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Today we’re happy to be sharing a collaborative post, sent in by a Savings and Sangria reader. Thanks so much to Dani for sharing these easy ways to stick to your savings plan!
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Easy Ways To Stick To Your Savings Plan
When you’ve got your eye on something, such as a designer handbag, a new car or a deposit on a property – reaching your savings target can feel like a long way away. Sticking to your savings isn’t always easy, especially when the temptation to shop and socialize present themselves.
Getting in the habit of saving takes work, but there are some things that you can do to make it more manageable. Take a look at these easy ways to stick to your savings.
Set a realistic savings target
It can be easy to start off with big targets to help you save money quicker. The problem is, it might not be such a manageable target. And that might leave you struggling with the rest of your spending.
A budget is the best way to manage this, helping you work out which areas you can cut back on to provide a realistic savings target. You might even find that you’re wasting money on things you don’t use that could be better out towards your savings.
Even if you hate budgets, this simple budget calculator can make budgeting a piece of cake.
Put your money where you can’t touch it
There’s always the temptation to dip into your savings, with the promise that you’ll put in extra next month.
To avoid this temptation, the best thing you can do is to put your money somewhere you can’t see it. For longer-term savings, you might want to consider investing your money in a gold IRA or in stocks to grow your money over a longer period.
For your emergency fund, put your money into a savings account. It will still be accessible when you need it, but it will be out of sight (and out of mind!) for those little daily temptations.
Automate your savings plan
Too many savers set themselves up for failure by trusting themselves to deposit their savings in their savings and investment accounts every payday. That’s a disaster because people often find something they’d rather spend the money on before they move it to savings. Or they just forget to move the money to savings.
To avoid this pitfall, automate your savings plan. Set up automatic transfers with your bank so your planned savings amount is automatically moved to your savings and investing accounts every payday. Set it and forget it!
Try ‘reverse credit’
If there’s something that you really want to save for, you could try the ‘reverse credit’ method.
Say, for example, that you want to buy a designer purse or a swanky new Apple product, reverse credit works as an updated version of the classic envelope method. Put your savings onto gift cards for the store you want to buy from.
Through this method, you’re keeping your eye on the target and stopping the temptation to spend money elsewhere.
Just make sure that you spend the money before the gift cards expire to stop your savings from going down the drain.
Don’t deprive yourself along the way
Saving involves being strict with your spending, but that doesn’t mean that you have to deprive yourself of fun. When setting your budget, make allowances for entertainment and the odd treat. Just don’t go overboard.
Remember that you can be flexible with your budget to accommodate Christmas, birthdays, and other occasions, provided you make an effort to save more during your quieter periods.
Saving isn’t always easy, but the rewards will be worth it when you reach your target. Finding ways to save that will affect your current lifestyle as little as possible will make it easier to put that little bit extra aside.
Use these easy tricks to stick to your savings, and you’ll reach your target in no time!
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