Dinero, moolah, cheddar, simoleons–whatever you want to call it, it’s money. It makes the world go around, some deeply believe it to be the root of all evil, but beneath all that, it is simply a tool. As Ayn Rand once said: “…it will take you wherever you wish, but it will not replace you as the driver.”

During the past few weeks, we here at Rod Authority, along with a few of our writers and editors for sister magazines, have been undergoing an online course aimed at improving our personal habits when it comes to spending and saving. Yours truly is in the process of saving up for the next daily driver, which will hopefully be here by late December.

For you, dear reader, perhaps you’ve had difficulties scrounging cash together to buy a replacement part on an in-progress build, or been discouraged from starting another project altogether. We’re here to say that this doesn’t necessarily have to be the case; we’re here to say that you can have your Tri-Five and restore it too. Here are three tips we feel may help.

Tip #1: Everything Must Go (OK, Maybe Just Some Things)

Clean up and make money with a garage sale.

One of the first things you can do is take a look around the garage or workspace. A busted old CRT television there, a set of hubcaps that do nothing but collect dust, a starter that’s been more trouble than you care to imagine; these and other items are things you can immediately get rid of and make some money on in the process.

You might be thinking that someday these odds and ends can come in handy, that they’ll be the finishing touch to a build or act as a “family heirloom.” Harsh as this may sound, it’s better to think of them as just objects–let them go if they don’t serve a purpose within the next year, because in ten or twenty years, chances increase that the part will never be used and just wind up contributing to all the clutter.

Tip #2: Budget Thyself

Swap meets are also a great way to offload some of your extra parts.

Ever had that uneasy feeling of wondering how all of your money is spent? It can be a difficult thing to consider, when it dawns on you how much is used here and there; debit and credit cards, checks, bills, et cetera.

Budgets are the best way to combat this. Even quick ones, accounting for just your monthly expenditures like transportation, utilities, shelter, food, and entertainment, can at least offer a basic idea of what does or doesn’t need to stop the money from being sucked out of your wallet. Be sure to craft one every month, make it fit your lifestyle, and share these goals with your significant other; after all, two heads are better than one!

Tip #3: Plan for the Unexpected

Needed a new motor anyway…

You’ve got to have an emergency fund. You just have to. Spouses get stuck without cash and need money to get home, the transmission on the SUV breaks and needs $3,000 to get repaired, one of your kids announces his or her engagement.

Over the course of a few pay periods, setting aside $300-500 can get you a fund devoted entirely to covering these unexpected events so they don’t cut into whatever project you’re working on. A good idea is to have around $5,000 ready to drop when a situation arises, and it should be a little difficult to get to (a separate savings account from your primary banking institution for instance)–the better to prevent you from spending it willy-nilly.

Now that you have at least a sense of what course of action to take, it’s time to act on them. Open a savings account, create and abide by the budget, and find some things to sell to get you started. From there, you’ll find that not only can the build proceed on a proper schedule, but maybe your piggy bank will fill up too.