How to save money from your salary

Lawal Oladimeji Abdulraheem
reQuid
3 min readApr 28, 2020

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Saving money may be at the top of your financial to-do list.

But guess what?

The challenge is figuring out how to save from salary while covering your basic living expenses, paying down debt or working toward other financial goals.

Take a look at these SIX strategies that can help you save money from your salary paycheck.

1. Break your paychecks down

First things first, go over your paycheck to see how much take-home pay you have to work with. Your take-home is what’s left after your employer takes out taxes, insurance, and any other deductions,

So, as you’re looking over your paycheck, figure out what your current contribution rate is and see whether you can bump that up by a percentage or two. Even a fractional increase can make a difference in how much you’re able to save long-term.

2. Find money in your paycheck to save

If you’ve been struggling to save so far, this is where you’ll need to dig into your budget to see where you may be able to free up extra cash. When it comes to saving money from a paycheck as a salaried employee, it all comes down to keeping a good budget. If you have money to cover your cost of living and a little money for fun, everything after that should go towards savings.

For example, one of your biggest budget expenses maybe food. If you’re dining out a lot, you could look for money-saving hacks to cut down on the cost. Or, eliminate some meals out and eat more often at home.

3. Make your debt payments less expensive

Consider how you can make your debt payments less expensive. Getting a handle on your income and expenses can help you figure out if you have any extra money to pay down your debt. Paying more than the minimum each month can speed up your payoff timeline.

While you’re focusing on debt payoff, work to build an emergency fund. Even a small one can prevent you from getting deeper into debt if an unexpected expense comes up.

4. Make more money than your salary paycheck

If you’re falling short of your savings goal, maybe it’s time to earn more.

There are two ways to save more money: earn more or spend less.

The best way is to do both at the same time: take on extra hours, start a side hustle, learn a skill that can fetch you more money while taking a hard look at your budget to see what you’ve been wasting money on.

5. Automate savings from your salary paycheck

Once you know how much you need to cover your bills and expenses, you can set money aside from your paycheck to put toward your savings

There are two simple, yet highly effective ways to do this:

  • Set up a direct deposit into your savings account from your paycheck. This way, the money goes straight to savings every payday.
  • If your employer doesn’t offer direct deposit, you can set up an automatic savings transfer from checking to savings each time you’re paid. You just choose the amount to save and the frequency you want the money transferred and you’re done.

These two savings hacks can also be a great way to build your emergency savings fund or add money to save for a long-term goal, like a down payment on a home.

6. Consistency can be your ace in the hole for growing your money

Here’s how this works. You figure out what you need (or want) to save each month. Instead of putting it into the bank right away, you invest.

At requid.com, we offer safe investment opportunities in agritech from verified partners, providing a single platform where you can invest, liquidate (sell) your investments any time, invest with as low as N5,000, and earn interests ranging from 20–50% per annum, usually.

For your comfort and safety, your funds are held by our Trustees, United Capital Trustees.

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