One of the ways that you can make saving easier for yourself is to set goals. When you have a target, it can be easier to stay motivated. Besides, it's almost always easier to see how far you've come if you actually know where you are going. Plus, knowing what you are working for can help you stay motivated.
How Targeted Savings Goals Work
Setting targeted savings goals is fairly straightforward. You decide what you want to save for, and then make a plan to achieve your version of success. This helps you break down your goals, and helps you create plans to help ensure that the most important items in your life are taken care of.
Think about a goal that you want to reach. Do you want six months of expenses in your emergency fund? Do you want to reach the point where you are maxing out your retirement account contributions? Are you planning a family vacation? Do you want to re-do the flooring in your home? All of these represent savings targets that you can use. Think about how much money you need to reach your goal, and then determine your time frame. Do the math to see how much money needs to go in the pot to reach your goals.
If you want to save $2,000 in six months for a family vacation, you need to save $333.33 a month. This approach really helps you break down your needs. You can look for ways to cut out unnecessary expenses to help you reach your goal, or you can earn more money to help you achieve your ends.
The idea is to break down all of your savings goals down into manageable chunks. In some cases, you can even be contributing to different goals at once. As long as you stay organized, and you are sure about what you want to accomplish, you should be able to use various targeted accounts to help you save for specific goals.
Setting Up Different Targeted Funds
If you really want to take things to the next level, you can also use different funds to help you reach various goals. This works especially well for those who don't have specific goals in mind all the time, but still have a general idea of how they would like to use their money. If you want to be able to eat out regularly, or participate in other entertainment activities, it's possible to start up a fund for that purpose. This concept also works in terms of cars. You know you might need to pay for repairs, or for a new car, so adding to the car fund provides a target for your money, even though it isn't exactly specific. Add money to the fund regularly, and see that it is invested in assets that offer some sort of return that beats a savings account yield. Then, your money grows, while at the same time providing you with something that you can draw on when you want.
Think about how you can improve your lifestyle by planning ahead for splurges. In many cases, even if you don't have a specific goal to save for, saving can still be of benefit. You never know when you will need the money, and it can be available for you in the event that you decide that splurging might be in order.
I love targeted funds and use ING Direct exactly for this reason. They let me start a savings account for each targeted goal.
I find it that when I write my goal down and plan it out it’s so much easier for me to save up. The only thing is I do not like counting on savings accounts or bank accounts. Even though I have money in savings and other accounts, when it comes to saving a large amount of money I find it easier to hide the cash somewhere and forget it exists. I constantly write down what has been added and put away the cash and once again forget it. Everyone asks me how I manage to save so much money, I simply tell them, “I count that money as spent already and just ignore it’s existence.” Keeping a savings account even with limits gives you too much freedom to transfer cash back into your checking account. I suggest, if you aren’t going to do savings long term just do it in cash. Now long term savings is always beneficial to do through a bank because they will add to it, by simply paying you for “borrowing” your money. Just always prepare yourself for the worse, banks do have issues and sometimes money “disappears” .