Improving your savings is a wonderful way to get ahead or at least break even when the economy is difficult. Savings is a vehicle to have more control over your money when you need to make your dollar stretch a little further than normal by earning a small return on your investment without any risk.

There are numerous ideas and suggestions found all over the web. Many of the suggestions and ideas that are found all over the web may be ideas that you have heard before that are great as reminders and some are old ideas with a new twist. These are a couple of ways you can improve your savings that are a combination of both.

1)    Pay yourself first

Many of us have heard this idea before, but with our current economy is may be more difficult than before. However, whatever you can contribute to your savings when you pay yourself first will help the cause and in the long run.

As our paycheck seems to shrink as the price of everything grows it is harder to pay ourselves first. Though, if you can only put $25 in savings each pay period now when you were previously saving $100 each pay period, you are still saving and it is still a great idea.

Now is more important than ever to build your nest egg or emergency fund in an uncertain economy. Pay yourself first.

2)    Find paid incentives for saving

There are several paid incentives for savings if you know where to look. SmartyPig.com is a great online resource that provides terrific incentives for saving. These online savings banks pay customers to use their debit card on nearly every type of purchase you make. The more you use your debit card, the more you save. You are using a debit card which is wonderful because you don’t pay any interest on your purchases and you are being provided with cash incentives for spending your own money.

Bank of America has a Keep the Spare Change program that is similar to SmartyPig because you are using a debit card instead of a credit card to earn cash back. Every time you make a debit card purchase, the bank rounds up to the next dollar and pays you the difference in a savings account. The bank will match your account up to $250 for the first three months. That’s $250 free from the bank and whatever other spare change you can come up with from your debit card purchases.

BBVA has an incentive program for a savings customer that works along the same lines as Bank of America and SmartyPig.com. When you have your checking account linked with your Build My Savings Checking Account, the bank will match a percentage of your transfers up to $250 per year. U.S. Bank will hand out a $50 Visa Rewards card when you reach $1000 in your savings account

3)    Credit card companies are also providing incentives for savings believe it or not.

Credit card company’s incentives for savings accounts are for online accounts. Capitol One has Interest Plus savings that pays 1.1% interest on balances that are $1000 or more and American Express has an online savings account promotion for 1.15%. An absence of physical branches means they can offer a higher yield for savings than their brick and mortar counterparts.

4)    Link up your cash back rewards with credit cards to your savings account

Cash back rewards for credit cards are going full steam. Things that you would be shopping for anyway each month are a great way to cash in on cash back reward credit cards. Many cardholders will pay their balance in full at the end of each month and not waste their rewards on interest payments. A great way to improve your savings is to pay the cash back into your savings accounts.

These are four wonderful ways to improve your savings without a lot of effort or work on your part. Look into these four tools to improve your savings and make the most of each dollar you spend and save.