5…4…3…2…1…Happy New Year! After your toast of champagne and your New Year’s kiss, the next step is making a New Year’s Resolution. Have you thought about setting a goal to save money in 2012? There’s no better time than with the clean slate of a new calendar. If you want a happier bank account come this time next year, here are some tips that can help.
1) Set A Clear Goal
What do you want to save? Why? Are you saving up for a vacation? Do you want to chip away at some ominous debt? Once you’ve figured out what your inspiration is, how will you achieve it?
For example, here’s a goal that is impossible to satisfy: “I’m going to climb out of debt, or at least start to, by saving some more money…” That is not an achievable, tangible goal. It’s a floating idea with no way of measuring success or failure.
“I’m going to set aside $100 each week. By doing this, I will be out of debt by the end of the year.” This is a goal that has a calculated plan. You’ll know if you’re doing well.
The more detailed your goal, the better. Will you save money by finding the best deals and savings when you shop? Will you begin hunting for coupons and sales? Will you eliminate certain indulgences from your budget? It’s up to you, but think about specifically how you will stay frugal.
2) Track Your Progress
Keep tabs on your goal. Try marking off every week or month on the calendar that you meet your desired savings. 365 days is a long time and the satisfaction of achieving your year goal will seem far off. Set milestone goals as well! How much do you want to have saved by three months? How about six months? When you reach these goals you should reward yourself, in a reasonable way of course. By setting small milestones and watching your progress, you will make the intimidating overall goal much more manageable.
3) Set Goals You Can Reach
Your goal should be challenging. You should have to work to achieve it. There’s really nothing satisfying about reaching an easy-as-pie number, knowing that you could do better. However, there are also few things as disheartening as pursuing a goal you’ll never reach. If your New Year’s resolution had been to lose weight, you might have set a goal to shed ten pounds in six months. Sure, it will be difficult, but it’s attainable! If your goal is to lose 50 pounds and uncover those six-pack abs in a few months, you’ll quickly get discouraged. When Jessica Alba refuses to show up in your mirror, you’re likely to become frustrated and quit your goal altogether. What’s the point if you can’t achieve it?
The same thing goes for saving money. If you know you could easily save $300 monthly, maybe a number like $500 each month would be a good challenge. By setting a lofty goal like $1,500, you could get discouraged when you fail to reach it.
4) Encouragement
A good goal is an attainable challenge. It should take work to achieve it. Sometimes you’re going to mess up. You may come up short in a monthly goal. It’s okay. You can’t get down on yourself when you hit a speed bump. It may slow you down, but if you keep going you can still reach your goal.
It can be really beneficial to tell your friends and family about your new goal. If people know about it, they’ll be likely to hold you accountable, to support you. They may even become inspired and set goals themselves, giving you people to work with! Surround yourself with those who will want to help you.
Sticking with your plan will be tough! It’s supposed to be. You’ll get more used to it as the months pass, though. Don’t forget to stay positive. Congratulate yourself when you do well, and keep your head up when you don’t.
Have you set savings goals before? How did they go? Share here!
