How to 'trick' yourself into saving more money

Whether you're building an emergency fund, saving for retirement or working toward a specific goal, finding extra money to save can feel challenging. The good news? A few simple changes in how you think about saving can make it easier to set money aside consistently.

The Bank of America Institute examined internal data and found that in 2025, nearly one in four households is estimated to live paycheck to paycheck.

Not only is this causing us stress in the here and now, but it can also lead to lasting regrets for the future, like not saving soon enough for retirement, having credit card debt and not having an emergency fund.

Build your emergency fund with these tips >

The easy part, of course, is recognizing that we need to change our habits. The more challenging part is making the changes and then actually sticking to them.

Researchers may have an answer. They've found that one of the most effective ways to save more money is to break large savings goals into smaller daily amounts. This behavioral finance strategy is often called "mental reframing."

What the study found

A study from the University of California, Los Angeles and the University of London (published in the INFORMS journal, Marketing Science) applied a behavioral finance trick known as “mental reframing” with success.

They conducted a study with 2,000 customers of a personal finance app that allows users to save and invest small amounts of money. New users who signed up for a recurring deposit program were randomly offered the choice of committing to deposits of $150 monthly, $35 weekly or $5 daily.

Here’s what happened: Savers were more likely to commit to—and stick with—a personal savings regimen focused on smaller, daily amounts over the large, intimidating per-month goal. In fact, quadruple the number of people chose to enroll in the recurring deposit program when given the $5-a-day option versus the $150-a-month savings goal.

The appeal of the smaller savings option also leveled the playing field between low- and high-income consumers.

When presented with the $150-a-month savings program, higher-income consumers signed up at a rate of three times that of lower-income consumers. When deposits were framed as $5 a day — which also gets you to $150 after a month—the participation gap was completely eliminated.

Perception—and convenience—matters

It’s not a huge stretch to see why breaking down larger-dollar goals into bite-sized chunks is more digestible.

In other words, if you've ever wondered, "How can I save money when I don't have much left over?" the answer may be to focus on what you can set aside each day rather than a larger monthly target.

Big numbers—like saving $1 million for retirement—can feel daunting, even when we fully know amassing enough money for retirement should take decades (and also depends on the investment growth of the money that you save).

One thing that keeps a lot of us on the sidelines is how we measure the opportunity cost of those dollars we don’t have to spend now. Putting away a dollar for tomorrow means one less dollar to spend today.

However, the study’s authors demonstrate the mental calculation of giving up $5 a day is much easier to overcome. It’s a comparatively small sacrifice (giving up a snack or magazine) than mustering up the resolve to part with $150 all at once.

Launchpad helps you save for retirement a little at a time >

Reframe your savings goals

If you’re facing a savings goal that seems insurmountable, cut it down to a less intimidating size with some simple math:

• Save $8 a day to wipe out a $500 credit card balance: Stop letting that lingering balance give you indigestion. You can knock it back to $0 in two months for just the cost of a daily sandwich.
• Save $11 a day to amass a $2,000 emergency fund: Sock away your spare dollars for six months, and you’ll be sitting on a healthy $2,000 cash cushion to soften the blow of any unexpected expenses. Need longer to come up with that amount? A smidge over $5 a day gets you there a year from now.
• Save about $19 a day to maximize your IRA contributions. Contribution limits for Roth or traditional IRAs can change over time, but the concept stays the same. Saving roughly $19 to $21 a day can put many savers on track to fully fund an IRA over the course of a year, depending on current IRS contribution limits. Check the latest limits before making your contribution plan.

Whether you're building an emergency fund, saving for a large purchase or preparing for holiday expenses, keeping goal-based savings in a separate account can make it easier to track your progress.

Calculate the savings over time with a Roth vs. Traditional IRA >

Grab all of your matching 401(k) dollars

And while we’re talking retirement, pretty much the easiest—and most profitable—thing you can do is to make sure you’re taking advantage of any 401(k) (or other retirement plan) dollars your employer is offering.

Many employers match 50% on the dollar up to a certain contribution limit—that represents a guaranteed 50% return on your money.

Plus, it’s free money.

If your employer offers a match, contributing enough to receive the full match is often considered one of the most effective ways to boost retirement savings.

How much?

Well, say your employer—like many—matches 50% of contributions up to 6% of your salary. If you’re making $75,000 a year, you need to contribute 6% ($4,500) to qualify for a 3% ($2,250) match. That $4,500 works out to about $12.30 a day, or $173 every bi-weekly paycheck.

Just remember that if you’re contributing to a traditional 401(k) (instead of a Roth), that money comes out of your paycheck before taxes take a bite. So that $173 will feel like even less.

And the best part about this is that you can set it and forget it—401(k)s and other similar retirement accounts are so effective because the money comes out of your pay before you can see it, touch it or spend it.

PS: If you’re offered a Health Savings Account through work, there may be incentive dollars for participation there too. Make it a point to grab them as well.

Automate for even more savings

Finally, before you wrap—take that automatic 401(k) magic and apply it throughout your life.

Maybe you have a credit card or car payment that’s scheduled for automatic bill pay, and you’ve seen that it’s super convenient.

You can do the exact same thing with your savings by using an automatic savings plan, sometimes called the "pay yourself first" approach. Every month (or week, your choice), you can have a set amount of money automatically moved from your checking account into a traditional savings account or online savings account. It happens without you having to manually move money, which means your savings will accumulate without you ever having to lift a finger.

Think about it: Wouldn't it feel nice to have money set aside before the next big expense arrives, whether that's holiday shopping, a vacation, back-to-school costs or home repairs?

You can get there!

Figure out roughly how much you’re going to need, and divide the amount by the number of months (or weeks) you want to give yourself to reach the goal. Then, you’ll set up an automatic transfer of that exact amount to go into a dedicated savings account.

Before you know it, the money will be there for you when you need it, all because of your bite-sized savings goal.

And if this sounds like something you’d like a little help with, schedule your free Dupaco Money Makeover to help you get started.

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