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b'Call him \\u201cthe boy who saved\\u201d. Daniel Radcliffe became famous when he was cast to play Harry Potter, The Boy Wizard at the tender age of 10. This turned into a role that launched his acting career and brought him considerable wealth, estimated at about $100 million. But to give you some perspective, while $100 million is a heck of a lot of money, the eight movies in the blockbuster Harry Potter franchise raked in close to $8 billion worldwide.
Now, five years after the final Harry Potter film hit the screens, Daniel Radcliffe (now a 27-year-old British star) revealed that he doesn\\u2019t touch the money he made and jokingly says he\\u2019s been hoarding his money at Gringotts, the bank for wizards.
\\u201cI don\\u2019t really do anything with my money,\\u201d Radcliffe told the Belfast Telegraph in late September and put forth a compelling argument for why he decided to save it.
Radcliffe said, \\u201cI\\u2019m very grateful for it because having money means you don\\u2019t have to worry about it, which is a very lovely freedom to have. It also gives me immense freedom, career-wise. For all the people who\\u2019ve followed my career, I want to give them something to be interested in, rather than them just watch me make loads of money on crap films for the rest of my life.\\u201d (I\\u2019m sure he wasn\\u2019t referencing the Harry Potter films, right?)
While Radcliffe may be talking specifically about movie projects, no matter what your role in life, he\\u2019s right about not splurging what you have but saving it instead. For example, Radcliffe could easily have burnt that money on fancy cars, extravagant houses, and other expensive shenanigans, but having money socked away can afford you a significant amount of freedom and security. People with money in the bank sleep a little easier at night knowing they can weather unexpected financial shocks and even pursue new job opportunities if their boss turns out to be a real He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, a reference to the evil Lord Voldemort in the book series.
But, despite the clear advantages of saving all you can, many people\\u2014and Americans, in particular\\u2014just aren\\u2019t saving enough. Survey after survey shows that we\\u2019re woefully underfunded for retirement, are ill-equipped to handle even a small financial emergency, and carry more debt than is ideal.
Of course, part of this is attributable to socioeconomic reasons for our lower savings: Many folks are still recovering from the Great Recession; wage growth has been pretty stagnant; and high levels of student loan debt are weighing down many Americans\\u2019 finances.
But even people who are on a tight budget can consider Radcliffe their financial Patronus, the apparition that scares away happiness-stealing dementors and finds new ways to save. Here\\u2019s how you might be able to get some more galleons in your vault.

* Automate your savings

We all know we shouldn\\u2019t spend more than what we have. But if this is a challenge for you, consider setting up an automatic transfer so at least some of your extra funds (after paying your bills) make it into your savings account. You can apply a similar strategy to your investments and increase your 401K contributions from each paycheck.

* Improve your credit

A good credit score can help you save on everything from mortgage rates to insurance policies. So if your credit is a little lackluster, it might behoove you to put in a little work. You can improve your scores by paying down high credit card balances, disputing errors on your credit report, and identifying specific areas where you need to improve. You can find out what these areas are and monitor your progress toward building great credit by viewing your free credit report summary, updated every 14 days. Improving your credit will lower your expenses and give you extra money to sock away.

* Find ways to generate more income

The gig economy is real and, in many respects, thriving,'