Enjoying the Savings Journey, One Dollar at a Time

I used to get very discouraged with my savings account. As soon as I managed to save $100, some emergency would come up that depleted the balance to zero again.  I knew I wanted to save 3-6 months of living expenses, which was much more than $100, but getting there seemed impossible.  It took many wasted years and lots of visits to financial rock bottom before I got a handle on saving money.  I learned that I needed to make savings a priority, make it automatic and make it intentional.  What I also learned was that I had to enjoy the savings process. I had to have some fun through goal planning.  Yes, I said fun! Saving money doesn’t have to be a miserable process. The way I keep this fun is to day dream often and get excited over even the smallest deposits.

Day Dream Often

Whenever you start on a new journey or set a new goal, imagining what life will look like when you get there is key to success. No matter what your goal is, you have to get a strong image of it in your mind, picture it often and talk about it frequently with the people closest to you. Day dreaming about what your life will be like when you reach your savings goal should be exciting and inspiring.  My husband and I travel a lot to see family and whenever we are in the car, we use that time to dream about the end of our savings journey.  We have so much fun dreaming up our visions and that increases our motivation to save more money. I also love using real images in conjunction with my imagination to keep my day dreams vivid.  Whether I am saving for a vacation or a home renovation, I often use Pinterest to help visualize my goals. Maybe your goals are very long term and you are worried about keeping the dream alive. Keeping savings fun when the path is long takes a little bit of work and a good amount of patience.

Small Drops lead to Large Puddles

Ever hear the joke about how to eat an elephant? One bite at a time.  I can’t stand imaging eating an elephant so I prefer to think about puddles. My son loves splashing in puddles after it rains. He even begs me to drive through puddles on the road so he can see the splash from my car tires. The moment it starts raining my son starts plotting his plan to do some serious splashing. When the rain begins, the water has not yet pooled but he knows that it’s only a matter of time before those small drops turn into large puddles. My son’s unquestionable belief in this process is how we need to think about our savings.  Even if we only save $5 a week, we will end up with a large pile of money. Every little bit adds up and small deposits increase momentum and motivation, ultimately leading to large balances.  Just as my son loves watching the little rain drops start to pool in the driveway, we need to enjoy watching each dollar grow our savings account balances. Don’t be discouraged by small deposits – have fun imagining all the jumping around we will do when our savings accounts are nice and full.

As you’re working your budget, make sure you have a savings line towards the top and don’t get discouraged with it.  Keep dreaming about the peace of mind, and fun, that savings account can buy you and remember that every little bit counts. Need help reaching your savings goals? Call us today!