How I Plan to Save $1,800 More in 2023 Than in 2022

Increasing my savings rate is important to me in the upcoming year.

In 2023, I'm hoping to save more money for some big upcoming vacations that my family plans to take while my kids are still young enough to travel without missing a lot of school. In fact, I want to save at least $1,800 more next year than I did in 2022 in order to be able to accomplish the goals I've set for myself.

Saving an extra $1,800 is a big feat. But, I've identified the path I plan to take to accomplish this goal. And, it's something almost anyone could consider doing if they also want to save more money in the upcoming year.

Here's how I plan to save $1,800 more next year

In order to boost the amount I'm saving by $1,800 in 2023, I'm going to do one simple thing. I'm going to work more. I plan to make an extra $150 per month compared with the amount I made in 2022. 

I'm lucky enough to be a freelancer who gets paid directly based on the amount of work I turn in, so it shouldn't be difficult for me to make this happen. I just need to set aside some extra time in my day to be able to do the extra work necessary to add $150 per month to my income.

Of course, not everyone can just do a little extra work at the job they currently have. But, almost everyone can come up with a way to earn some extra money over the course of the month. In fact, there are dozens of side gigs out there you could try out. If you earn even just $50 extra per week doing these jobs -- which shouldn't take a ton of time -- you could actually increase your savings by more than I'm hoping to and end the year with an extra $2,600. 

Why I'm opting to earn more instead of cutting my budget

I've decided I want to focus on increasing my earnings to save $1,800 more in 2023 than I did in 2022 -- rather than cutting my spending. There's a few reasons for that. 

For one thing, I've already been pretty purposeful in my spending. I don't tend to buy a lot of things that don't add value to my life since I've tracked my spending in the past and reduced a lot of the unnecessary purchases where I was going overboard.

More importantly, though, I don't want to take any of the fun spending out of my budget. I don't want to constantly sacrifice in order to have a better future -- I want to enjoy life today and also save for the things I want and need later on. And it's a lot easier to do that if I try to increase my earnings rather than constantly looking for spending cuts to make.

The reality is, you can only reduce your spending so far before you cut into things you really enjoy and that make life worth living. But, you can always increase your earnings by developing new skills or spending a little more time on the job. If you're serious about increasing savings, focusing on making more money could be the best way to accomplish that goal.