7 Actually Simple Ways to Save for That Expensive Thing You *Really* Want to Buy

As the afternoon rays streamed into my cozy Brooklyn apartment on a Sunday in 2025, I found myself once again scrolling, not on Instagram or TikTok, but through the treasure trove of secondhand home decor on Facebook Marketplace. I had recently graduated with my master’s degree, landed a full-time job, and moved into my first apartment, which meant I was suddenly budgeting for everything at once: rent, groceries, commuting, utilities, and all the little expenses that add up fast. Decorating my space was important to me, but it had to come second to the basics.

As I shifted uncomfortably between the cushions of my current yellow velvet sleeper couch, my eyes fixated on a stunning piece of furniture on my screen: a three-seater sofa in the most royal burgundy I’d ever seen. It had deep-set cushions that I instantly imagined getting lost in. The only issue: it cost $150.  A great price for a major piece of furniture, to be sure, but I knew I’d have to save for it. 

What started as saving for one couch became a reminder of how universal this kind of goal-setting really is. Maybe you’re in college, putting money aside for a spring break trip or a new pair of AirPods. Maybe you’ve just graduated, and you’re trying to furnish your first apartment, or you’re working toward something bigger, like a car. Either way, learning how to save for something specific is a skill most people end up teaching themselves. And when you’re just starting to budget, it can feel overwhelming to know where to begin. 

That’s why I asked budgeting expert Andrea Woroch for some advice on realistic ways to plan for big purchases — without giving up everything you enjoy.

Before I seriously considered buying the couch, I had to make sure saving for it wouldn’t come at the expense of essentials like rent, groceries, transportation, and utilities. Once those were covered, I could look honestly at what was left, and how much of it I could realistically put toward a big purchase.

Woroch recommends using what she calls the “1% savings rule” as a gut check. “The 1% savings rule suggests that if an item costs more than 1% of your income, you need to give yourself a day to reconsider if it’s worth it and if you can afford the purchase,” she says. “This gives you a chance to cool off, and that impulse to buy may pass.”

In the case of that beautiful burgundy couch, I thought about it nonstop for a week. That framework helped me feel more confident that making an offer on the couch was reasonable and not something that would leave me scrambling later. 

One quick way to deplete your funds when you’re saving up for something big is to spend it on lots of little things. To curb impulse spending, I follow the 48-hour rule, meaning I pause for two full days before hitting that oh-so-tempting “checkout” button. Some people write down the “want” item and buy it only if the desire remains after the cooling-off period, but I prefer to just make a mental note. Often, I’ve completely forgotten about it after a couple of days.

Woroch says this approach mirrors what she calls slow shopping, or giving “yourself time to think through the purchase,” she explains. “The instant desire to buy may pass,” she adds. “And it also gives you time to save up for the purchase to avoid racking up debt.”

There’s no easier kind of shopping than online shopping, especially when the site has all of your card info conveniently saved. Woroch suggests this simple money-saving tip: “Begin by deleting payment info stored in online retail accounts and apps,” she says. “The harder you make it to buy on impulse, the less likely you are to do it,” she says.

Identifying spending triggers is key, explains Woroch. “Figure out what’s causing you to impulse buy,” she says. “Turn off push notifications, unsubscribe from newsletters, and delete shopping apps if you need to.” 

Once I had my eye on the couch, I decided to take a hard look at my daily routines to uncover any mindless purchases that could be adding up. I realized that every morning before work, I was stopping by a coffee cart that charges $1.98 for a small hot coffee. A pretty cheap price these days, but that adds up to about $40 a month. I decided to swap my daily coffee run for free office coffee while I was saving for the couch. 

Cutting out that coffee only saved me about $10 a week, but it nudged me closer to my goal and, more importantly, made me more aware of how often I was spending without thinking. Once I started paying attention, other habits came into focus. When did my Chipotle bowl creep up to $16? Did I really need the $29 Too Faced mascara when a $5 dupe worked just as well? Could I spare 45 minutes on a weekend to meal prep lunches for the week instead of buying something every day?

The most obvious and arguably most foolproof piece of budgeting advice is also the least glamorous: Set up a savings account and put it to work. This is where a portion of your weekly or monthly budget lives, untouched, until it is time to spend it intentionally. 

If you don’t already have a high-yield savings account (HYSA), now’s the time to open one. These accounts offer much higher interest rates than normal ones, meaning the money sitting there grows exponentially from month to month. (Make sure you read the fine print, because some accounts require a minimum amount of money to accrue interest.) But keep in mind, the savings account you’re using to save up for a big buy shouldn’t be the same one as your emergency fund — that’ll muddle the purpose of your money. Instead, dedicate a separate account (sometimes called a sinking fund). You can also look for a savings account that lets you separate your singular savings account into different buckets for different goals. 

While many people prefer automatic transfers — meaning the money comes out of your paycheck or checking account and goes into your savings automatically — I like to transfer money into my savings account manually. That extra step forces me to check in with my finances and gives me the flexibility to adjust the amount if I need to. In the case of the couch, every time my bi-monthly paycheck hit, I immediately moved about $50 into my savings account. It was not a dramatic sum, but it was consistent, and consistency is what made the difference. 

From my coffee cutbacks to my bank account transfers, none of these changes felt life-altering on their own, but together they created momentum. The act of saving became less about deprivation and more about choice. I was not cutting back because I had to; I was doing it because I wanted something specific, and that made the sacrifices feel temporary and purposeful. Those small swaps and intentional pauses added up faster than I expected, and before I knew it, I had the cash I needed, couch secured.

When you give your savings a purpose, whether it’s an international trip or a piece that finally makes your space feel like home, the process becomes not just doable but genuinely rewarding.

Find out how to handle your finances as if you’re a Personal Finance major with Dorm Therapy’s Don’t-Stress Guide to Saving & Spending in College.