Sammie Ellard-King
I’m Sammie, a money expert and business owner passionate about helping you take control of your wallet. My mission with Up the Gains is to create a safe space to help improve your finances, cut your costs and make you feel good while doing it.
When you have a savings goal in mind, it can be daunting to get started, especially if your objective is ambitious. But it’s actually easier than you think!
This guide will provide you with helpful tips for cutting back on your expenses and saving £10k in 12 months. This might sound unachievable, but we promise you it’s not!
Follow our advice and your hard work will pay off in no time. Let’s get into how to save 10k in a year!
Plum is the award-wining ultimate smart money app, helping over 1 million people to invest, save and manage their spending with automation.
I'm personally using the app as part of my savings plan and absolutely love their automatic saving features.
Table of Contents
Reasons Why You Should Save £10k
We all have our reasons for wanting to save money, but when you plan on saving £10k within a year, it helps to keep your goal in mind and remember why you’re saving in the first place.Â
Your motives for saving can be absolutely anything, even if you just want an emergency fund for when life gets tough. The most common reasons for wanting to save £10k are:
- To pay for a wedding.
- To put towards a new home.
- To go on holiday.
- To renovate your home.
- To pay off debt.
- To prepare for a new family member.
You should remind yourself of your motivations regularly to keep your saving plan on track. It’ll make the whole process much easier and keep you inspired!
Where To Start Saving
To save £10k in one year, you need to be putting aside around £834 per month, or £27.80 per day.Â
With that in mind if that’s a bit much for you then you could set your sites on saving 5k in a year instead.
This idea of saving this amount of money will be less overwhelming once you analyse your monthly spending and find the best places to make savings.
You should start your saving journey by writing down all of your income and your outgoings. Try to be as meticulous as possible – finding out the specific can help you save quicker. Remember to include:
- Food you purchase during the day.
- Your daily coffee.
- Your weekly food shop.
- Your bills, like gas and electric.
- Your mortgage or rent payments.
- Car expenses, like petrol, MOT, and servicing.
- Clothing expenses.
- Entertainment expenses.
- Other personal expenses, like beauty treatments.
Once you have everything itemised in front of you, you can see if it’s realistic to put £834 into your monthly savings.
If you don’t think you can spare this money, then you can start identifying where you could cut back and save.Â
Budgeting is honestly one of the most important things to do to get a hold of your finances. We’ve built the ultimate budgeting spreadsheet for you so you don’t have to spend hours making one!
Best Ways To Save Money
Re-evaluate Your Bills
If you find that you need to make cutbacks, then try re-evaluating your bills and what you can do to save money on them.Â
Make some calls to your providers and see what you can negotiate with them, and don’t be afraid to be firm! If there’s a service on your phone bill you’re not using, then see if your service provider can cut you a deal.
Maybe you’re carrying too much insurance coverage on an old car and could haggle a better contract with your insurance company.
More often than not, the biggest expense for those who don’t own their home is rent. If you’re one of these people, consider getting yourself a housemate or finding a cheaper place to live.Â
There are even people searching for ways to live rent free these days and there are quite a few of them to be fair!
Automate Your Savings
Automating your savings is a great way to keep you on track to saving £10k.
You can set up a direct debit from your bank account to your savings account every time you get your wages, so you can save a portion of your money every month automatically.
Some debit cards even put aside a small amount every time you make a purchase, so you’ll be able to save as you spend.Â
Check out some of our top savings apps.
Plum is the award-wining ultimate smart money app, helping over 1 million people to invest, save and manage their spending with automation.
I'm personally using the app as part of my savings plan and absolutely love their automatic saving features.
Find Ways To Boost Your Income
If your salary is less than ideal for saving £10k, then there are ways you can supplement your income so you have more to put aside for saving.
There are plenty of money-making techniques that are flexible and can be done from the comfort of your own home. Some of the best ways to earn extra money are:
- Selling your old clothes on eBay.
- Buying and selling on Amazon.
- Renting your parking space.
- Starting an Etsy business.
- Freelance writing.
- Monetise a blog or build websites
- Participating in online surveys.
Cut Back On Entertainment Expenses
It might be tough for the social butterflies among us, however, cutting back on days and nights out will greatly decrease your outgoing spending.
You might be spending hundreds of pounds a month on these expenses and not even realise it!
Consider cheaper options when planning activities with your friends. You might find that night in with some board games and a bottle of wine is more fun than an expensive bar!Â
Plum is the award-wining ultimate smart money app, helping over 1 million people to invest, save and manage their spending with automation.
I'm personally using the app as part of my savings plan and absolutely love their automatic saving features.
In Conclusion
That’s everything you need to know about saving £10k in just 12 months!Â
While it sounds like a lot, saving £10k is not unrealistic! Follow our money-saving tips and you’ll reach your goal in no time at all.
If you’ve got anything to add for the readers leave a comment in the section below.
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Disclaimer: Content on this page is for informational purposes and does not constitute financial advice. Always do your own research before making a financially related decision.
Great post! I completely agree that having a savings goal in mind can be challenging, but with the right strategy, anything is possible. I especially appreciate the advice on cutting back on expenses, as that is a crucial aspect of saving money. I have been trying to save for a down payment on a house, and this guide will definitely come in handy. Thanks for sharing your tips!
Thank you Noah – I totally agree. Learning how to create a saving strategy can be incredibly powerful.