5 Strategies To Save $4K Quickly, According to Rachel Cruze

Commitment to Our Readers

GOBankingRates' editorial team is committed to bringing you unbiased reviews and information. We use data-driven methodologies to evaluate financial products and services - our reviews and ratings are not influenced by advertisers. You can read more about our editorial guidelines and our products and services review methodology.

20 Years
Helping You Live Richer

Reviewed
by Experts

Trusted by
Millions of Readers

Having extra money tucked away is great for your financial security and peace of mind, but trying to save money can sometimes feel like an uphill battle.

In a video uploaded to her YouTube channel, personal finance author and influencer, Rachel Cruze of the Ramsey Network, shared her best tips for saving $4,000 quickly. Here’s a closer look at her approach, so you can try these saving strategies for yourself.

Set and Track a Budget

Cruze’s first tip for saving $4,000 is tracking where all of your money goes with a budget. Every dollar counts when you’re trying to save money, so you need to know how much you’re spending and on what. 

You can use a budgeting app or the old, reliable pen-and-paper method. Either way, you should you assign every dollar of your salary to a certain category like utilities, food, transportation, etc. One of these categories should be savings, so you can hold yourself accountable for contributing every month.  

Looking at your spending habits will also help you find places to cut expenses. For example, you might see that you’re spending $500 monthly on dining and entertainment. This could make you decide to cut back in that area to save more money. 

As Cruze said, some of your spending is “just the rhythm of life,” that it almost becomes so routine that you don’t realize you’ve lost track of where your money is going.

Tracking your spending will make you more aware and make it easier to cut unnecessary expenses. 

Try a No-Buy Month

No-buy challenges gained attention earlier this year when people started posting about them online. Participants in the challenge are supposed to commit to not buying non-essential items for a given time, up to a year.  

Cruze said she did one month of no-buying after she realized she was consistently splurging on small items like shirts she didn’t need.

“I gave myself 30 days where I’m not going to buy clothes, and it’s amazing when you say, ‘Oh yeah, I was just kind of doing that.'” 

Similar to tracking your spending, the no-buy challenge is about being more mindful of your spending habits. As it turns out, you probably don’t need many of the things you buy.

Taking some time to purchase only what you need can help you realize what’s important and what’s not worth spending money on, even once the challenge is over. 

Start a Side Hustle

You’ve probably heard about side hustles since people have been talking about them a lot in recent years. In case you haven’t, a side hustle is work you do outside your main job to bring in a little extra income when you have time. 

Starting a side hustle will boost your monthly income, giving you more opportunities to save. Even better, it can be anything that fits into your schedule and lets you earn money. 

Popular side hustles include:

• Food delivery
• Affiliate marketing
• Ride-share driving
• Online tutoring
• Being a virtual assistant
• Filling out online surveys
• House sitting
• Dog walking

Cruze gave the example of working as a ride-share driver for 10 hours per week. If you earned $20 per hour doing that, that would be an extra $800 every month. After just five months of saving your side hustle money, you’d have $4,000. 

Check Your Subscriptions

The average American household has four video subscription services, totaling $61 per month in subscription fees. That adds up to over $700 each year. 

You might not even realize all the subscription services you’re paying for unless you closely monitor your expenses. It’s all too easy to let a subscription fall through the cracks and keep paying for it even after you lose interest. 

“Maybe you got Apple TV to watch a show, and now it’s over, and you’re like ‘Why are we still paying for Apple TV? Let’s cancel that,” she explained.

Review all your subscriptions and ask yourself if they add value to your life. Eliminating one or two from your budget won’t get you to the $4,000 savings goal right away, but it will help. 

Meal Prep

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, food is the third-largest expenditure for U.S. households, behind housing and transportation. While food prices have increased significantly in recent years, there are ways to lower your food bills.

One option is strategic meal planning with affordable ingredients. With a meal plan, you decide on a menu for your weeks’ meals and buy exactly what you need at the grocery store. Doing this makes it easier to cook and eat at home, reducing the temptation of prepared foods or eating out at restaurants.

The savings from meal planning and prepping will add up sooner than you think.

Try one or a few of Cruze’s strategies, and you’ll see $4,000 in your bank account before you know it.

Share This Article: