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
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
There are few affiliate links, if you click a link and make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you
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
Leave a Reply