10 Ways You Can Save $10K ASAP, According to Money Expert Jaspreet Singh

Whether you want to save $10,000 for an emergency fund or another financial goal, aiming for a figure that high can be daunting. However, it’s definitely not impossible. In a recent YouTube video, money expert Jaspreet Singh laid out 10 steps you can take to quickly save $10,000. If you stick to them, you can reach your goal quicker than you might think.

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“They’re not easy, but they’re 100% accessible and doable,” Singh said. “You can start using [these tips] today to add an additional $10,000 into your bank account.”

Here are the steps Singh says to take.

1. Automate Your Savings

Automate a regular contribution from your checking account to your savings account so that you start to build savings without any effort.

“This doesn’t actually require you to make drastic changes, but what I’ve learned from my years of teaching financial education is that if you don’t do this, you’re going to have no plan and no path to build anything or any wealth,” Singh said. “You have to do this, and it starts by just automating your money and knowing where your money is supposed to go.”

If you use your checking account as an account for both spending and saving, you are more likely to spend the money in the account rather than actually save any of it. That’s why it’s so important to have two separate accounts. If you do not currently have a savings account, Singh said to open one ASAP.

“The money in this bank account is supposed to be used to protect you against an emergency,” he said. “You cannot use this money to go out and buy a TV. You cannot use this money to go out and buy a car. When you start differentiating your money like this, you automatically create these barriers.”

Read Next: How Much Does the Average Middle-Class Person Have in Savings?

2. Stop Making Impulse Purchases

Those daily impulse purchases might seem small, but they really add up over time.

“If you don’t spend $28 a day, you’ll have an additional $10,000 in just one year,” Singh said.

Singh doesn’t believe you need to completely deprive yourself of buying nonessential items, but he does believe you need to be more mindful about your purchases while you are in saving mode. He recommends practicing the “24-hour rule.”

“Before you go out and start buying things — especially things you don’t need — I want you to give yourself 24 hours,” he said. “You see this nice sweater on Amazon, and you see this really nice watch that you want to buy — instead of just hitting the ‘add to your cart’ button, what I want you to do is take a pause. Give yourself 24 hours.”

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When you sleep on it, you’re less likely to buy things you won’t actually use.

3. Keep Your Funds in a High-Interest Savings Account

If you have your money in a traditional savings account, you’re likely missing out on interest you could be earning in a high-yield savings account.

“Right now, there are a lot of banks paying upwards of 5% a year interest on your savings,” Singh said. “Instead of getting 0.03%, you get 4% to 5%. Five percent a year in interest on $10,000 is $40 extra a month … just because you put your money into a high-interest savings account.”

Be sure to put your money in an account that is FDIC-insured to avoid any potential scams or untrustworthy institutions.

4. Eat Meals at Home

Going out to eat often becomes more expensive than you think when you add on appetizers, drinks and desserts.

“Right now, the average American has spent about $8,600 a year eating out at restaurants,” Singh said. “If you don’t have any savings, you can’t afford to eat out at fancy restaurants right now. You can comfortably save at least half of the money that you’re spending eating out by just making some food at home.”

5. Earn More Money

The more money you earn, the more money you can save.

“There are two ways you can earn more money, and the first way is asking for a raise,” Singh said. “One of the most accessible ways to add an additional $10,000 over the next 12 months is to ask your boss for a $10,000 raise.”

To get this raise, you need to show that you add value to your company.

“You’ve got to work hard, you’ve got to be efficient and you’ve got to learn how to be better,” Singh said. “Learn new skills, take classes, learn to be a better, more value-producing employee.”

The second way to earn more money is to find ways to earn income outside of your job.

“This might be creating a side hustle,” Singh said. “This might be becoming a freelancer, becoming a contractor, getting a second job or working to build your own business on the side.”

6. Audit Your Finances

Take a hard look at the money you have coming in and the money you have going out. This means examining all of your bank and credit card statements to get a clear picture of all the money you are earning and all the money you are spending.

“This is one of the simplest things that you can do to find some extra money without really changing your spending habits,” Singh said. “You want to get nitty gritty here, because now you’re going to see, where is all my money going?”

Look at which categories you are spending the most on — and which ones you are spending a lot on but not getting much value from.

“You might still have subscriptions that you stopped using four months ago,” Singh said.

“You’re also going to see bills that have been racking up their monthly fees without you even knowing it,” he continued. “You’ll see that that cable bill that you have is 33% more than what you originally thought you were paying. You’ll see that your internet bill is now two times more than what you originally signed up for.”

If you see bills that are higher than what you thought they would be, call your providers and try to negotiate for lower fees.

7. Downsize Smartly

If you want to save more, it’s a good idea to cut costs — but it’s important to do this in the most efficient and effective way possible.

“The first place that people cut back, especially if you look on the internet, is the Starbucks,” Singh said. “They say, I’m spending $5 a day at Starbucks, which is $150 a month, assuming that there’s 30 days in the month. But what I want you to do is take a top-down approach, because Starbucks is one of the smallest purchases that you might be making over the day.”

Instead of cutting out coffee, Singh said to look for ways to save on housing, which is typically your biggest expense. This could mean moving to a smaller home.

“I know that can be a painful concept, but it’s temporary,” Singh said. “If you can save $500 a month to $1,000 a month, depending on where you live, that’s [way] more than how much you save by never drinking a Starbucks again.”

The second largest expense is typically your car. To cut down on this cost drastically, Singh said to avoid having an auto loan.

“Instead of you taking the eight grand to put it as a down payment on your car, take the eight grand and buy an $8,000 car,” he said. “Now you can save $500 a month, which, again, is many multiples more than what you would save if you never drank a Starbucks again.”

8. Stop Paying Service Fees

You’re likely paying a lot of unnecessary service fees for convenience services. Singh says to cut these out completely.

“If I don’t have to, I’m not going to buy something off DoorDash or GrubHub, because you’ve got to pay so many service fees,” he said. “You’ve got to pay for the service fee, you’re going to pay the delivery fee, and you’ve got to pay for the tip on top of your food. These fees [can] add up to an additional 25% on your order.”

While you’re in savings mode, you should also not be having your groceries delivered, Singh said.

9. Pay Down Credit Card Debt

It’s difficult to save money if you’re holding onto credit card debt with high interest.

“Right now, the average credit card in America is charging more than 27% [interest] a year,” Singh said. “There are some simple tricks that you can use to help pay down the credit card debt fast. One of the things that you can do is transfer your credit card balance to a 0% APR credit card, where you might get six to 12 months of 0% APR time. Now you can attack your credit card debt without any interest.”

10. Avoid Late Fees

When you don’t pay your bills on time, you are likely to be charged a late fee — but this can be avoided.

“Take a look at your bills. Take a look at your bank account,” Singh said. “Pay your bills on time, and don’t buy things you don’t have the money for. And if you do this little shift, you can save a lot of money on silly fees that you don’t have to pay.”

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