A new year always calls for new year resolution. Realistically, it is always about losing a few pounds, reading a couple of good books, or making saving plans to get that new PSP launching in 2019. Well, we also know how fabulously well our resolution turns out when 2019 rolls around…
I can’t say for the rest of the resolutions, but years of hitting my saving goals makes me realise that there are a couple of things to keep in mind when creating them that helps keep you grounded.
Save before you expense
Most people only save whatever money that have left at the end of the month. Your goals will probably suffer towards the end of the year when you realise that they is no way you can hit them even if you stop eating and drinking.
Instead, do a rough gauge of how much you need to save per month to hit your goals and spread out evenly over the months.
Be realistic
Apart from a lot of self-discipline to sticking to your planned monthly saving amount, you need to be realistic about your saving goals. For example, if you are looking to saving $40k for an upcoming dream wedding on a $50k annual salary, unless you are an aggressive saver, it is highly unlikely for you to hit this saving goal.
Break down your goals to smaller subgoals that is achievable within your means and work towards them instead.
Prioritise your goals
Do not create a long list of goals. When you have too many goals, your mind will usually try to accommodate for all. This could make you too overwhelmed and you could end up not making any of them work.
Always start by listing them in order of what saving goals you would like to achieve first. It can be based on urgency level or timeline of when you needed to hit that goal.
Final Words
Do always check in from time to time to see how you are faring against your goals. This way you can make adjustments to your method along the way, rather than panicking towards the end of the year when you realise that you are no way near hitting them.
