Imagine what you could do if your bank account were suddenly bulging with extra cash. Would you renovate your bathroom? Splurge on a new laptop? Take a trip to Hawaii? Update your entire wardrobe? No doubt you already have a goal you'd like to reach within the next year. The one hitch is, of course, coming up with the cash. But with a little determination and creativity, you can quickly amass a bundle of money.

You might follow the example of Anne Taulane, 27, a website and publications assistant for a Philadelphia law firm, who was determined to take a two-week trip to France and Spain without going into debt. "I cut back on going out on the weekends and having lunch out during the week," she says. "I also gave up little luxuries, like having my eyebrows waxed. Now I pluck them myself." She reached her goal in just a couple of months. Inspired? You should be. Here's how you can do the same in just a few easy steps.

DEFINE YOUR DREAM
Have some fun fleshing out your fantasy. For instance, if you want to renovate your kitchen, make a list of the changes you most want, then investigate the costs. If you can't come up with the $10,000 you'd need to replace all the cabinets, consider painting them instead. Perhaps you'll be able to sock away enough for a gorgeous sink and new countertops, too.

CALCULATE THE COST
Figure out how much you must set aside each month to finance your dream. If your goal is to save $3,000 in the next 12 months, you'll need to stow away $250 a month or $58 a week. If that sounds like more than you can swing, consider spreading your goal out over a longer period — say, 18 months to two years.

FIND THE MONEY
This step is the trickiest. "If you want to save $1,000 to $5,000 in a year, it's not about what you'll get in the way of investment returns," says Catherine Odelbo, a president with Morningstar, a global investment-research firm. "It's all about how well you save." Here are four strategies for creating a cash reserve.

1. TRIM BACK ON LUXURIES. To get a clear picture of your spending pitfalls, keep track of your expenditures for a few weeks. You may be surprised to see how many dollars are flying out of your wallet for nonessentials. For instance, Minda Allarde, a 30-year-old publicist in New York City, used to down five Frappuccino coffee drinks a week at Starbucks. By downsizing to one a week, she saves $16 a week or $832 a year.

Vanessa Richardson, 31, a Web editor in Mountain View, California, is hankering to go scuba diving in the Caribbean. As part of her savings strategy, she is borrowing books from the library rather than buying them and limiting magazine subscriptions. She spends a "magazine reading day" once a month at Barnes & Noble and buys in bulk from Costco instead of shopping at the corner gourmet deli.

Lisa Trevorrow, 31, a diabetes-education consultant in the San Francisco Bay area, found that she and her fiance were wasting large sums on cell-phone calls and dining out. Now they eat home more and have changed their calling habits — efforts that are helping them shovel about $400 a month each into a wedding account.

2. SHAVE SOME DOLLARS OFF BIG, FIXED COSTS. Take a look at your ongoing housing expenses. Could you refinance your mortgage and pay a smaller monthly amount? If you're a renter, now might be a good time to look for a better deal. How about giving up call waiting or replacing voice mail with an inexpensive answering machine? Take a look at your cable-TV bill. Do you really need all those channels? Next, check out your utilities. Try lowering your thermostat a few degrees in the winter and running the air-conditioner less in the summer. For other energy-saving tips, visit www.energyguide.com, suggests certified financial planner Dee Lee, the author of Let's Talk Money, $20 www.amazon.com.

3. MOONLIGHT YOUR WAY TO MORE INCOME. If giving up frills proves too painful, you might find it easier to take on a second job. With the holidays around the corner, you may be able to pick up an evening or weekend position at a retailer, such as the Gap, Williams-Sonoma, or Barnes & Noble. What's more, you may get an employee discount that you can use when shopping for holiday gifts.

4. UNLOAD THE UNNEEDED. Rather than denying yourself some of life's little pleasures, see if you can't raise funds by selling off some of your junk. Lori George, a 33-year-old stay-at-home mom in Des Moines, Iowa, and her husband have sold scores of his childhood action figures, toys, and comics on eBay. "We've raised an average of $1,000 a month that way," she says. Placing some items of clothing you don't use on consignment is another good way to clean out and clean up. Then there's the old standby —a garage sale. You'll end up with more money and more space.

LOCK THE MONEY AWAY
Now that you know how to get the cash, make doubly sure you won't touch it. How? Set up an automatic investment plan, in which the funds are deducted from your paycheck each month and sent directly to a money-market account or a mutual fund. "People experience saving money as a loss," says Gary Belsky, co-author of Why Smart People Make Big Money Mistakes — And How to Correct Them, $12 www.amazon.com. "But with an automatic-investment plan, you never register the loss in the first place."

As for where to put your cash, don't get stressed over it. "You don't have to investigate lots of investments," says Catherine Odelbo. She recommends turning to Vanguard (www.vanguard.com or 800-662-7447), since it has some of the lowest expenses in the industry. Your best bet is to stash the money in a money-market account or may be the Vanguard Inflation-Protected Securities Fund (VIPSX), which is a fairly safe bond fund. Or try ING Direct (www.ingdirect.com), an FDIC-insured Internet bank with excellent interest rates on savings accounts.

Now close your eyes and let the money pile up. Before you know it, you'll be watching the paint dry on your new kitchen cabinets or jetting off to Paris.