee is $5 and if you’re going for fancier stuff it can average to about $8 a cup.

That may not seem like a lot but let’s do some quick math.

Let’s say you spend $5 a day on coffee, that’s $25 a week, which adds up to $100 a month and $300 in 3 months.

If your cup of coffee is more than $5 or you have more than one cup a day, that can add up to roughly $500 in 3 months.

Substitutes: Save Money Without Feeling the Pinch

I can hear the screams of protests after that little coffee breakdown, “but Aisha, coffee is a necessity!”

Fret not, if you’re looking to cut costs without sacrificing some of your comforts, here are some money saving substitutes:

Coffee

You can’t live without your cup of coffee, no problem. You can have gourmet coffee without paying the price for it.

Remember when Dalgona coffee was making its rounds on the internet? That frothy two toned beverage is not only cost effective, it also only takes a few minutes to make.

Instead of spending $5 a day on a cup of coffee, you can buy a whole jar of instant coffee for anywhere from $0.90 to $5 and it will last you the whole month if not the next 2-3 months.

Eating out

Save money by cooking at home and meal planning. Take some time to look at what’s on discount and shop for seasonal produce.

Shopping

If you’re really not willing to give up shopping, then instead of buying something for the sake of buying it, look for cheaper alternatives on websites like aliexpress.

There’s a 99% chance that you’ll find it there for a fraction of the price.

You can buy things second hand if you can or shop on clearance and sale seasons.

Cable TV or Netflix

Do you need all those channels or even a Netflix account? The internet has everything and may I add that it’s free?

You can save money by ending those subscriptions and instead stream or torrent movies and TV shows online.

Books

If you have a weakness for books, you’ll know how expensive some of them can be. Here are some websites that will let you download books for free:

With all those cost cutting tips, you won’t be asking me how to save 2000 in 3 months. Instead, you’ll be well into how to save 3000 in two months.

But how do you save money when you don’t make enough? If you choose option 2 or 3, then here are some ways that you can increase your cash flow and earn more.

Step 3: Increase Your Income

Not all jobs are made equal and that goes the same for wages. If you’re wondering how to save 3000 in 3 months when you don’t make nearly enough to do that, it’s okay.

We’ll get into that right now.

Start a side hustle

If your job doesn’t pay enough and you have some extra time, you can capitalize on that and start a side hustle.

Here are some quick and easy online jobs to get into:

Pet Sitting

Most pet owners are picky when it comes to choosing someone to care for their beloved pets. If you’re an animal lover, then try petsitting.

Want to take care of someone’s furry friend and get paid for it? Here are some websites just for that:

Teach Online

Teaching online is easy, all you have to do is sign up for a website and build a teacher profile. It pays well and you get to make your own hours.

If you’re interested in more information about this, I have a whole section dedicated to becoming an online teacher on my website.

Here are some websites to get you started:

Get paid to chat

If you spend hours online chatting with people, why not get paid for it? There are companies that hire people to chat with customers.

As a customer representative or agent, you’ll be helping customers and addressing their shopping queries. Here are a few companies that will pay you to chat:

If you don’t want to answer peoples queries but you still want to get paid to chat, there are websites that will pay you to flirt.

Have a look at this article if you’re interested in making money by chatting online.

Looking for more online jobs that’ll make you money? I’ve got just the article for you, “20 best stay at home jobs.”

Make money with what you have

Sell your stuff

Somewhere out there, there is someone looking to buy something. Maybe that something is in your house and you’re not using it.

There is that old saying, “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.”

Gather everything and anything you don’t need and start taking pictures of it because you can sell those things online and you’re one step closer to your $3000 goal.

Here are some sites that will let you sell your stuff :

Carousell
Facebook Marketplace
Ebay
Varagesale
Listia

Rent out a room

Have you got extra space that you’re not using? Why not rent it out and make some quick cash?

You can list your spare room or house on Airbnb for a weekend, a few nights a month or even sublet it to make money.

Bonus points if you live somewhere popular, because you can really hike up the price.

Have a look at this article on how to make money with your extra space.

Websites that will let you list your extra space:

Facebook groups
Craigslist ads
AirBnb

Step 4: Charts and Budgets

Step 1: Game Plan? Check

Step 2: Implement the plan? Check

Step 3: Charts and what now?

It’s time to get organized -you know what you want to do and what needs to be cut out of your expenditure but how much do you need to save in order to meet your goal?

This is where a budget and chart can come in handy. These two things will help you stay on track and have a clear idea of where you are on your savings journey.

Get Organized With a Budget of Your Expenses

This basically means you need to:

Know what bills you have due each month/week
Know how much you spend a month outside of your bills

Those are fixed costs and you can keep track of them as well as your expenses by making a budget.

Don’t be intimidated if you have no idea where to start or what to do, luckily, there are a whole bunch of free resources out there to help you get started.

Microsoft excel has a free budgeting template that’s downloadable and all you need to do is fill in the blanks.

What you can also do along with creating a budget that works for you, is create a chart to track your savings progress.

Here is an example of some savings charts for your “how to save 3000 in 3 months chart”.

Step 5: Open A Separate Savings Account

You’ll want to open a separate savings account to stash that money so you’re not tempted to reach into it or spend it by accident.

Having another account specifically for your savings goal will ensure that your money is safe.

I don’t know about you but I get giddy when I see the amount of my savings go up each time I make a deposit.

You may even be able to earn a little profit from your savings if you stick it in a ‘ Fixed Deposit’ savings account.

FAQs For How To Save $3000 In 3 Months

Here are some of the most asked questions related to how to save $3000 in 3 months.

How To Save 3 000 In 3 Months?

The easy math on how to save 3 000 in 3 months is to save or earn at least $1,000 each month.

In the article above, you will find steps and tips on how to save up 3000 in 3 months, which can also be helpful if you are wondering how to save 3 000 in 2 months.

How To Save 3000 In 2 Months?

Now you know the steps for saving 3000 in 3 months, but how to save 3000 in 2 months?

To reach the goal of saving $3,000, you will need to deposit $375 weekly or $750 biweekly in your saving account. The easiest way is to automate the deposit to the savings account.

How Can I Save Money Fast In 3 months?

Are you wondering how I can save money fast in 3 months? Here are practical tips for saving 5k in 3 months.

1. Make more money by increasing your earnings

2. Use coupons and search for discounts

3. Plan your shopping

4. Cut your expenses

5. Search for small savings

6. Stick to a budget

7. Automate your savings

How Can I Save $1000 In 30 Days?

Need to know how I can save $1000 in 30 days? Here are just a few more ideas to start saving:

1. Pay off your credit cards

2. Shop in bulk

3. Meal prep a weekly menu

4. Utilise coupons and buy generic products

5. Avoid ATM fees

6. Use cash

7. Carpool

8. Borrow books from the library

How Much Money Should You Save In 3 Months?

If you want to know how much money should you save in 3 months? It should be at least 10-15% of your income each month.

It is even better to save more than 15% of your income to build a solid financial foundation for long-term goals like retirement or purchasing a house.

What Are 10 Ways To Save Money?

Interested to learn what are 10 ways to save money? You can use these money-saving tips to get ideas about the best ways to save money in your life.

Have Savings Goals
Automate Your Savings
Save Regularly
Reduce Your Debt
Quit Smoking
Dont Spend on Trends
Buy in Bulk
Meal Prep
Lower Your Bill
Downgrade Services

Can You Save 10k In 3 Months?

So you want to save 10k quickly and question if you can save 10k in 3 months. Yes, it is possible to save up to $10,000 in just three months.

You will need to work more to increase your earnings and make some sacrifices in your expenses to reach your goal.

How To Save 5k In 100 Days?

Trying to figure out how to save 5k in 100 days? Try the 100 Envelope Challenge. You will need 100 envelopes labeled from 1 to 100.

Each day you will need to pick an envelope at random and save the amount written on the envelope. Do this for 100 days, and you will save $5,050.

What Is The 30 Day Rule?

Do you know what is the 30 day rule for saving? It is where the next time you find yourself considering an impulse buy, stop yourself and think about it for 30 days.

Then, after 30 days if you are still thinking about making that purchase, you are allowed to. This rule prevents impulsive purchases and saves you money.

Now you know how to save $3000 in 3 months!

And that folks, is how to save 3000 in 3 months. I definitely recommend picking up a side hustle and cutting your costs to reach that goal faster.

If you take it slow, follow the chart and pace yourself, you’ll be able to reach your target goal.

There’s this saying I like, “little by little, bit by bit, something small can amount into a mountain,” and this is very true when it comes to saving money.

So don’t worry, you’ll reach the top of that mountain soon enough!

Related posts on Saving Money:

How to Save 3000 in 3 Months On a Low Salary!

How to Save 3000 in 3 Months