Sacrificing small regular indulgences can add up to big savings no matter your income level. By eliminating costly habits, you can find more room in your budget to shift your resources toward more valuable ends.

Serendipity’s Guide to Saving details the author’s three-month quest to cobble together a four-figures nest egg with several nips and tucks.

Her methods included packing her lunch rather than going out to eat, banning herself from buying new clothes and investing her free time in no-cost efforts such as tanning, reading and blogging over costly pursuits.

She says her efforts were tough but rewarding:

I might admit, at times I may have wanted to cry in the corner to Sinead O’Connor, but I’m proud of myself for saving that money. It’s one of those things that people swear will make you a better person because of it, like pretending to meditate or remembering to eat cereal over the sink in the morning when you’re still asleep. It will.

Serendipity’s Guide to… Saving $1,000 [Serendipity’s Guide to Saving]

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