Case Study: How I Saved $10,000 in 6 Months
Not too long ago, i decided to take a challenge with myself, and just to prove to my friends and family that everyone is able to save $10,000 in 6 months, and i did.
In this post i will explain how i step by step followed a simple strategy (which you can too) to save over $10,000 in 6 months or even less.
Goal Setting
The most important part of this journey is setting a goal that you actually COMMIT to, otherwise you will lose your determination and you will spend what you have saved, so:
- Set a goal (Money Goal + Timeline) Preferably attach them to something emotional, like an anniversary, graduation, or a wedding. it will motivate you much more and protects you from impulse spending.
Since my saving goal was $10,000 in 6 months, my financial goal was clear, and my bet (emotional) was an investment to put this money into, which was motivational enough to push me towards my goal aggressively.
Break the Saving Goal into smaller Goals
This was the game-changer.
I opened the Saving Goal Calculator on my site and entered:
Target Amount: $10,000
Timeframe: 6 months
Start Date: That very day
Monthly Saving Target: Automatically calculated as $1,667/month
Getting to know this number made everything much easier, knowing that i need to save $1,670 a month got me into the next step which is tracking my expenses to know what to cut down in order to save.
Track my Expenses
I created an Excel sheet that i can track all my main expenses and started monitoring small day to day expenses to know where exactly to save and what to cut down on.
My main expenses were:
- Rent ($2,900/Month)
- Transportation ($1,000/Month)
- Food ($1,000/Month)
- Phone Bill ($200/Month)
My day to day expenses were:
- Coffee ( $500/Month)
- Snacks ($300Month)
- Cigarettes ($500/Month)
- Misc ($300/Month)
Seeing this made everything much easier, and more attainable, now i can see what to cut down on and how to get to the $1,670 a month.
Firstly, I negotiated with my landlord to cut my expenses down to:
- Rent: $2,600/Month (I offered to repay after 8 months (When the invested Money pays back)
- transportation: $500/Month (I stopped using my car, and started commuting with public transportation)
- Food $800/Month (Instead of ordering every day, i started cooking and preparing my meals at home)
- Phone Bill: $100/Month (i deactivated my plan and used pre paid plans)
- Coffee $300/Month (I replaced my Starbucks coffee with a coffee from the gas station or cafeteria)
- Snacks $200/Month (There are few snacks that i also prepared at home, like chips and biscuits with home made snacks)
- Cigarettes $200/Month (I did not want to put extra pressure and quit, so i reduced smoking)
- Misc: $200/ Month (in order not to let myself go under pressure, i just cut down on few expenses and cancelled some subscriptions.
Calculating all that, it made me end up with around $1,700 a month, which makes me be on track with my goal, and here comes the important part.
Automating My Expenses, Detach My Savings
Automating the expenses was very important, so immediately pay off everything as soon as i get paid, buy my groceries by the start of the week, recharge my phone only when i needed.
Detaching the savings was harder, i had to open an account where i can put my savings in and leave the card at home so i have no access to them.
In this step i needed to have a lot of discipline, i put photos of my investment everywhere around the house, and i was repeating affirmations to remind me of my goal and my ability to save that money and start investing to have more financial freedom.
Tracking Progress Weekly
Basically, $1,700 a month is $425 a week, so every weekend i would sit down and and do the math and averaging around $425 was the goal every week, and the week i save less, i would know that i have to put more pressure into saving more the week after.
I have to reward myself for more motivation, so the week i get to $425 i would reward myself with a coffee or my favorite chocolate so i stay motivated towards my saving goal.
I learned this from a great book (Atomic Habits) By James Clear, it is a great book to learn how to develop habits especially f you are aiming to become successful or get rid of bad habits.
Results After 6 Months
I didn’t just hit $10,000 — I passed it.
By month five, I had already saved around $8,477, so I pushed hard in the final month and ended with $10,640.
It felt surreal.
As i promised my friends and family, i was successfully able to invest $10,000 towards that business (Which i will write about in future posts) and the extra $640 i started them for a different saving goal but i rewarded myself with a movie ticket and some popcorn.
What You Can Learn From This
Here’s what I want you to take away from my story:
Don’t save without a goal know your “why and when”
Use a calculator to make your savings real and visual
Automate your process and remove daily decisions
Small lifestyle tweaks go a long way
Track progress. It makes the journey satisfying
If you’ve been thinking, “I’ll start saving soon,” this is your sign.
Open a saving goal calculator, enter your numbers, and start today, even if it’s just $50 a week.
The best time to start was yesterday.
The second best time is now.
Want to Save Smarter?
If you haven’t already, check out the free Saving Goal Calculator.
No login, no fluff — just results. Use it to set your first real target, and you’ll be shocked how fast you make progress once you get specific.
Let’s grow together.
