Me and my husband have got various savings goals at the moment – some short term and some more long term – and I think it’s very important to have savings goals. We’re currently looking at re-doing our bathroom as it needs completely gutting and done from scratch as the previous owners did a DIY job that was poorly executed. We are going to pay for our complete bathroom project with cash and the only way we can do this is by having good, attainable saving goals.
It does not matter how small your goal is. It might be that you want to save £200 towards Christmas or you want to go away for a romantic weekend and not put it on a card. The main aspect is that you have a number in mind to reach. Then, you can work out how much you need to save each week/month so that you can reach your goal.
Having a goal means you are more likely to reach your target. Having a specific goal and number is an immediate motivational tool. You know what you want to achieve, and you are the only one who is in charge of that goal. I don’t know about anyone else, but as soon as I say “I want to save X amount for Y” I’m much more likely to actually achieve it. The competition aspect within comes to play! The closer you get to your target, the more this comes into focus.
If you are saving for a larger amount, then breaking it down into smaller, more manageable goals will make it seem easier. For our bathroom, we set ourselves a top budget of £4,000. This is because we will need the walls re-plastering, an exactor fan put it, some electrics changed and then everything else on top. It’s going to be expensive! So, we set ourselves a challenge of putting at least £200 into the bathroom fund every month since last year. £200 is a lot easier to manage than thinking about £4,000 in one go! Sure, it’ll take a while but then saving for multiple things (we’ve got lots of savings goals for different things going on at the moment!) takes time. Breaking it down into percentage points can also help. Thinking you are 25% of the way to your target, for example, can spur you on!
Don’t be disheartened when the going gets tough. The thing about saving goals is that sometimes, real life can get in the way. We try and save and/or overpay around 35% of our income every month, but sometimes unexpected expenses come up. And that’s alright – that’s what happens sometimes. But, we will get there in the end, thanks to our planing and saving goals all figured out.
Do you have any saving goals? Do you have any tips for staying motivated? I’d love to hear from you!
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Currently everything we have is going to debt, but if I see any wiggle room I may try to start putting some away for home renovations we have planned, 4 years down the road.
Good luck with that 🙂
I agree! If I don’t have a savings goal I don’t save as aggressively. Right now I’m building up our E-fund.
Good luck with your emergency fund! 🙂
Having goals is really important to me because I now know what I need to do and how much I need to save. I have a few little (short term) goals and a few long term goals.
Knowing how much you need to save really helps!
I definitely think you need to have a savings goal. If you have no concrete reason for saving, you’re likely to just spend your money without second thought. Breaking it down into smaller pieces is the way to go with big projects!
I agree – you are more likely to fritter your money away if you don’t have a saving goal.
I have different little savings “buckets” each with their own goal – travel, car, emergency, etc. I like have separate accounts for each one – it helps me visualize how much closer I am to each goal!
Wow, how many accounts do you have? I like the idea of them being all separate 🙂
I love having a specific number as a target. Right now, I’m really focused on building up income. I’d like to get to 4k/month in the next year. Right now I’m nowhere NEAR that, but that’s why we have goals, right?
Good luck in reaching 4k a month by next year – that’s a fantastic goal!
We have long-term and short-term savings goals. It really helps us stay focused!
Us too! It really does help us stay focused 🙂
I have a saving goal but sad to say I’m not really consistent with it. I’m still working hard to become motivated to reach those saving goals especially the emergency fund.
An emergency fund is really important – good luck with it 🙂
I started with a small and attainable saving goals for I could be encouraged. I saved 5% of my income first until years have passed it became 25%. I like how it turned out. Hoping to meet financial stability at the age of 35.
35 would be a fantastic age to be financial stable 🙂
It definitely helps to break a big savings goal into smaller goals! Right now, we are trying to pay off some consumer debt, but then we will start some savings goals and put more towards retirement. Good luck with your bathroom renovation! 🙂
Thank you! I’m hoping it won’t take long 🙂 good luck with paying off your debt and then working on other goals 🙂
As soon as my debts are gone, I’m going to have quite a few savings goals, since I have a lot of time to make up for! Great idea to break goals down into more manageable targets. I need to save a deposit for a house, plus sort out some kind of regular retirement savings account. Well done on your bathroom savings fund it will be worth it in the end!
We did the same as you as I am currently renovating our bathroom. We estimate about $6000 Canadian but I’m doing all the work and we aren’t changing out the jacuzzi tub which is fine. If we paid someone we could easily double that. The shower alone has taken me days on end of 10 hours a pop working on it. You are smart to save up the cash and whatever you think it will cost add a bit more lol. I still don’t know the cost of my shower door but I’ll find out next week. Savings goals are important for all sorts of reasons but if we don’t have them and just jump right in it’s easy to see how some can find themselves in debt. It’s better to save first.
Thanks for stopping by! Me and my husband are not DIY people, which probably doesn’t help. I can’t imagine spending so much time trying to install the shower! But props to you 🙂 I think it’s better to save first 🙂
I’m really lucky I have a natural saving mindset. I’ve had a 1p and a 5p jar most of my life (well since 5p’s got little…), and due to my mum working for a bank have every type of account under the sun. I’ve always been a save then figure out what the goal is kinda gal. 🙂 x
How often to you pay in your 1ps and 5ps? 🙂 They add up too!
We had a goal of early retirement and started off with overpaying pensions and just getting on with life. We re assessed when our daughters went to university and mortgage paid off and tried to match our outgoings with predicted pensions and saved in addition to pensions to give us early retirement pot to draw on. Husband retired last year at 58. I go at the end of this year.