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It’s estimated that 1 in 5 Americans has no emergency savings, and I know how scary that can be. I’m convinced that the people who become the best money managers have lived without it at some point in their lives.

For us, it was while my husband was in grad school, our boys were young, and we were overwhelmed with bills. I was sick with worry that something would go wrong and we couldn’t cover the cost.

That may be why I continue to focus on ways to save money. I want to know that a broken pipe in the basement won’t keep me awake at night because we can draw funds from a high-yield savings account to cover the cost. The trick (I believe) is to do what you can, even if it means starting out slow. Here are some of the pain-free ways I save money each month.

Downsize spending

Flexibility is key for me. Rather than sacrifice the things I enjoy, I’ve learned to downsize my spending. Here’s a sample of what I mean:

• Instead of eating out three times a week, we’ve cut back to one or two.
• Rather than paying for every streaming subscription under the sun, we’ve picked a few favorites.
• Instead of hiring a company to aerate and seed our yard each year, we pay them to aerate, then we buy seed on sale to spread ourselves.
• Whenever my husband and I stop for a meal, we talk about whether we’re hungry enough to order two plates. More often than not, we find something that looks good to both of us and split the meal. This way, we can also avoid food waste when we’re not really hungry.

Pay off high-interest debt and credit cards

Last night, my husband and I discussed how naive we once were about money. For example, as long as we could swing monthly payments, we didn’t worry about how much interest we paid. It wasn’t until we became uncomfortable with our debt load that we learned to pay close attention to interest charges.

Granted, we were young when it happened, but the lesson was powerful enough to alter the way we live our lives. Today, in order to avoid interest, we don’t carry a credit card balance.

We use our reward credit cards regularly, but make it a point to pay them in full before the end of the billing cycle. We’ll drive a car until the wheels fall off if it means avoiding a high interest rate. If we charge a big-ticket item like new flooring or furniture, we use a credit card with a 0% promotional rate and pay it off before the end of the promotional period.

Check out our list of the best cards that reward you for using them. Just be sure to make the most of your new card by paying it off each month.

Save automatically

We’ve discovered that it’s easier to save money that never reaches our checking account. To avoid temptation, money from our paychecks automatically goes into savings. It wasn’t much at first, but we’ve been able to increase the amount little by little through the years.

It’s interesting how quickly we became accustomed to saving instead of spending. The urge to spend was tempered by how good it felt to put money away for a rainy day — even if it wasn’t a huge amount.

Count coins

We never spend change unless we’re feeding a parking meter. We have a big bowl we put change in every day, and every few months, we cash it in. That’s money we can quickly deposit into savings.

When it comes to personal finances, we’ve found that it helps to keep it simple. If none of these tips seem very sophisticated, it’s because they’re not. They’re intentionally simple enough to fit neatly into our lives, allowing us to put money aside without feeling deprived.

A healthy life is about finding balance. While that’s often easier said than done, it is possible. If you want to challenge yourself, find small ways to save money without sacrificing everything you enjoy. You may be surprised by how doable it is.

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The Ascent does not cover all offers on the market. Editorial content from The Ascent is separate from The Motley Fool editorial content and is created by a different analyst team.Discover Financial Services is an advertising partner of The Ascent, a Motley Fool company. Dana George has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Discover Financial Services. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.