When it comes to working with a budget, being able to sock away cash for an emergency fund can seem like a daunting task. An emergency fund is a great way to create a financial safeguard against unexpected expenses in life. But how can you save money to start an emergency fund, even when your current finances are already stretched? Here are five tips to get you started down the right path.

Drink more water
This one is a no-brainer. Let’s say you drink three sodas a day from the vending machine at work. That’s a $3 a day, five days a week habit that you’re feeding. If you start drinking from the water cooler instead, you can start saving almost $780 a year. So not only will you be saving a substantial amount of money, you’ll be doing your body a huge favor by cutting all those calories and sugars out of your diet. And for those of you that are addicted to soda, here are some great ways to beat the addiction.

Use coupons
Ugh, coupons. Those annoying pieces of paper you’re supposed to cut out from the Sunday paper every week and store in a shoe box. You would think all the time and effort someone would put into the cutting and organization of coupons wouldn’t be worth it. But you’d be wrong. Only cut out coupons for the products that you already use and don’t bother with any others. It only takes a few dollars each week in coupon savings to save more than $500 a year. When you think of all the coupons that go beyond groceries (such as pizza delivery, oil changes, haircuts, etc.) it should be easy to save much more than this with little time or effort.

Learn to haggle
Believe it or not, most services you currently pay for are negotiable, such as your cable TV, gym membership, phone bill, and Internet service. While asking for a better deal may not work all of the time, you will get a discount a lot more often than you might think. And all you have to do is ask. If you can negotiate a $10 a month discount on each, that comes to $480 a year in savings for a few phone calls. Not too shabby.

Comparison shop
Ok, I’ll admit. I’m a horrible impulse buyer. When I see something I want, I buy it without considering how much it might cost at another store. This didn’t bother me in the past, until I realized how much money I was wasting. Websites such as Pricewatch.com, LowerMyBills.com, and Pricegrabber.com can literally save you thousands of dollars a year with savings from big-ticket electronics, insurance and more. If you haven’t started comparison shopping yet, you need to start right away. You can’t afford not to.

Open a window in the summer
Besides your refrigerator and television, air conditioning uses an obscene amount of electricity. As long as you don’t live in a Arizona (where summers hit upwards of 115 degrees), open a window at night. The cooler night breezes create a pleasant atmosphere, and the extra $50 in your pocket every month don’t hurt either.