5 ways I'm making my money work for me in 2026

how I increase the money in my bank account without earning more

A lot of new year’s goals are about having more money: an increased net worth, a debt payoff goal, or to achieve a savings goal for something you’ve been wanting to purchase. The most common advice I’ve heard when it comes to having more money is to make more money, which I roll my eyes at. Sure, that would be great, but that’s not practical or always achievable, especially in the short term.

I don’t have advice—quite literally, since I’m not a financial advisor, just an average person sharing my financial spending, and I openly talk about the financial mistakes I’ve made in this newsletter. But from my mistakes, I’ve learned some habits that I’m planning to maintain this year that allow my money to work for me.

While your investment accounts and financial situation may be different than mine, I hope that peering into how I make my money work for me helps you discover new ways to make your money work for you!

• I keep my emergency fund in a high yield savings account.

  The first tried and true way I’ll be making my money work for me is by keeping my emergency fund in a high yield savings account. The interest rate varies; mine is currently around 3.5%, and a couple years ago, I transferred my emergency fund from one bank to another for a higher interest rate.

• I mostly pay for everyday purchases with credit cards.

  I charge almost everything on my credit cards instead of using cash or a debit card¹. I also use specific cards for specific purchases—within reason, since I don’t want to spent ten minutes trying to decide which card to use for a small purchase. I have one card for dining and groceries (Amex Gold), another card for everything else (Capital One Quicksilver), and then my Bilt card that I use for rent and at least five other times per month on small purchases so I get the points for rent.

  I’m not sponsored by any of these cards; these are just what I use. And these specific cards might not work for you! But I use the points on these cards to pay for hundreds of dollars in cashback each year, plus most of my flights.

• I have a recurring monthly contribution to a mutual fund.

  I’ve had an automatic transfer set up to put money in a mutual fund each month for years now. Depending how much money I’ve been making and my savings goals over the years, this amount has varied from less than $100 to over $700. The key is that I’ve kept the habit going via an automatic transfer, even when the contribution was less than $100. In my mind, this keeps investing as a habit.

• I also have automatic investments in my HSA and 401k.

  Besides for the one time per year that I sit down to determine my annual contribution (and divide that out by how much I’ll contribute per paycheck and month), this puts this investment on autopilot.

• I complete regular financial audits.

  Once a month, I review everything I’ve spent that month. Every month or two, I’ll check in on my savings and investing goals. Through these audits, I’ve made changes in how my money works for me, like changing my investment contributions, changing which banks I use for my savings accounts, and opening new investment accounts and credit cards.

From my trip to California last summer—flight funded by points!

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1. Exceptions to paying with cards: I generally pay cash for small charges at bars, especially for the tip. This eliminates the possibility of leaving my card at a bar and also can make it easier to split bills with friends. I also try to pay cash at small businesses (not just bars), especially on lower value purchases and when there is a credit card fee.