Can you save $1000 this year?

What if I just handed you $1000...what would you do with it?  Go on a mini vacation?  Buy a new TV?  Invest it?  Save it for a renovation?  The possibilities are endless!  Well, I am hoping that this time next year you all will have an extra $1000 in your pocket and here is how we're going to do it!!

All we have to do is save $3/day.  Easy, right?  Many of us probably have that much cushion in our budget that it wouldn't be painful at all.  And by squirreling it away in small increments, you won't even feel it.  If it's not just lying around, then what could you give up in order to save $3/day?  Got a Starbucks habit?  Skip it a couple of days a week.  If you eat out for lunch every day, bring your lunch a couple of times per week.  Cut down your Diet Coke intake (this is one I need to do). If you are a couponer, you can easily save $21/week with coupons...instead of letting that money sit there, put it in your savings!  There are SO many ways to squeeze $3 out of your daily budget.  If your budget is really tight and $21 per week would be hard to come up with, go with $2/day or even $1.  The amount in your savings account will be a little less than $1000 at the end of the year, but there will still be a nice big chunk of change there. 

There are a few ways to do this.  If you are a cash user, then just take $3/day and put it in an envelope or jar or a shoebox.  You could even scrounge for the $$ by looking in your couch cushions, in the car, and at the bottom of your purse.  If you are like me and never seem to have cash, then just set up an automatic transfer once a week of $21.  You may even want to set up an account with another bank or an online bank like Everbank so that you don't see the money there and aren't tempted to dip into it. 

I know that most of us already have savings accounts, Roth IRAs & other retirement savings, and investments that we already contribute toward each month (hopefully).  This is just a little something extra.  You can use it on whatever you want at the end of the year guilt-free because it was just extra money that you may have wasted on something else if you didn't save it. 

So who is with me?  And what will you use your $1000 for next year?!