Up until you’re old enough to work, money is more of a luxury than a resource. Instead of it being something you need to both sustain and entertain yourself, it’s most often a pleasant surprise you can use to buy candy bars and action figures. But now that I’m working and consistently earning money, I’ve been trying some ways of saving it, due to the fact I’m staring down the barrel of the first four years of financial independence after I graduate. Individual financial needs are different for everyone, obviously, but I feel like I have created a practical and intelligent outline for people looking to save up money.   

The first thing I would recommend, even for people who aren’t currently working, is to set some goals for what you want to do with your money. If you have ever taken a personal finance class, you should be aware of what short-term and long-term financial goals are. Short-term is under five years, while long-term is anything beyond five years. Now, if you don’t have any financial goals past five years, that’s completely ok. To be completely honest, I don’t either. But no matter what span of time your goals stretch, you should have an understanding of what you need to do to get there. For example, I want to have $2,000 in my bank account before I start college. As of now, I work 30 hours every two weeks, and have about 30 weeks of school left before I graduate. When summer rolls around, I will have more time available to get more hours in. Laying it out like that, it may seem easy, but you have to keep a constant awareness of how much money you have at any given time. That way you can monitor your progress and see how far you are to reaching your goal.

The second thing I would tell you is to be ok with telling yourself “No”. Now, I understand the phrase “Spend less” is pretty redundant and not very helpful in the conversation of saving money. But at the end of the day, more than just “Spending less money”, you need to understand what you are spending money on in order to cut down on what you don’t need. In most cases, people under 18 have more wants than they have needs. Without rent or bills to pay, teenagers get to spend a lot more of their money on food, going out, and hobbies. Because of this, you can get a head start on your savings if you discipline yourself to not buy too many things. For example, I like to buy movie Blu-Rays. They’re not terribly expensive (I buy mostly used), but the costs have a habit of piling up on top of gas and food. Because of this, I’ve limited myself to one movie per paycheck. This obviously varies depending on how expensive or inexpensive your hobbies are, but if you learn to discipline yourself you will have much more money in your pocket on a consistent basis. 

The last thing I would recommend for saving your money is to take more hours. I know it may seem like unnecessary stress, but it will help you dividends in the long run. Not only are you earning more money, but you are strengthening the relationship between you and your managers and potentially opening yourself to a raise. I have also earned favors from the people I have covered shifts for. 

All of these things that I have done to save money have done a whole lot to help me. Hopefully, they can help you as well.