Looking to put more money into your savings account each month? It's easier said than done, and when it comes to personal finance small changes to your spending and savings habits are what make the biggest difference to your savings account balance. Adjusting your daily habits, monitoring your monthly expenses more closely, and keeping a monthly budget are just a few ways you can save more money. 

The list below outlines some of the best ways to start saving more money each month. Using these money-saving tips to improve your spending habits will help you increase your monthly savings to achieve your personal financial goals. 

1. Create a Monthly Budget 

One of the best ways to start saving money each month is to create a budget for yourself to help understand what your current money habits are and how you could adjust your spending so more of your money is going into your savings account every month. 

The first step to starting a budget is to categorize your expenses between wants (streaming service charges, gym membership, money spent at restaurants, money spent on trips, etc.) and necessities (rent payments, phone plan, debt repayment, monthly mortgage payment, monthly bill payments, etc.). Once you categorize your monthly expenses, you'll have a better sense of where you can cut back your spending and determine what is a reasonable amount of money to put into savings every month. A reminder that it's also important to set aside an emergency fund as part of your budget as a safety net against anything unexpected like medical expenses or unemployment. 

While everyone's financial situation is unique, one of the more common budgets to help you save money every month is the 50-30-20 budget. This simply means that every month you allot 50% of your income to necessary expenses, 30% to wants, and 20% to savings and debt repayment. And by using a budget calculator or spreadsheet to track your expenses, you should be able to save quite a bit of money each month.

2. Set Monthly Savings Goals

Once you create a budget for yourself, it's important to set savings goals and hold yourself accountable to those goals. These goals can include putting a certain amount of money into your retirement account or paying off a certain amount of credit card debt every month. Be sure to set specific, but realistic goals for yourself -- creating a budget to get a sense of your current spending will help with this. 

3. Automate Monthly Transfers to Your Savings Account

Once you set up a budget and determine your monthly savings goals, an easy way to ensure you save money each month is to set up automatic monthly transfers from your checking account into savings. This is an easy, one-time step to take that will save you money over time without any additional action on your part. 

4. Change Your Grocery Shopping Habits

It may seem like a small thing, but changing your habits when you go to the supermarket every week can help you save money on groceries and in turn put more money into your savings account every month. By making a list before you head to the grocery store every week (and then sticking to it once you're at the store), you can avoid any impulse purchases that can increase your spending.

Another small step that can save you a lot at the grocery store every week is making sure you are signed up for whatever loyalty program your supermarket offers and clip any coupons for discounts on your groceries. In most cases, all you need to do to receive loyalty program benefits and discounts from a grocery store is provide your phone number or email. 

5. Save Money on Restaurant Spending

This tip goes hand in hand with changing your grocery shopping habits. If you're tired after work and don't really feel like taking the time to plan a meal, go to the store and buy the necessary ingredients, cook, and clean up, it can be easy to order takeout or go to your favorite neighborhood restaurant for a meal. However, eating out is significantly more expensive than cooking at home, and cutting back on how much you spend at restaurants each month is one of the easiest ways to save money. 

Trying to totally eliminate eating out at restaurants is an unreasonable goal for most people, but luckily there are other ways to spend less if you want to save money while still enjoying a meal out at your favorite local spot. First, try skipping appetizers, dessert, or that second round of drinks. You could also try splitting an entree with your dining companions. Many credit cards reward spending at restaurants, so if you feel like cutting back on how often you eat out is a tough ask, explore which credit cards can help offset that type of spending. 

6. Cancel Unnecessary Subscriptions 

Have you ever signed up for a streaming service because you really want to watch a show, and then once you've watched it you forget to cancel your subscription and a year later you look at your bank statement and realize you're still being charged? If you don't want to waste money, it's important to keep track of recurring, monthly charges. When you sign up for a subscription service, always be sure to uncheck the "auto-renew" option and review your credit card and bank account statements monthly to make sure you aren't getting hit with any recurring charges you lost track of. Also, be sure to avoid signing up for free trials that require you to provide payment information upfront or set a reminder on your phone to opt out before the trial ends. 

7. Open a High-Yield Savings Account

If you're taking some of the steps we've outlined to improve your spending and savings habits, one of the best ways to save money is to make sure you put your money to work for you. If you put money into a high-yield account, your savings will accumulate interest at a faster pace and lead to big savings, and reach your monthly goals.

8. Apply Discipline to Your Spending Habits

This is easier said than done, but by setting rules for yourself when it comes to spending you'll easily be able to increase how much you save each month. It's important to try to minimize online, impulse shopping whenever possible. Do you really need that new avocado pitter you got an ad for, or will a regular old knife work? You can even set a rule for yourself so that you wait a set amount of time -- say two weeks -- between when something catches your eye and when you decide whether to purchase it to see if you really want it or if the impulse passes. Another suggestion to help cut back on impulse buying online is to avoid saving your billing information with online retailers you frequent. Developing more responsible spending habits will make it easier to save your money. 

9. Shop Around for Large Purchases

When you're shopping for a big-ticket item like a car, appliance, or piece of furniture, it helps to time your purchases around annual sales and track prices over time to make sure you're getting the best deal. And when you're shopping in person, be sure to determine if the store you're planning to buy at has a price match policy to ensure you're getting the best deal out there. 

10. Pay Off Debt

Lingering debt payments, especially high-interest credit card debt, can make saving extremely difficult. If you're able to pay off high-interest debt quickly through extra payments, you'll save money by reducing the amount you spend on total interest paid. As you pay off high-interest debt, you'll be able to redirect more of your money into savings each month.

No matter what savings goals you set for yourself, Leader Bank is here to help with a range of innovative banking solutions including our Zeugma Reward Savings accounts with the potential to earn more interest, Money Market accounts to help you maximize your hard-earned savings, and a full suite of financial calculators to help you keep track of and grow your savings.