How To Save $10,000 FAST

What's up, guys? It's Graham here. And let's face it, we're in trouble. It's recently reported that African-American only saves five percent of their income. The median savings for those under 33 years old is just three thousand two hundred and forty dollars, and nearly one in four households has absolutely no emergency savings at all.

However, that could stop today! Because there are six incredibly easy strategies that you could begin immediately if you want to save ten thousand dollars fast. And best of all, it costs you absolutely nothing. Okay, I lied. The cost is actually one like on the video and subscribe if you're feeling extra generous. It does help out the channel tremendously, so thank you guys so much. And now let's begin to start.

I found that when it comes to any financial milestone, it helps to break down exactly how much you want and in what time frame. After all, there's a problem if you tell yourself I just want to make ten thousand dollars as fast as humanly possible. In that case, there's no finish line; the timeline is indefinite. So it helps to have a realistic timeline in terms of when you could accomplish your goal. In this case, I'll just go ahead and assume that you want to save ten thousand dollars in a year.

Which, if that's the case, you'll break it down as follows: eight hundred and thirty-three dollars a month, twenty-seven dollars and forty cents a day, one dollar and forty cents an hour, or two cents a minute. Okay, you don't need to go that far but you get the point. Breaking down your goal within a specified timeline gives you actionable steps that you could begin working towards on a smaller scale.

Let's be real—saving ten thousand dollars seems like a daunting task, but when you break it down to twenty-seven dollars and forty cents, it seems a lot more reasonable. And then from there, you can move on to step two: start right now! I know this sounds kind of common sense, but you would be surprised how many people think of a great financial goal, get very excited about starting, and then nothing.

Maybe you get a text message, forget about it for a day, and then think to yourself, "Well, I'll start off tomorrow." Or perhaps you have too many upcoming expenses, and you say, "Well, this might work a little better if I actually start next week after the new Street Fighter PS5 game comes out." Whatever the reason, you're only hurting yourself by not beginning immediately.

And when it comes to this, here's what I found: you have the most momentum when you're excited about the prospect of something new, and then within about a day, that excitement begins to wear off. And then you're left with the reality that your entire life has just become a giant procrastination. However, by starting right now, or basically as soon as the video is over, you'll at least begin to build up some momentum.

And once you get the ball rolling, it'll be a little bit harder to quit. So in terms of how to start, the first thing that you could do is budget. The fact is, if you're going to save an extra twenty-seven dollars and forty cents every single day, you need to know exactly where your money is going and how much money is going into and out of your account. Without it, it's kind of like you're throwing a dart blindfolded and hoping you don't poke an eye out. Plus, it's incredibly simple to do—not poking an eye out, I meant budgeting.

All you need to do is make an account with a free money tracking platform like Mint or Rocket Money that aggregates all of your information into one place. And then from there, you can see exactly where your money is going in real-time. The benefit of doing this is that by tracking where your money is going, you're going to be able to better pinpoint all the random, miscellaneous small expenses that add up over time.

Like, did you know that the average American spends eighteen thousand dollars a year on non-essential discretionary purchases? Chances are you're spending two hundred a month on subscriptions, which is one hundred and thirty-three dollars more than expected. When you really get into the weeds of your budget, strange things begin to happen. And no, I'm not talking about getting retargeted with debt consolidation ads; instead, it's like looking into the Matrix and seeing everything that you've just never noticed before—except this time it's all about saving money.

All you need to do is track your spending for the next 30 to 60 days and then cut back on everything you don't absolutely need to buy. It sounds simple, right? Well, it is really simple, actually. In terms of what to expect, one survey found that it was the easiest to cut back on ten main categories: eating out, alcohol, credit card interest, clothes, electricity, cigarettes, heating or AC, unreturned items, convenience, and the lottery.

Just think about that—almost all of those items are pretty much discretionary that you directly control, like eating at home versus going out to a restaurant. Don't order alcohol, pay down credit card interest, turn off the lights when you're not using them. The list goes on! But even if that's not your idea of fun and you want to be able to save money without changing really anything about your lifestyle, then there is another option.

All you need to do is look at your most common expenses and then think to yourself, "How could I get the exact same thing for cheaper?" Take car insurance, for example. Be honest, when is the last time you shopped around? With 30 minutes of work, I pretty much guarantee you could find the exact same coverage for less than you're currently paying. From there, take a look at your internet and cell phone bill. There are so many different alternatives right now that could save you a ton of money.

Just apply this to everything that you spend money on, and sometimes just calling up and asking for a discount is all it takes to begin cutting back. It's also incredibly important to realize that when it comes to this step, saving money is a lot more impactful than earning more. Let me explain. When you earn a dollar, you're going to have expenses like travel to and from work, gas, insurance, wear and tear on the car, and taxes, which could often leave you with about seventy-five cents left over when everything is said and done.

But when you save a dollar, you get to keep that one dollar in full immediately. And this is why saving money is so powerful. To put that in context, if you go out and spend fifty dollars on a meal, you would have to earn sixty-seven before tax to be able to pay for it. But if you decide just not to get that meal at all, then you have fifty dollars left over in your pocket right now for you to do whatever you want with.

However, I also understand that this isn't for everybody. Some people just want to live their life and spend some money, so there is another option, and that would be the concept of paying yourself first. This runs with the philosophy that most people first spend their money on housing, transportation, food, entertainment, life, and then they save whatever's left over.

But paying yourself first flips this around entirely. With this, you'll automatically pay yourself a certain amount right off the top, and then you'll get to freely spend whatever's left over. I mean, let's face it—the average person is not tracking what they make, isn't budgeting, and has no idea how much they spend. This will have the most immediate impact in terms of how much that person is able to save. On top of that, from what I've seen, the average American household doesn't necessarily have an income problem; they have a spending problem.

And expenses will always go up right alongside with your income. So no matter how much money you make, you're always going to be in the exact same spot—except probably with a slightly nicer iPhone. But just consider that almost half of those making above a hundred thousand dollars a year are living paycheck to paycheck, which is only slightly lower than those who make between fifty and a hundred thousand a year.

That goes to show you that spending habits are largely the same in proportion to how much money you make, and that's all because we succumb to what's known as lifestyle inflation. This is simply what happens when you earn more, spend more, and then need to earn more to be able to spend more. It's a vicious cycle. So automate your savings, move it before you think about it, and once it's out of sight, it's out of mind!

But in terms of how now you could actually save twenty-seven dollars and forty cents a day, assuming you want to hit ten thousand dollars in a year, here's a few ideas. First: housing. According to the Consumer Expenditure Survey, housing takes up the largest portion of the average budget. So if you could find a way to reduce this, you're set.

I know it sounds easier said than done, but perhaps you'd find a way to rent out a bedroom. Maybe you're able to ask your landlord for a reduction in rent or find a cheaper place when your lease is up. If you own a home, like I mentioned earlier, you could shop around your insurance rates. You could adjust the thermostat when you're not using it to reduce water usage. You have a ton of ways of lessening your cost, and by implementing just a few of these, you should be able to save an extra ten dollars a day.

Second, we got transportation. Right now, the average car payment is seven hundred and sixteen dollars a month, which is ridiculous, but it's also a great way to save a lot of money. Personally, my recommendation is that unless you need a nice car for professional use, go and buy the most affordable, reliable, good-on-gas car that you could possibly find and then drive it until the wheels fall off. Remember, most cars hit their peak depreciation around year six and seven, so use that to your advantage because then you'll be able to recoup as much value as possible throughout your ownership.

On top of that, check your mileage to make sure you're not paying more than you need to, and your insurance premiums, which could be overpriced to begin with. So just by scaling back and shopping around, you should be able to save another five dollars a day.

Here, third, we have taxes. Remember how I said that housing takes up the largest portion of the American budget? Well, that's true until you account for taxes. It was reported that in the United States, the average single worker paid thirty point five percent of their income to taxes in 2022, meaning that one-third of your entire working year is spent earning enough just to pay the IRS.

This means that it's more important than ever to at least have a basic understanding of how the tax system works, so that you could utilize everything at your disposal that's designed to keep you as much money as possible. From my experience, hiring a good accountant goes a long way in saving you a lot more money. By doing this, you should be able to save at least another three dollars a day.

Fourth: food. One study found that the average person spends six thousand six hundred dollars a year in this category, which works out to be five hundred and fifty dollars a month. And about forty percent of that is eating out at two hundred and twenty dollars a month. Now, I'm not just going to sit here behind a screen and yell at you for spending money eating out, even though that would save you a lot of money.

But instead, I'll take the more reasonable approach. If you're dining out or going to a restaurant or ordering food delivery, don't do that out of laziness. But if your idea is going out with friends and family once a week or so to an affordable place that you could budget, by all means! But stop lazy spending. By doing this, even if you're able to save just three dollars a day, it begins adding up, and all of this money is something that you could use to put yourself ahead financially.

Fifth, we also have debt repayment. It's said that the average American has five thousand seven hundred dollars of credit card debt, at an average of a twenty-four percent interest rate. That is one hundred and fourteen dollars every single month that you're not paying off your bill in full. So instead, take the approach of doing anything you can to cut back, and then taking that money to pay down any credit cards. Once that debt is paid off, you're going to have the entire amount left over to then save and invest however you want.

But until you're completely out of debt, paying this down should be your biggest priority. And since we're tallying all of this up, for the average person that would result in a savings of an extra four dollars a day.

And finally, six—we got apparel. Look, Americans are spending an average of one hundred and thirty-three dollars a month on clothing. And if that sounds like you, go and take a look at your closet and tell me how many of your clothes you actually end up wearing. If I were to guess, you probably wear the same few shirts, pants, and shoes ninety percent of the time—or maybe I'm just discussing myself.

But if this sounds accurate, cut down on this or at least reduce it by half. And by doing that, you'd be able to save an extra two dollars a day. So just right there is your twenty-seven dollars a day in savings by cutting back, reducing your spending, and paying yourself first, which adds up to ten thousand dollars in a year. But there could also be another way—well, thankfully, there is—with a side hustle.

Here is the truth: if you want the fastest way possible to make ten thousand dollars in a year, get a part-time job. Honestly, I am surprised how complicated people want to make things. If you're not willing to cut back and you don't want to resort to eating rice and beans every night, then you have to make more money.

And the fastest way to do that is by working more hours. It doesn't need to be glamorous; it doesn't have to pay you an exorbitant amount. But if you're willing to help out a local business, do some work for somebody else, or take on some side work on the evenings or weekends, check what options are available in your city. Even if you're earning fifteen dollars an hour after tax, that requires that you work less than two hours a day on average for a year to save up ten thousand dollars in your pocket without doing anything differently or cutting back at all.

Plus, the more you work, the more skilled you're going to get, and the faster you're going to be able to make and save a lot more money. Or you could go and ask your boss for a raise! You know, because of inflation. That works too!

And finally, since this is all money you're going to be saving, make sure you optimize it with a high-yield savings account, money market account, or CD. Right now, there are so many options that are currently paying between four and five percent interest, which means once you hit your ten thousand dollar target, that is an extra five hundred dollars a year just for diligently saving and following some of the steps that I've outlined here.

The entire point to this is that all of these steps start small and then build over time—as long as you subscribe and hit the like button if you haven't done that already. So thank you guys so much! As always, feel free to add me on Instagram, and don't forget that you can get a free stock worth all the way up to a thousand dollars with our paid sponsor public.com down below in the description when you make a deposit with the code Graham. Enjoy! Thank you so much, and until next time.