Sticking to your new year’s resolution is often a time-consuming proposition. Want to get fit? Be ready to spend hours at the gym. Considering a side hustle? Goodbye, weekends.

But if your resolution is to save more, there’s one quick way to start: Open a high-yield online savings account. You can do this at many banks in less than 15 minutes, and you’ll earn at least 20 times more interest than you would in a traditional savings account.

Maggie Germano, a Washington, D.C.-based financial coach for women, recommends that her clients use high-yield accounts, and she practices what she preaches: “Since I feel most comfortable keeping some of my money liquid in case of emergencies, it’s important to me to still make sure the money is working for me,” she says.

So just how much can higher rates help you achieve your savings goals? And what else can online accounts do for you? Here’s why opening a high-yield account is a good use of a couple of commercial breaks.

You’ll save more money

If you’re trying to accumulate extra cash, lifestyle changes are the best way to make serious progress. That might include lowering your housing costs, negotiating a raise or trading in your ride for a less expensive vehicle.

But earning more for your money while it’s deposited definitely doesn’t hurt. “My emergency savings is growing even if I’m not adding more money to it,” Germano says.

Nationally, the average annual percentage yield, or APY, is 0.09%. At that rate, a $5,000 deposit would earn $4.50 in interest in a year. But it’s not unusual to find online savings rates around 2% these days. That would earn the same deposit $100 after 12 months. It’s not a huge sum, but it could cover a few surprise doctor’s appointment copays, a new tire, or simply pad your account.

“A hundred dollars here and there is nice to have, and you certainly don’t want to leave money on the table,” says Cheryl Ober, a Minnesota-based certified financial planner.

And rates have been on the rise, meaning your savings will grow even more in the coming years if you switch. “The interest rate has more than doubled in the years since I opened my account,” Germano says.

You’ll pay fewer fees

Earning more interest isn’t the only way online accounts can support your savings efforts. For some, low fees are a better selling point.

When it comes to lower account balances, “it’s typically easy to bank fee-free at online banks, and that has more of an impact than a high interest rate,” says Justin Pritchard, a certified financial planner based in Montrose, Colorado. “When you’re dodging fees of $90 or more per year, those accounts are helpful.”

If you use one of the country’s largest banks and typically pay a monthly fee on checking and savings, you could easily spend $200 per year just to park your money at that financial institution.

It’s about “knowing you’re not being completely being taken advantage of,” especially if you often owe your bank money, Ober says.

This was a big win for Germano when she switched: “Not only was I saving money by not paying fees, but I was making money on top of my money,” she says.

Every monthly fee you don’t pay is a little bit less you’ll have to save to meet your goals.

They have helpful account features

It’s easy to open your first online savings account, and many institutions make it just as easy to open and use additional accounts — often for free. “That helps you manage your money and earmark funds for specific goals without paying fees for each account,” Pritchard says.

Online banks often let users open multiple savings accounts. Adding a nickname — such as “Bahamas fund” or “New car” — can help keep you focused on your goals.

If you don’t have an emergency fund that can cover at least a few months of living expenses, you should likely focus your savings there. But if you have enough to consider a few goals, setting up an account and automatic deposits to each from every paycheck can make saving seamless.

High-yield accounts mean effortless saving

A high-yield account is no substitute for regular savings contributions. But it is the easiest, most efficient way to add a little extra to your nest egg. And over time, your balance can really add up, and a high interest rate will benefit you even more.

“As your account grows, the more it matters,” Pritchard says.

The article Your Easiest New Year’s Resolution: Make Your Savings Grow Faster originally appeared on NerdWallet.

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Here’s a hint: Skipping your daily coffee isn’t going to cut it.

Little luxuries are a popular punching bag for financial gurus, but they’re usually not what really keeps you from reaching financial goals. Instead of eliminating lattes to save that first $500 — and beyond — try changing your mindset.

Why $500? It can be a solid start to building an emergency fund. It might not seem like much, but that amount can keep a car repair or an unexpected medical expense from going on your credit card.

NerdWallet gathered perspectives from a financial planner, a blogger and a writer and strategist on how to get started.

Change the way you think about saving

It’s tough to save when that means saying no to things you want (or could really, really use).

“Most people tend not to save because they feel like it means delaying gratification or sacrificing something now for some future benefit, and that’s really hard for anyone to do,” says Eric Roberge, certified financial planner and founder of Beyond Your Hammock, a Boston-based financial planning firm.

Roberge suggests a perspective shift. “Stop looking at it as savings. Start looking at it as purchasing more freedom, flexibility and choice for yourself in your life,” he says. “The more you save, the more freedom you buy to use in your life when you want to leverage it.”

While $500 is a smaller goal, it’s also specific, which Roberge says is helpful. “If you just say you want ‘more money,’ then you’ll never have enough,” he says. “That’s a moving goal post.”

‘Grow the gap’

Financial blogger Paula Pant started seriously saving while earning $21,000 as a newspaper reporter. Back then, Pant, the founder of AffordAnything.com, didn’t have many places to economize. “At a certain point,” she says, “especially if you’re lower income, you just can’t cut any further.”

To build her savings, Pant turned to freelance writing. She used the money to travel and, eventually, buy real estate and quit her 9-to-5.

Writing — or freelancing — might not be your thing, but there are other ways to make money alongside a full-time job. You can dogsit for Rover.com, for example, or rent out your car when you’re not using it with Getaround.

Or maybe there are ways you can cut back on spending. If so, Pant suggests focusing on three main areas: housing, transportation and food.

“It’s easy to point the finger at things like getting a manicure,” she says. “But the reality is that if you get a manicure once a month and it costs $20, I can tell you exactly how much you’ll save.” For real savings, she says, keep the manicures and downsize your home: “You’ll save a lot more money.

Either way, you’ll want to increase the difference between what you earn and what you spend — or “grow the gap,” as Pant says.

Make it automatic

So you’ve decided to save, and you’ve found space in your budget. Next, make it habitual. That’s the approach writer and strategist Erika Sabalvoro takes.

“I found that the most effective way to pinch some money for an emergency fund is by treating it as a bill to pay,” she says. “It was a bill, billed by my future self to my current self.”

Many banks and credit unions offer automatic savings transfers, making it easy to move money on a schedule you choose. But most savings rates are low; the national average is just 0.09%. Picking a high-yield savings account with an annual percentage yield closer to 2% will help your balance grow faster.

Sabalvoro says she started by putting aside $35 here and there, and increased the amount as her circumstances changed. If she has money left over at the end of the month, she’ll add that to her “take care” fund, too. She says she uses this term, rather than “emergency fund,” because she sees the money as an all-purpose buffer that gives her choices, say, to leave a bad job.

But sometimes it comes in handy for actual emergencies. Sabalvoro recently sent multiple months’ worth of rent checks at once to avoid late fees and online payment costs. She asked for them to be cashed as they came due, but her landlord cashed them all at once.

“I thought, oh gosh, good thing I got it covered. It was really helpful,” Sabalvoro says of her savings.

Like Sabalvoro, you might find that your emergency fund picks up steam once you’ve made space in your budget, but getting started is the most important thing. You never know when you’ll need to dip into your savings — the only sure thing is that you will.

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The article How to Save $500 originally appeared on NerdWallet.

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