The Internal Revenue Service is automatically sending $1,400 stimulus payments to about one million Americans who never claimed their COVID-19 relief checks from 2021, according to a recent announcement.
If you’re eligible, you should receive your payment by late January 2025. But for the millions of Americans who won’t be getting this payment, there’s still a way to build your own safety net. Having $1,400 saved up could help make an unexpected situation, such as a pandemic, a little easier to navigate.
Saving money during tough economic times – especially during high unemployment or business slowdowns – isn’t easy. But having your own emergency fund equal to a stimulus check, without waiting for government aid, can provide crucial financial security when you need it most.
Here are six tips to help you achieve this goal and give you greater peace of mind.
1. Divide your savings goal up
Choose the savings goal that works best for you. Daily, weekly or monthly savings goals are a great way to kick-start your emergency fund. For example, saving a little more than $3.83 per day for one year could get you to that $1,400 goal.
Saying you’re going to save without a plan is going to make it a more difficult goal to accomplish. Smaller goals should help make the process easier to keep up with.
2. Budget to find the money and trim your expenses
Knowing how much money you’re bringing in and spending each month can help you start to identify ways to save more. Budgeting is one of the best ways to find these saving opportunities.
Cutting a recurring service that’s billed and rarely used or one that’s no longer needed can be one of the most efficient ways to find extra money.
It’s hard for people to follow through with a budget, says John McGowan, CFP, advisor and founder at Mandala Financial Advisors in Des Moines, Iowa. “Just because it’s our nature not to want to lock ourselves in,” McGowan says.
3. Automate your savings
Remembering to save is a tough thing to do.
That’s why having money sent to your savings before ever seeing it is one of the best ways to save.
“The way I tell my younger clients to get motivated to do that is obviously to just take it off the top of what they earn and never see it first,” says Missie Beach, CFP at Wiser Wealth Management, LLC in Marietta, Georgia.
This can be done by setting up a split-deposit, which means part of your direct deposit is sent to a different account than the rest of your paycheck.
Your bank also might be able to make recurring transfers between accounts to help you save on a set schedule.
4. Make sure you don’t touch the money in the emergency fund
People should treat their emergency fund, during non-emergencies, like they treat their retirement accounts before retirement.
“With the 401(k) it’s that mentality, like, ‘Oh, I better not touch that 401(k),’” Beach says. “… I know it’s for retirement. I know there’s a big penalty if I do. So if people can just translate that to this emergency savings fund, like, it’s a must-do.”
It’s important to remember what this account is earmarked for. But some banks will let you take this a step further.
“Label it ‘do not touch’ or label it ‘emergency savings,’” Beach says. “So then there is that extra layer of guilt if you even think about going to transfer money out. It just kind of pings you with that pang of like, ‘I shouldn’t be doing this.’”
5. Keep your emergency fund at a separate bank
Another way to try and not touch this money is to keep it in a place that you might not regularly see. This place could be in a high-yield savings account at an online bank. Though annual percentage yields (APYs) are generally lower than they were earlier this year, these accounts are still currently outpacing long-term inflation.
It’s not a bad idea to have your savings at a different bank than your primary checking account, McGowan says. It’s about separating assets in order to build those savings habits.
“You have to visualize having that as a separate bank vault versus your day-to-day living expenses,” McGowan says.
Transferring money from savings to checking at the same bank can be done easily thanks to online banking and mobile banking. Before you know it, your emergency fund could be depleted and used for other purposes.
6. Take advantage of extra money
McGowan recommends putting any money above your normal paycheck into a separate account – either your $1,400 emergency fund or another savings goal.
A stimulus check, a bonus, overtime, a raise or even an inheritance can be good opportunities to save. Try and set aside at least part of any income like this that might not be received on a regular basis.
Taking advantage of these saving events can help you boost your savings or make up for a bad week or month of saving.
Bottom line
Finding expenses you can trim, automating your savings and having an attainable savings goal can all help your efforts to save the equivalent of a $1,400 stimulus check in the next year.
Once you reach the $1,400 goal, consider building toward three to six months’ worth of expenses — the typically recommended amount for a full emergency fund.
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