Here’s The Trick To Building Back Up Your Savings After A Splurge

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If we lived in a perfect world, we’d always have a cushy savings account no matter what comes up. Unfortunately, life isn’t fair, and sometimes you spend more than you would like — whether it’s buying holiday gifts or taking your sick dog to the vet. Or maybe you decided to splurge on yourself, and that’s okay. What matters is how you bounce back. Here’s our trick to building back up your savings after they take a hit:

Step 1: Know how much more money you spent than normally would.

To fully assess the damage, take a look at your account. How much do you typically spend in a month and what was the excess for the timeframe? Maybe you spent $500 on holiday gifts, which means you have a $500 “deficit,” or you have to make up $500 to balance your account.

Step 2: Determine a timeline for rebounding.

Setting a deadline for making up the money is important, because then you have a goal to work toward. Depending on how much you spent, you’ll be able to set yourself straight in a month, or half a year. Make sure to keep the timeline tight, but achievable.

Step 3: Break up the debt into payments.

No matter the timeline, break up your total amount spent into small weekly payments. Your loss of $500 from the holiday gifts means you could strive to save $125 a week for a month, or $62.50 a week for two months. The concept behind weekly payments keeps your goals more granular and in-the-moment, as opposed to lofty monthly payments.

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Step 4: Identify ways you can cut back on costs.

Now you actually have to figure out how to save the money without suffering, right? Take a look at your miscellaneous purchases, or the “wants” vs. necessary purchases like bills, groceries and rent. What can you cut out temporarily? Here are some tiny, yet powerful, ways to reach your financial goal faster:

• Suspend your automated payments and manually pay for each bill and purchase. (You’ll think more about how much money you’re spending.)
• Put cable on pause for a month.
• Delay any monthly subscriptions.
• Learn to make your own latte or other specialized coffee drink at home.
• Meal-prep like crazy instead of eating at restaurants or ordering Seamless.
• Raincheck on drinks at least once each week.

Everyone has deliberate and unexpected splurges in their adult lives, so when it happens to you, know that you’re not alone. You can revive your savings account — all you need is a little strategy. Follow our steps and you’ll be back in the black in no time.