Best ways to motivate yourself into saving money

Due to the status of the current economy, many people are now finding themselves living paycheck to paycheck and are losing their motivation to start or build up their savings.

However, saving doesn’t have to be a hard task if you take simple steps to start and stay on track with the process.

Here are some tips to get you started and keep you motivated to reach your savings goal.

1) Start Off Small

One way to keep yourself motivated with saving is to start off in small amounts. Make a daily goal to save a dollar or two every day, which can add up to be at least $30 to $60 dollars per month.

By setting a small goal, you will be able to see the rewards in a shorter period of time. As you continue to save, you should gradually increase your daily goal to a higher amount.

2) Setup an Automatic Draft

Remembering to transfer money marked for savings into a separate banking account can be hard for some people. Often when money meant for savings is left in the same banking account with other funds for bills such as rent and utilities, it ends up being spent.

By setting up a weekly or monthly automatic draft from your banking account to other account such as a savings account, you will be less likely to overspend and use your savings money.

3) Join an Online or Local Savings Group

Another way to stay motivated about saving is to join an online message forum or local savings club in your area. Normally, the members of these type of groups set saving goals together and keeping each other on track by reporting on their progress on a weekly or monthly basis.

Hearing all of the success stories from the other members should be a great motivation tool for you.

4) Use Positive Visual Aids

Once you have set a goal, keep yourself motivated by placing visual aids in your home, around your desk or in the car that you will see every day. You can use index cards or create a saving chart to remind you about your goal.

For example if you are saving for a nice beach vacation, you should find a picture of a beautiful beach to display along with your chart tracking your progress. Seeing this picture and imagining yourself having a blast on that beach daily should keep your savings growing.

5) Shop Around for Deals

Before you make any kind of purchase, it would be wise to shop around for the best deal. You will be amazed at some of the deals you can find by visiting different stores in your area.

For online shoppers, there are many websites and many Twitter accounts you can also follow that tweet out deals daily. You should add the money saved from shopping around for deals to your savings goal.

What are some places where I can find out how to save?

• DailyDeals.com- an excellent website to visit for the latest sales, discounts and coupons for a variety of products and services
• Moolanomy– This is a resource article on the site that has 50+ resources and tips
• Frugal Village– A one stop website that has everything from frugal living, to frugal cooking.

The key thing to remember when you are trying to stay motivated is take each step one day at a time and don’t give up. By staying on track and using your determination, your savings will continue to grow.

(image source: nvestability.com)