# How to Put Money Away for Short-Term Savings

By: [Team Stash](/content/learn/author/team-stash/index.html)  
Published: Jul 29, 2019  
•  Updated: Jun 09, 2026

Budget and automation can help you achieve immediate financial goals.

#### In this article:

1. [**Strategies**](/content/learn/short-term-savings/#strategies/index.html)
2. [**Example:**](/content/learn/short-term-savings/#example/index.html)

You’re probably familiar with the idea of long-term savings goals—saving money for retirement or buying a house, for example. But it’s important to put money away for more immediate expenses and your [short-term financial goals](/content/learn/short-term-vs-long-term-investing/index.html) too.

## Strategies

- Whether you follow the [50-30-20 method](/content/learn/the-50-30-20-budget-rule-explained/index.html), the envelope method, or some other way to allocate your monthly cash, dedicate some portion of your budget to short-term savings.
- Get clear on your short-term savings goals. One goal could be to create an [emergency fund](/content/learn/emergency-fund-vs-rainy-day-fund/index.html). That should cover three to six months of living expenses in order to cover sudden costs like a car repair, medical expense, or layoff.  Short-term savings goals might also include saving money for vacations, dinners out, new clothing, or entertainment.
- [Automate your savings](/content/learn/automation-helps-save-money/index.html). As soon as you get paid, have money automatically deducted and placed into a dedicated savings account. For many people, if they can’t see the money, they won’t spend it.
- Save what you can. Even if you’re putting away just a few dollars each month, it will help you develop short-term savings.
- Keep short-term savings in an easily accessible account, like a savings or [checking account](/content/learn/checking-accounts-vs-savings-accounts/index.html), where you can take it out with no financial penalties or fees once you’ve reached your goal.

Note: Psychologically it might be easier to meet a short-term savings goal, because it involves a smaller amount of money than the cost of a long-term savings goal.

## Example:

If you put away $20 a week, at the end of one year you will have $1,040.1

Written by  
[Team Stash](/content/learn/author/team-stash/index.html)

We want to turn money into a source of hope and opportunity. We teach people how to build good habits, save more and make it easy and affordable to get started investing. So far, we’ve helped over 6 million people create a more secure financial future with our expert advice and award winning investing app.

1Expected returns are hypothetical in nature and may not reflect actual future results.