There are so many options when it comes to saving and investing money, that it can be overwhelming for a beginning saver. Creating a nice cushion, or rainy day fund is always a great idea for whatever curveballs life may throw at you or for a financial goal. If you’re new to saving, here are a few suggestions to get you on your way to reaching your savings goals.

Take small steps

Making any drastic changes to your spending or lifestyle habits may backfire. With large and sudden changes to your personal or family spending, you may feel overwhelmed and be more likely to throw in the towel. Start small, with small sacrifices at first. Once you start to see your savings account build, you may feel a little more motivated to cut more of your spending out and stash more cash away in your savings account.

You can begin by setting up automatic monthly withdrawals from your checking account, and have the money directly deposited into your savings account. Having the transaction occur at the same time each month will allow for you to plan for it, and make it seem like more of a necessity than a choice. Start with $10 to $15 per month, and once you see that you’re still able to make ends meet, you can start to up the amount each month.

You can also make little changes to your habits that will benefit your finances overall in the future. One way to do this is to adopt a more eco-friendly lifestyle using alternatives to disposable products. One little change that Get Razor Advice suggest is switching from disposable razors that you need to replace every couple of weeks to a permanent solution like a straight razor or a safety razor. As well as being eco-friendly, this is super purse-friendly too!

Pay attention to your spending

Now that you’ve dipped your toes into the savings world, you can go a step further and look into your spending habits. If you’re spending $4 a day on a specialty coffee, when you could make coffee at home, look into making those changes in order to save yourself money. As mentioned above, starting slowly is key. If you cut out all of your favorite things at once, you’ll be more likely to give up on spending and go back to your favorite things quickly.

Try to cut out your luxury items 25% or less of the time at first, making it a little easier to swallow. Once you get used to your new lifestyle and see how much money you’re able to save by pinching pennies here and there, then you can begin to cut more and more out.

Make sure you’re earning what you’re worth

Now that you’ve looked into making personal sacrifices in order to build your savings account, make sure that you’re not overdue for a raise or promotion at work. With any income, everyone should be stashing cash for their retirement and personal goals; but making sure that you are being compensated fairly is key as well.

Find out what you’re worth, and make sure you’re getting paid exactly that (or more). If you happen to realize that you are overdue for a pay raise, try to take the additional income and put it straight into savings each month rather than adjusting your lifestyle to a larger paycheck.  

Not having an emergency fund can be scary when life’s disasters strike, so make sure that you and your family are fully prepared for whatever comes your way by beginning your saving efforts today.