How to Maximize Your Savings Potential in 2024: 3 Expert Tips

After the past few years of high inflation, "doom spending," and depleted savings, millions of Americans are trying to save more money in 2024. The right savings strategies can help you save money automatically, zero in on specific financial goals, and even have fun along the way.

Let's look at a few expert tips for how to boost your savings.

1. Pay yourself first -- by saving automatically

Have you ever heard of the phrase "analysis paralysis"? Sometimes when people have to deal with the mental burden of making a big decision, it causes them to feel stuck. This is often true with trying to save money.

Many people get paralyzed when trying to save: "What percentage of my paycheck should I save? What if I can't afford to put that much into savings, and I overdraft my checking? What if I can't pay my bills?" And then another month or year goes by, and they don't save any money at all.

This is why you need to pay yourself first with automatic savings. Set up automatic transfers to savings from every paycheck, or on a specific date each month.

If that sounds like too much work, don't worry. Some banks and personal finance apps will do automatic savings for you.

Ally Bank

This bank offers Surprise Savings, a fun and easy feature that analyzes your spending patterns and moves safe-to-save amounts of money from your checking account to your Ally Bank savings account each month.

Albert App

This personal finance and budgeting app offers the premium Albert Genius service that includes automatic savings. The Albert app analyzes your monthly income and spending trends, and then automatically transfers safe-to-save small-dollar amounts to your savings account.

Oportun (formerly Digit)

This debt payoff app offers "effortless savings" (automatic savings) based on your monthly spending and income amounts. The Oportun app subscription costs $5 per month, but it could be worth it -- members save an average of over $3,000 per year.

Don't think, don't analyze, don't decide. Just let your money transfer to savings automatically, and then go live your life.

2. Use savings accounts for the new "envelope method"

One popular budgeting plan is known as the "envelope method," or "cash stuffing," as the young people are calling it on TikTok. With this budgeting method, you literally stuff cash into envelopes that are labeled with monthly categories of spending, like $800 for "groceries" or $200 for "gas."

What if you could combine the control and specificity of the envelope method with the FDIC-insured safety and convenience of online banking? Some banks and personal finance apps offer envelope-style savings accounts, where you can save for multiple specific financial goals.

Ally Bank re-creates the envelope method by letting you create savings "buckets" for up to 30 specific goals of your choice. SoFi Bank offers a similar savings feature called "Vaults" -- you can set up as many as twenty Vaults for various savings goals. Another option, if you can avoid account fees, is to open multiple savings accounts at your bank or credit union. This could help you save for separate goals like a new car, a vacation, and more.

3. Open a savings account with a cash sign-up bonus

Putting your savings into a high-yield savings account is often the best way to earn a yield on your cash and make your money work for you. But some lower-yield savings accounts can still be worth a look -- because they pay cash sign-up bonuses.

That's right: As banks compete for customer deposits, some are offering to pay you just for putting your money in their savings accounts. Here are a few savings accounts with cash bonuses.

BMO Savings Builder Account

The BMO Savings Builder Account only pays 0.01% APY, but it has a nice feature for people who are trying to save more money: It pays you a $5 reward for every month you deposit $200 or more through the first year. That means after one year, you could have an extra $60 in savings.

PNC Virtual Wallet

The PNC Virtual Wallet is a unique bank account that combines checking and savings capabilities. With your Virtual Wallet from PNC, you get three sub-accounts in one: "Spend" (everyday spending/checking), "Reserve" (a secondary account for short-term budgeting), and "Growth" (a long-term savings account).

The PNC Virtual Wallet pays interest and lets you save for multiple goals. And if you sign up for a new Virtual Wallet account by Feb. 29, 2024 and make qualifying direct deposits, you can earn a cash reward of $100, $200, or $400. Exact rewards depend on your location and the type of account you open.

SoFi Checking and Savings

SoFi Bank is another innovative bank that bundles the checking and savings account. If you open a new SoFi Checking and Savings account and make qualifying direct deposits, you can get a cash bonus of up to $300.

To get the full $300 bonus, you need to make at least $5,000 of direct deposits by June 30, 2024. But even if you don't get the $300 bonus, SoFi's account pays a great APY of up to 4.60% (as of Feb. 17, 2024 and as long as you maintain a $5,000 balance or have regular direct deposits made to the account). Having a high-yield savings account is like getting a built-in cash bonus every month.

Bottom line

Want to save more money in 2024? Make it automatic. Use helpful personal finance apps and innovative savings accounts that let you target specific goals. And look for cash bonuses for opening a new savings account that can help give you momentum to boost your savings even more.