Saving money doesn’t always have to be a chore. Sometimes the best way to save a lot of money is to not really think about it at all. Here are 3 savings techniques that can help you steadily prepare for the future:

Schedule Periodic Transfers

This is a good option if you can automatically move money from your paycheck to your savings account. Just set up periodic, recurring transfers to your savings. You can time these to happen after you get paid, or maybe once a month.

Also, if while budgeting, you notice that you have extra money each month, you can start to automatically transfer that out to your savings. This is a great way to build up a retirement fund, for example.

Save Money with “Spare Change”

If you use you debit card a lot, this is the technique for you. Plenty of banks allow the “Keep the Change” option, where you end up savings a great deal without thinking about it. Basically, every time you make a purchase, the total is rounded up to the next dollar and the difference gets deposited into your savings account. Bible Money Matters loves this technique:

Every time I go to a restaurant, I use my debit card and give enough of a tip to bring the grand total up to $xx.01. For instance, if the bill is $28.14, I may give a tip of $4.87, so that the total will be $33.01. Then the bank will charge $34.00 against my checking account and transfer $0.99 into my savings account.

I’ve had this going for a few years, and I’ve managed to save about $900 through this system. It would be worth it for you to see if your bank offers this program as well.

Ignore Your Raises, Bonuses and Surprises

This is a popular way to save a great deal of money very quickly. Whenever you get a raise, take the increase and put it directly into savings (you can automate this every paycheck). You’ll live off of the same amount you’re used to, but you’ll skim off extra for savings without thinking about it.

You can use the same concept for bonuses, tax refunds, etc. Just put any unexpected money that’s not budgeted income and put it right into that savings account. You’ll be surprised at how quickly the savings grows!

Read more over at Bible Money Matters’ 5 Painless Ways to Automate Your Savings.