“Just save money” is a term we hear a lot, especially from those who have either already saved a lot of money and don’t understand why you can’t, from our parents, from financial advisors or gurus, and from banks, just to name a few.

But what if you're already watching every dollar? What if the grocery bill is higher than you'd like, the car needs repairs, and there are bills waiting to be paid before the next paycheque arrives?

Where exactly is this magical money you're supposed to save?

I understand the frustration. When my husband and I were young and just starting our lives together, we didn't have much extra money lying around, but we knew something important: you don't need a lot of money to start saving.

You just have to start somewhere - anywhere.

Start Before You Think It’s Possible

One of the biggest mistakes people make is waiting until they have "extra" money to begin saving.

The problem is that there may never be much extra. There will always be another bill, another birthday, another repair, another grocery trip. If you wait until everything is paid for and life is perfectly comfortable, you could wait forever, and still may never have very much saved.

Instead, start with an amount that doesn't frighten you.

Five dollars.
Ten dollars.
Twenty dollars.

Whatever you can realistically manage.

The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada recommends starting with a realistic amount and building gradually rather than becoming discouraged by a large savings target. Even $5.00 a week adds up to $260.00 in a year, while $20.00 a week adds up to $1,040.00 in a year. That's not a fortune, but it is a beginning.

Give Your Savings a Job To Do

Saving money is much easier when you know what you're saving for.

"Save money" is a pretty vague goal. A goal of saving $1,000.00 for car repairs feels different. Or, a goal to save $20,000.00 towards a down payment on a house feels different again.

Maybe you're saving for an emergency fund. Maybe it's a family vacation, a new car, Christmas, a home renovation, or, for most of us, simply the peace of knowing you have money available when something unexpected happens.

Give your savings a name.

When you know what you're working toward, it's much easier to say no to something you don't really need.

Start With an Emergency Fund

Before you worry about becoming a great investor or reaching some enormous savings goal, I think there's something comforting about having money set aside for the things that life throws at you.

Cars break.
Appliances stop working.
Pets get sick.
Jobs disappear.
Houses need repairs.

These things don't wait until you've had a good month financially.

An emergency fund gives you somewhere to turn when something unexpected happens instead of automatically reaching for a credit card or another form of expensive borrowing. The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (the link is above) recommends eventually working toward roughly three to six months of regular expenses or three to six months of income, but it also emphasizes starting small and building gradually.

Don't let the six-month number scare you. You don't need to have six months of expenses sitting in the bank next Tuesday. Start with $100.00, then $250.00, then $500.00, and keep going.

But What If You Have Debt?

This is a question I’ve asked myself as I’ve been writing blog posts for House of Six.

You may be thinking, "Why would I put money in savings when I still owe money?"

The answer depends on the type and interest rate of your debt, your financial situation, and whether you have any emergency savings at all.

If you're carrying high-interest debt, such as credit card debt, paying it down can often be a very important priority. In my opinion (and as I’ve pointed out before, I am not a financial advisor), you're generally better off paying down debt first because the interest you pay on debt is usually higher than what you can earn by investing.

What if you have debt?

Pay high-interest debt first. The interest is usually higher than what you can earn by investing.

However, I wouldn't necessarily interpret that as don't save a penny until every debt is gone. Life doesn't stop because you have debt. If you have absolutely nothing set aside and your car suddenly needs an expensive repair, you may have no choice but to put that repair on a credit card. That's why I like the idea of building a small emergency cushion while aggressively working on high-interest debt. It just gives you a little breathing room.

Make Saving Part of Everyday Life

One of the easiest ways to save money is to stop making yourself decide every payday. If you wait until the end of the month to see what's left, there may be nothing left. Instead, move a small amount into savings when you get paid. It could be $10.00. It could be $25.00. It could be more, if your budget allows.

Automatic transfers can make saving a habit because the money moves before you have a chance to spend it. When we were able to save more as the kids were growing up, I opened a high-interest E-savings account with our bank and scheduled the same amount into it every month. I didn’t even have to think about it. That amount went into our account on the first of every month, and I’m still doing it even after all these years. It’s amazing how much it has grown into.

Find Money Without Feeling Like You're Depriving Yourself

Here's where my favourite kind of frugal living comes in.

You don't necessarily need to find a huge expense to eliminate. Look for the little leaks. Check out my blog post from July 21, 2026, called The Money Leaks That Quietly Drain Your Savings.

Maybe you order takeout twice a week.
Maybe you buy convenience foods that you could prepare at home.
Maybe you're paying for subscriptions you barely use.
Maybe the grocery cart gets filled with drinks, chips, and snacks that weren't on your list.
Maybe you frequently stop for coffee or use food delivery because you're tired.

I’m not suggesting you eliminate every little pleasure from your life. Instead, choose one or two things.

If you normally spend $20.00 on something every week, try skipping it and put that $20.00 per week into savings. Now you've found $80.00 each month without turning your entire life upside down. Do it again next month.

Small changes are easier to live with, and they can become habits.

Look for little leaks

Take what you would normally spend every week, for example, on lunches, skip the spend, and put it into your savings.

Use Unexpected Money Wisely

Every once in a while, money comes along that wasn't part of your regular budget.

A tax refund.
A work bonus.
A birthday gift.
Money from selling something you no longer need.

Instead of immediately spending all of it, consider giving some of it a job.

Every Christmas, we were fortunate that my father would gift all his kids some money instead of buying gifts. My husband and I would put that money into the bank. Unless we had something specific we wanted to buy, we saved it for later. You don't have to put every unexpected dollar into savings, but perhaps you could divide it. Save half. Use some toward debt. Enjoy the rest.

The exact percentages aren't important. The habit of giving unexpected money a purpose is.

Don't Compare Your Savings to Someone Else's

This one is very important!

You may see someone online talking about having $50,000 in savings and wonder what you're doing wrong.

DON’T.

You don't know their income, expenses, family circumstances, history, or how long they've been saving. Your savings account only needs to be better than it was yesterday.

If you have $200.00 today and had nothing six months ago, that's progress.

If you paid off $1,000.00 of debt this year, that's progress too.

Financial progress doesn't always look dramatic. Sometimes it looks like quietly putting $10.00 into an account every Friday.

Saving Money Is a Habit, Not a One-Time Event

You don't become good at saving money by making one big decision. You become good at it by making hundreds of small decisions over time.

You learn to pause before buying something.
You learn to plan your groceries.
You learn to question convenience spending.
You learn to repair things instead of immediately replacing them.
You learn to put a little money aside before you spend what's left.

Saving money is a habit. Learn to pause before buying.

Eventually, those decisions become normal, and that's when saving starts to feel less like something you're constantly struggling to do and more like simply the way you manage your money. Over time, saving money truly does become a habit.

So, When Should You Start?

Today. Not when you get a raise. Please, not when the kids are older. Not when the mortgage is paid off. Not when you finally have "enough." Start with whatever you can reasonably manage right now.

If you have debt, make a plan to deal with it. Continue making required minimum payments on all debts, and consider directing extra money toward high-interest debt. At the same time, building some emergency savings can help keep an unexpected expense from becoming even more debt.

If your budget is so tight that you genuinely can't save anything right now, start by looking for ways to create a little breathing room - one dollar and one decision at a time.

Finally . . .

Whew! I know this has been a long post. I hope you’ve stayed with me, because when my husband and I started saving money while we were dating, we weren't wealthy. We simply had things we wanted to accomplish, and those goals gave us a reason to be careful with our money.

I think that's really what saving is about. It's not about having a perfect budget. It's not about never spending money, and it's certainly not about depriving yourself of every little pleasure.

It's about deciding what matters to you and making sure your money has a chance to help you get there.

You don't need to start with thousands of dollars.

You just need to start!

(Just a small note: some of the pictures above include affiliate links to Haute Stock, which means I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only share what I trust. If you wish to become a member of Haute Stock, save 15% when you enter the code word houseofsix at the following link: https://members.hautestock.co/a/houseofsix. Thank you!)

Just Save Money