The year is flying by. The first day of spring is right around the corner on Mar. 20, 2026.
By now, you may have abandoned some of your New Year’s money resolutions. But if you’re still going strong, you have a jumpstart on meeting your 2026 goals.
It might not feel possible, but you can save $1,000 in the eight weeks or so we have left until spring. Here’s how.
Know Your Why
Are you saving for a Spring Break vacation? Starting an emergency fund? Planning to buy a new car soon? Need money to cover a tax bill in April?
Knowing why you’re saving money and focusing on how important that goal is will help keep you focused when you’d rather spend than save.
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Create a Budget
The first step to any savings plan is creating a budget. Once you know how much you spend monthly, including fixed and discretionary expenses, you can devise a savings plan.
Deposit $125 Per Week
Once you have your budget, see if you can trim it down to free up $125 per week. You might forego dining out or delivery for the next two months, eliminate subscription services or cancel that gym membership you bought on Jan. 2 and haven’t used. These small steps can all help.
If you can somehow free up $125 per week, tuck that money away in a high-yield savings account and in eight weeks, you’ll have $1000 (and change from interest).
Sell Items on Facebook Marketplace
If you can’t free up $125 per week, or $500 for the month, consider purging items you no longer need.
It will make your home less cluttered, spring cleaning easier, and your wallet, fatter. List and sell your finds on Facebook Marketplace or OfferUp and put that cash directly into your savings account.
Some ideas of things to sell may include:
- Holiday gifts you haven’t opened or used yet
- Home décor
- Books
- Collectibles
- Sporting equipment
- Clothing, bags and shoes in good condition (especially if they are designer brands)
- Children’s toys
Find a Side Gig
As winter recess and spring break rolls around, it’s a great time to start a pet-sitting business. You can also babysit for working parents who don’t have other arrangements during school breaks.
Of course, driving for Uber and DoorDash make viable side gigs for people looking to earn some extra cash quickly.
Donate Plasma
It may sound extreme but many people earn extra cash donating plasma. Companies like BioLife Plasma Services offer up to $800 for first-time donors, which would put you 80% of the way to your goal of saving $1,000.
Create a Digital Product or Sell an Online Course
Do you have a special skill or talent that other people would like to learn? Do you have professional knowledge, such as teaching or tutoring in a specific subject, that can be monetized beyond your day job?
You can use your skills and knowledge to help others and earn $1,000 through a digital product or online course. Tools like Gumroad (for distribution), Canva (for graphic design) and ChatGPT or Gemini (for brainstorming) make it relatively simple to create a course, videos or an eBook to sell. If you sell a $49 product to 21 people, you’ve reached your goal.
If you already have a social media following or trusted audience, this should be easy. But even starting from scratch, you can create an offer and build an audience within eight weeks.
Keep Your Mind Open to Opportunities
As you take actionable steps toward earning or saving $1,000 before spring, keep that outcome firmly in your mind.
Nearly three-quarters (73%) of Americans believe that manifestation practices like affirmations or vision boards can help improve financial outcomes, according to a study from BadCredit.org.
While experts agree that manifestation, alone, isn’t likely to attract wealth, something happens when your mindset shifts and you start believing you can achieve your objective.
You begin to see additional opportunities and possibilities you didn’t see before. One of those opportunities could be your path to $1,000 in savings before spring.
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: 8 Tips To Save $1,000 Before the First Day of Spring
