How to Save 3000 In 3 Months with free printable chart

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So many people ask me how to save 3000 in 3 months and is it possible

Yes saving $3000 in 3 months is totally possible

But you must have the right mindset, planning, will power and sacrifice

All of the above are required together

Like having the right ingredients for a dish along with the steps to use those ingredients

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I will list below the journey to save 3000 in 3 months

Detailed by how much you can save on every expenditure

I will begin with the following

Why saving money for yourself is very crucial

Think about the below statement

What you are able to buy today with the money in your hand, you will not be able tomorrow – tomorrow is a metaphor for future time

Assuming you spend all of your income every month with no saving then expect to

1- Fall in debt if you face a financial crisis like recession and you get laid off

Or pandemic like COVID-19 where companies are obliged to lay off employees

2- Miss saving for retirement

Unfortunately those who retired without savings found it tough to survive only with the government pension

Actually some of them went to look back for part time or even full time jobs again

3- Get challenged due to unforeseen expenses like dental or medical bill not covered by your insurance or unexpected car repair

That’s why those who save for their emergency fund are highly protected against all of the above

4- Miss preparing for their kids’ education

I can easily sacrifice something I need for myself

But It is hard feeling to see that I cannot pay for my child education

Because I am not well prepared for it

5- Not able to replace your car if you have to

Me and my wife drive 2 cars, they are not purchased at the same year

Having said that so if I buy a used car I will plan for the next car purchase within the next 3 years

6- Have a life full of stress

Yes don’t convince yourself that you will live paycheck to paycheck and still have your own peace of mind

If you are then sorry to accuse you of being irresponsible and idiot

Examine your income

One of biggest mistake when you think about your income is to

Think about your income for you and your spouse as the amount agreed upon annually like 60K

You miss applying taxes to your salary so you miss the term take home pay

Another mistake is thinking about take home pay as the only source of income

What about any income coming from government like child support

What about your annual bonus and tax refund money during tax season

Again to save 3000 in 3 months, you have to assess your income properly

And not miss any source of income coming from side hustle or whatever

Analyze your credit or debt

First you have to understand the basic concept of saving

It doesn’t make sense to save money while you are in deep debt

I mean by deep debt anything that can eat your saving and still leave you in deficit

If you have $1000 in debt you can save 3000 in 3 months while paying your debt

I give you an example as I am having a credit with home depot

Me and my wife always upgrade our home and I have the home depot credit card

Sometimes home depot sends a promotion to pay any lump sum purchase of over $299 on 18 months

These credit is a kind of debt that we have to pay back

But it will not hinder us from saving money

Identify how you are spending your income

I bet that you can answer this question below on top of your head

What is the percentage of your mortgage/rent according to your total income

To be fair, I realized if you don’t build a monthly budget

It is impossible to keep track of your spending and stay on top of where your income goes to pay all of your expenses

I will keep saying it over and over

You have to create your family budget to keep track of money

Pay yourself first

Top action to adapt to help you save 3000 in 3 months is to pay yourself first

Meaning you decide on specific amount to deduct automatically from every pay check

Cut spending on discretionary expenses

Do you remember when I mentioned earlier about saving 3000 in 3 months

I told you it requires will power and sacrifice

Why I am telling you that

Well I love Starbucks, I found I pay around $80 a month buying their coffee

I did not cut completely my Starbucks coffee but I reduced it to $30 a month

I realized if I use the Starbucks app, I will accumulate points toward free coffee

Better than nothing also you can join Swagbucks to get $5 bonus

Which you can redeem towards any gift cards

And with few daily tasks you can accumulate enough points for to redeem against a vast variety of gift cards

Resist clearance/on sale – know your needs vs wants

Before I advise you I have to admit I was fooled into buying so many things

All the things I don’t need I buy it when it goes on clearance or on sale

For example, I don’t need to buy a shoe but I notice a high end brand is offering a clearance with price drop like crazy

I end up paying $80 for original shoe price of $240 that I don’t need in the first place

This led me to understand the difference between needs and wants

Needs are what you cannot survive without like shelter, food, transportation

Wants are all things that we pay luxuriously like clothes and GYM membership

Save money on grocery bills

Actually all of the above are just theoretical words

To save 3000 in 3 months I will start with a plan to list amounts you can save

These amounts should sum up to exceed $3000 within the 3rd months as not all savings apply to everyone

According to USDA Center for Nutrition Policy

An average US family spend around $770 on grocery per month

Where according to Global News in Canada

Canadians spend $880 on grocery per month

For the full list of saving money on groceries every month

Let me show you how much to save each month for the 3000 in 3 months challenge

Buy no brand grocery items

You can easily save $15 per week which comes to $60 per month

You can save $180 within 3 months

Buy cheap meat cuts

Definitely there are so many cheap meat cuts that can save you money

You can easily save $25 per week which comes to $100 per month

You can save $300 within 3 months

Eat meat every other day

This really will save you a lot but I know not everybody can do it

If you make your menu to have chicken more than you eat meat, you will save too

You can easily save $150 per month which comes to $450 within 3 months

Eat leftover food instead of buying lunch at work

I pay in Toronto an average of $10-12 if I buy lunch from outside

You can easily save around $200 which comes to $600 within 3 months

Buy from supermarkets that do price match

I know nobody has time to check flyers

You can use Flipp or reebee to quickly browse your items on your shopping list

Locate the cheapest price and ask the store to do price match

You can save a minimum of $5 per week or $20 per month

This comes to $60 within 3 months

Get cash back using grocery apps

Ibotta, Savingstar, Checkout 51, Receipt Hog and Krazy Coupon Lady are good mobile apps that make money for you

Which comes to $30 within 3 months

Save money on shopping

Shopping can be not only for clothes but for a different varieties of household items

You can always check for any items in dollar store before you buy it somewhere else

Replace drugs with generic ones

Ask your family doctor to provide you with the generic drug

Most of the cases generic drug is 50% cheaper

I can boldly say you can save easily $10 per month which is $30 within 3 months

Buy some items from dollar store instead of regular store

This option is hard to estimate

But I found that buying some items like crafts and some kids toys can easily save $20 to $25 per month for me

Expected saving is $75 within 3 months

Shop out of the season

Of course buying winter coats after winter and summer clothes beginning of winter can save you really good money

I will take a very minimum amount to apply here

You can save $15 within the 3 months – I think this is less than expected

Buy used items instead of new ones

This can be starting from electronics to clothes, shoes or even toys

I don’t want to limit you to certain categories

I found strollers on Facebook Marketplace for $30 while I bought it for $300

You can consider Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist or even eBay for buying used items

I can give $30 per month saving which is equivalent to $90 within 3 months

Pay with cash back credit card

There are 2 types of credit card that gives you cash back

No annual fee but less cash back percentage like 1%

My advice if you plan to go for no annual fee is compare all different credit cards

I know American Express offers 1.25% on everything

Annual fee with high cash back percentage like 4-5%

Do your match and check what you can get each month from all your purchases

Then subtract the monthly contribution for the annual fee

For example, if your annual fee is $120

So you pay $10 per month as a monthly fee for using this cash back credit card

I can say you can make $15 per month equivalent to $45 within 3 months

Save money on dining out and restaurants

I know going to restaurants is not a way to escape cooking

But also it is a way to break the routine

Especially after a hard week at work and waiting for a good weekend

On the other hand-side, those who don’t eat at restaurant expect to save a lot

If your average dinning out is twice a month

I expect you can save $150 a month which comes to $450 within 3 months

Save money on entertainment

Entertainment cannot be cut but you can replace it with alternatives

I am realistic and I know I cannot live without watching TV

I need the cable and I need to buy books so here is what you can do

Replace the cable with IPTV

If you pay cable you know it is around $50 per month

I found that I can pay $30 per year for IPTV which is less than $2.5 a month

You can easily save $150 within 3 months

Cut the GYM membership

Here is another $40 per month to save

If you can replace GYM membership with walking or doing your workout on a used treadmill at home

You can easily save $120 within 3 months

Get rid of your home phone

This is not much to save but what is the point of paying $15 a month while you can use your cell phone

You can use VOIP phone instead like I pay $35 per year for Magic Jack phone

You can easily save $45 within 3 months

Negotiate your bills

If you cannot cancel a certain subscription like the internet

You can hire a company to negotiate your bill on your behalf

In US, you can use AskTrim, BillSmart, BillCutterz, BillFixers and Bill Shark

In Canada, you can use Bill Busters

Expected to save minimum $10 per month which is $30 within 3 months

Cut your morning drive thru coffee

Starbucks daily morning coffee costs me around $80 per month

I would say if you are buying it on weekdays that’s an average of $60 per month

You can save $180 within 3 months

Buy Kindle version or borrow books from public library

I love reading at least I buy one book per month

I found that getting Kindle version saves me 50%

Any book for $20 you can get it for $10 if you buy its Kindle version

I found that so many books I planned to buy where found in my local public library

Anyway you can save $10 per month which is $30 within 3 months

Stop buying alcohols and cigarettes

This type of saving all depends on your consumption

Some people buy beer cans while others add liquors and wine bottles

I would say you can save $50 per month which is equivalent to $150 within 3 months

Save money on utilities

It is hard to measure this kind of saving as it is intangible

Plus you don’t spend on utilities

You just pay bills like water and electricity

Although I detailed a long post on how to save on electricity

But I will focus on what is significantly putting money in your pocket

Replace your bulbs with LED one

I am not really an expert to speak about how much you can save

Taking the minimum I would say you save $5 per month

This is equivalent to $15 within 3 months

Use major appliances when it is low peak period

This is something I measured myself

I bought power watt consumption from Amazon and plugged it to a desktop PC

I found this PC consumes $18 per month if running 24/7

This means you can save $20 per month which is $60 within 3 months

Turn off Air conditioner when not at home

I will not put an amount here

Please make sure to turn your air conditioner off when not at home

I am using a Nest smart thermostat which I can turn on my air conditioner before I arrive home

Use smart thermostat

Ignore the amount for now

When I started using Nest thermostat I was able to save on my bill

Clean clogged air ducts

Without doubt clogged air ducts put much effort on your heating/cooling system

Cleaning your air ducts definitely save you money on your bill

Side hustle for some extra income

Beside all the above savings towards the $3000 challenge in 3 months

Working on a side hustle will make cash for you out of your take home pay

Offer a baby sitting for a friend or relative for $15 an hour – minimum 2 hours

If you don’t feel comfortable talking about money with relatives then ignore it

It is not the end of the world

You can work on a side hobby like making bracelets, cooking, painting, fixing laptops..etc

Advertise yourself in your local community through Facebook Marketplace

You can work on Uber or Lyft weekend only for 2 hours

If you can make $50 per week, that’s $200 per month

You can easily make $600 within 3 months

Saving 3000 in 3 months chart

As I promised you in my title, I prepared this funny chart to download in PDF

Visit my products page to download the above printable along with some free printable PDFs

Final note for saving $3000 in 3 months

Saving $3000 within a period of 3 months is possible – I listed $3,675 worth of savings

You have to believe you can do it and I showed you above how to go for it

Otherwise how can you go for $3000 challenge while you are in doubt of doing it

But if you one of those who cannot pay your bills every month – you have to fix this issue first

But in this case, you have to do the 52 weeks money saving challenge as a way to practice saving before going for $3000 in 3 months challenge

Make quick easy cash now

Survey Junkie - Earn up to $35 per survey

Rakuten - Cashback on shopping - $25 welcome bonus

Be Frugal - Earn $10 when you sign up

Flipper - buy cheap sell high and make huge profit

Acorns - turn your spare change into more money

Follow me for updates on quick cash programs