This story is part of CNBC Make It's One-Minute Money Hacks series, which provides easy, straightforward tips and tricks to help you understand your finances and take control of your money.

If you're having trouble saving each month, you're not alone. With nonstop expenses, it can be extremely difficult to put money away. 

That's why it may make sense shift your thinking and treat your savings like a bill that needs to be paid. Each month, pay your savings "bill" by allocating funds to your savings account, just like you would allocate money toward other bills.

That way, you'll save automatically, rather than waiting until the end of the month to put away whatever amount is left over.

Here's how it works.

Pay yourself first

First, calculate your monthly income.

Then, figure out how much you'd be able to comfortably save upfront. 

To do this, you may want to establish a monthly budget. When listing the expenses you'll need to pay, add savings to the mix, treating it like any other bill that needs to be paid right away.

For example, you may allocate $1,000 for rent, $150 for utilities, $150 for food, $500 for savings, and so on.

You can transfer money to savings manually each month or set up automatic deposits from your checking account to your savings account.

Automatic transfers can be a convenient way to build up your savings account without having to remember to deposit funds every few weeks.

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