How to Save £10k in a Year

Do you want to know how to save £10k in a year?

£10,000 is a huge amount of money and you might think a sum like that is out of reach. In fact a few years ago I might’ve agreed with that thought myself, but now I know that it’s not impossible.

With a bit of determination, restraint and know-how, it’s entirely possible to save £10k in a year – depending on your situation, you may even be able to save more than that.

In this article we’ll look at ways to increase your income, decrease your outgoings and discuss mindset hacks to help you save £10,000 in one year.

I won’t pretend that it will be easy – if you’re on a low income especially you might find it hard to believe you can achieve it. But I promise you that when you hit that goal, it’ll all be worth it.

And once you’ve mastered the art of setting and achieving such big goals, you’ll be able to do anything you set your mind to.

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How to Save £10k in a Year

There are 3 main areas to focus on when setting out to achieve any savings goal.

1. Reducing your outgoing expenses.
2. Increasing your income.
3. Maintaining motivation.

But before you look at any of those things, it helps to get yourself in the right mindset to save.

It’s easy to say ‘I want to save £10k this year’ but if you don’t get clear on your why, and make a plan to help you get there then you’re probably not going to achieve your goal.

Why do you want to save £10k in a year?

The reason most new year’s resolutions fail is because they’re set without intention.

We say that we’ll ‘go to the gym 3 times a week’ or ‘save £500 a month’ just because they’re the kind of goals that everyone sets. But if those goals don’t truly mean anything to you, then how are you going to stay motivated when it starts getting hard?

Getting super clear on your ‘why’ is the first step to success.

…so ask yourself, ‘why do I want to save £10,000 this year?’

You might want to:

• Save to travel
• Buy your first home
• Build a maternity pot to have a baby
• Pay for a wedding

Whatever the case may be, having that end goal clear in your mind will help you to keep going when motivation starts to falter. When you’re tempted to get a £30 takeaway rather than spend 30 minutes cooking because you’ve had a hard day, you’ll be able to visualise that end goal and use that vision to stop yourself when you feel like spending.

Once you’re clear on your ‘why’ make sure you’re constantly reminding yourself of it.

You could:

• Make a vision board
• Set a picture of your goal as your phone lock screen
• Print out a savings tracker and stick it somewhere you’ll see it every day.

…you could even change your passwords to something relevant like ‘housedeposit’ (though obviously chuck some special characters in there to keep your accounts secure!) – that way, the next time you log in to Just Eat to order a lazy takeaway, you’ll be forced to remember your goal.

What does £10k savings in a year look like?

Once you’re clear on your why, you need to help make yourself believe that it’s achievable.

So what does £10k in a year actually look like?

£10,000 a year breaks down into:

• Monthly – £833.33
• Weekly – £192.31
• Daily – £27.40

When you break it down into smaller chunks it looks much less intimidating.

You could easily spend £27.40 a day couldn’t you? So why is it such a stretch to think that you could save that amount?

Getting Started

How much can you afford to save each month?

Once you’ve got a clear vision of why you want to save, it’s time to plan how you’re going to do it.

So to start we need to figure out how much you can initially afford to put towards this goal each month.

To do this, you need to create a budget if you don’t already have one.

This will allow you to see exactly what’s coming in and what’s going out.

You can then transfer the difference between the two to savings.

Once you’ve calculated this number, set up a standing order to transfer this money out of your account on payday just like any other bill.

This is known as ‘paying yourself first’ – you’re much more likely to actually save if you set the money aside at the start of the month, rather than waiting to see what’s left at the end (because usually, it’s not a lot!).

How much do you need to find?

Once you’ve calculated how much you can afford to set aside each month, you can work out your shortfall.

For example, let’s say that after bills and variable expenses, you have £200 left over.

This would mean that in order to hit your £10k target in a year, you need to find a further £633 a month.

It might sound completely unachievable but once again, the key is breaking that figure down into manageable chunks.

So how can I find an extra £633 a month?

Give Yourself a Headstart

When I set myself any savings goal I like to give myself a headstart.

Starting from £0 can be a daunting prospect so I find being able to put something straight into the savings pot and colouring in a square on my progress chart gives me a boost of much needed motivation.

To do this, I go on a ‘money hunt’. I.e. finding any spare cash that might be lurking around – both virtual and actual physical cash.

So where might you find any forgotten cash?

• Gather up all the spare change in your house and take it to be banked – this could include penny jars, loose change lurking in junk drawers or handbags, …the car, coat pockets – anywhere in your home you might find some stray coins. (Don’t forget that old and out of circulation notes and coins can still be banked)
• Gift vouchers – not actual cash no, but if you were planning on buying something that could be purchased using a voucher instead then the cash that was allocated for that spend can be saved.
• Online accounts – see if any of your survey site accounts have a withdrawable balance, check your cashback accounts for any cashback that might now be payable, Get Paid To websites etc.
• Returns – have you bought anything in the last month that needs to be taken back? Don’t lose that money. Return it for a refund and put it in your pot.

Once you’ve done this exercise, you might be pleasantly surprised by just how much money you had lying around unnoticed!

Reducing Your Outgoing Expenses

The next place to start with finding that savings shortfall, is going through your outgoings with a fine tooth comb.

Every time you find a bill or expense you can reduce, increase your standing order by that saving so that your day to day spending doesn’t swallow it up.

You might also enjoy…How to Budget Your Money on a Low Income

Reducing Your Fixed Expenses

A lot of people forget that they can save money on their fixed expenses. Everything is set up by Direct Debit and so it’s easy to just accept that bills are what they are.

But my guess is, there are some expenses that you can reduce.

The best way to do this is to clear an afternoon or few hours to focus solely on this exercise.

Get your laptop, a pen and paper and have your phone to hand.

Start by printing off last month’s bank statement and go through it line by line, highlighting each time you see a Standing Order, Direct Debit or regular payment for another bill.

Then transfer these items into a list on your note paper.

If you have online accounts, it’s also helpful to have your login information to hand too.

After this, it’s a case of tackling each bill one at a time and seeing if it can be reduced.

Need more help or some suggestions?

My email course ‘10 Days to a Better Budget‘ is FREE when you sign up to the newsletter and gives step by step guidance on specific bills and what discounts/saving could be made.

You might also enjoy…How to Live on a Small Income and Thrive

Reducing Your Variable Expenses

Variable expenses are less straightforward because it’s trickier to get a handle on what you’re actually spending.

The best way to do this is to keep a spending diary and then go through and categorise all your spending at the end of the month.

This way you’ll know exactly how much you spent on fuel, groceries, eating out, socialising, buying clothes… or whatever the case may be.

Once you know how much you already spend you can try to reduce these amounts and save the difference.

• Food shopping – there are lots of tips and tricks you can use to get that grocery bill down such as meal planning, batch cooking, dropping a brand etc. I’ve written a post full of ideas here: Save Money On Your Food Shop – 10 Top Tips
• Fuel – fuel is a tougher category, particularly right now as the prices are through the roof. But you can still make some savings by using the car less, ensuring your car is running efficiently and comparing petrol prices in your local area. Find more tips in this post: Ways to Reduce Your Petrol Bill and Save Money on Fuel
• Eating Out – eating out is a luxury when you’re trying to save money so you could cut this spending completely. However, deprivation usually leads falling off the wagon completely! Instead, I’d suggest cutting down the number of times you eat out and shopping smarter when you do. This post has more tips: 7 Ways to Save Money on Eating Out
• Clothing – again, this category is a ‘luxury’ (unless all your clothes are completely threadbare or you have children who are growing at a rapid rate!) so you could choose to cut this back completely for a while. However, if this is something you think you’ll struggle with, you might find this post useful: How to Stop Spending Money on Clothes

Other tips for reducing your variable expenses:

• Say no or offer alternative cheaper suggestions when you receive a social invite. This post might help: How to Say No to Spending Money Without Feeling Guilty
• Try using cash only – only take with you what you have budgeted and leave your card at home.
• Shop out of season – buy Christmas decorations and gift wrap, Halloween and Easter stuff etc after the season ends when shops reduce stock by up to 90%. Buy next years summer clothes in Autumn when the sales start and vice versa. Forward planning can help save you a tonne of money.

Increasing Your Income

So we’ve worked out how much we can afford to save each month. We’ve cut our outgoing expenses to increase that figure further… but it’s still not enough.

The next step? Increasing your income.

Increase your income? What a simple solution to all of life’s money problems, eh? If only it was that easy!

I’m not suggesting that you go and demand a payrise from your employer.

Nor am I suggesting that you look for a better paid job. (Though, if either of those things are feasible options for you, then by all means – go for it!)

In the current climate, many people feel lucky that they even still have employment.

But with the cost of living crisis and inflation on the rise, the reality is that wages are stagnant and simply ‘getting higher pay’ isn’t a realistic solution.

So instead of relying on external parties to increase your income, there are several things you can do to help put more money into your bank account.

Give Yourself a Payrise

When the majority of people get to pay day, their main concern is the money hitting their bank.

They’re less concerned with their payslip – assuming that payroll and the tax man are doing their jobs right.

But the reality is, ensuring your pay is correct is down to you. And if you don’t understand what various items and deductions on your payslip mean then you could risk paying too much tax.

There are also some tax allowances that you may be able to claim but are not – meaning you’ll be paying more tax than you should be.

Things to look into:

• Uniform tax allowance – this article from Money Saving Expert is really informative (claims can also be backdated so if you can get it, you might get a refund).
• Marriage allowance – if you’re married and you or your spouse earns under the annual personal allowance (currently £12,570) you could transfer a portion of your unused allowance to your partner to reduce their taxable income (claims can also be backdated so if you can get it, you might get a refund).
• If your tax code isn’t the standard 1257L – do you understand why? If the number is lower check that your personal allowance isn’t reducing by old taxable benefits that you no longer receive (for example).

(I am not a financial advisor. This post is based on my own experiences and research and should be used for informational purposes only. Consult a qualified professional if you need tax advice.)

Check Your Entitlements

It was recently reported that an estimated £15bn of benefits go unclaimed each year.

Does that figure include your household?

It’s not just the unemployed or minimum wage workers that are entitled to financial help. You could be too.

So it’s worth taking a few minutes and inputting your information into a benefits calculator like entitled.to to check whether there’s anything that you could be claiming.

Declutter to Raise Extra Cash

A recent study estimated the UK households have on average £2,600 worth of unwanted possessions in their home.

So have a sort out and turn that unwanted stuff into cash.

I have an archive full to the brim of eBay articles and a comprehensive guide to selling on Vinted too.

Here are my favourite ways to turn clutter into cash.

• Facebook Marketplace for furniture and low value household items (no fees and the buyer collects).
• Vinted for clothes and shoes (unless it’s a higher end item in which case it’ll go on ebay).
• eBay for more expensive things – tech, jewellery, nicer clothes, sought after toys.
• Car boot sales for anything I’d sell for less than a fiver (excluding clothes because I’ll whack them on Vinted for £1) – think puzzles, kids books, random household bric-a-brac.
• Music Magpie/Ziffit/WeBuyBooks – scan in books, cds and dvds in exchange for a few pennies – you won’t make huge amounts, but this kind of thing is pretty worthless now so it’s best to free up the space and get something for them. (except textbooks – whack them on ebay).
• Mobile phone recycling – I use a comparison tool to find out which sites will give me the most money for my old, less than perfect mobiles.

Need some help with packing? You’ll find all my packaging recommendations on my Selling Supplies page.

Start a Side Hustle

A side hustle is something you do on the side of your regular job to make extra money.

Side hustles are flexible and there are so many options to choose from.

The right side hustle for you will depend on your free time and other commitments but once you’ve found one that works, it can be a gamechanger.

Need some help? This post is crammed full of everything you need to know about side hustles and some ideas to get you started: 30+ Side Hustle Ideas to Try in the UK 

For me, side hustles have been a lifesaver.

When I was made redundant I made the decision not to return to full time employment.

I now work solely on my ‘side hustles’ (I guess they’re not a side hustle anymore!) around looking after my two young children full time.

Last month I only worked for 7 hours – and I still made over £700!

My favourite side hustles are:

• Blogging
• Matched Betting
• Selling our old stuff

Working on Your Mindset

Finding the extra savings and increasing your income, is in my opinion the easiest part of saving £10k in a year.

The hardest part, I think is actually leaving those savings untouched and not dipping back into the pot.

Because let’s be honest, it’s easy to say “I can cut £20 a week from my grocery budget”. But when it comes to actually doing it, it might not be so simple.

If you want to set and achieve big money goals then you have to show restraint but that’s much easier said than done.

Mindset plays a huge part in how we manage our money and sometimes all it takes is one bad day to send us into an overspending spiral.

So what can we do about that?

Break it down

We mentioned earlier that taking the £10k goal as a whole can be quite intimidating, so it can really help to break it down into manageable chunks.

One really great method is taking it 1% at a time. So instead of focusing on the £10k, you focus on 1% of that which is £100.

Work on saving £100 at a time. My savings tracker can help you visualise your progress. If £100 a time still feels too much, you can break it down even further and focus on £10.

It’s all psychological but it can really help you to rewire you brain into seeing your goal as achievable.

Reward yourself

Trying to achieve such a lofty goal comes at a price and means cutting out unnecessary expenditure and saying ‘no’ a lot.

Living this way can get tiresome, even if it is only for a year.

The trouble is when you start to feel despondent, that’s when your commitment can start to wear.

That’s why it’s important to ensure that you make room for some treats.

It doesn’t have to be anything big. You could say “if I come in under grocery budget this month, then we can have a fakeaway/cheap lunch out/whatever as a treat”

You might reward yourself for hitting savings milestones – for example every time you hit £1,000 you might buy a nice bottle of wine to celebrate.

It’s important that you don’t completely deprive yourself during your savings journey because that’s when it becomes easier to throw the towel in.

Challenge Yourself

I think most of us will admit that sometimes our competitive side can come into play. So why not make saving a challenge?

Rope a friend into doing a car boot sale and see who can sell the most.

List a load of stuff on Facebook Marketplace and see how quickly you can make £100.

Try a flipping challenge. Buy something from a car boot or charity shop for a fiver and turn it into profit. Reinvest that profit and so on and challenge yourself to make £100/£200/£500 from that five pound. (Remember reselling profits are taxable income so don’t forget to record this).

 Get Accountable

My greatest successes come from making myself publicly accountable for my goals on my Instagram page.

I’ve set myself side hustle challenge and lofty goals to make an extra £1,000 a month which I’ve achieved (or gotten pretty close to!) because I’ve made that public declaration and so I feel more pushed to see it through.

You don’t have to set up an Instagram page (though there’s a great, supportive money community if you do!) but you could just ask a friend or family member to check in with you.

Have a fall back

What’s your weakness when you feel like you want to spend money?

Mine is always food. If I have a bad day, takeaway temptation often gets the better of me.

You might like online shopping or buying new clothes, going out to eat or for drinks… whatever the case may be, have a fall back.

What do I mean by this? Something that’ll feed your desire to spend without actually spending much money.

So for me, I like to keep a slightly more expensive frozen pizza in the freezer (bbq chicken stuffed crust if you will) and I’ll save that for the nights I’m desperate to order in. It only takes 10 minutes in the oven anyway so is quicker than a takeaway and as it’s a slightly more expensive variation than I usually buy it hits the treat spot.

If you spend on new clothes, could you try hitting up Vinted instead? Set yourself a limit – try and get a new outfit for a tenner. Often, just the act of browsing is enough.

Other Tips to Help You Save £10k

Cashback

Don’t forget to go through a cashback website whenever you’re spending online to earn some extra pennies back.

Especially if you’re buying insurance or a new phone contract! The two best sites out there are TopCashBack* and Quidco*

Also, make sure you’re signed up to Airtime Rewards* (use referral code 8H66U99H for a sign up bonus) and have connected your debit card to automatically earn money back on spends. You can then use this cashback towards your mobile phone bill (or if your provider is not in their list, you can transfer the cash to your bank account).

Free Money Offers

These are one time offers so not something you can do as an ongoing side hustle but many apps will offer you an incentive for signing up.

Check out my free money page for more.

Summary – How to Save £10k in a Year

So there we have it. My step-by-step guide to saving £10,000 in one year.

I hope that this post has shown you that any goal you set for yourself is achievable.

You just need to break it down into manageable chunks, stay committed and build good habits that keep you on track when the motivation inevitably runs out.

Don’t forget, you can grab my FREE printable saving trackers when you join the mailing list. Sign up here to get access to these resources and more in my freebie library.

Other Ways to Make Money Online

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Not sure where to start? Check out my money making archives here.

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