For other stuff it’s easy. It is easy to find motivation to get out of debt because the prospect of not having to pay any more credit card bills is like winning the lottery. And motivation for investing is almost built-in to the addictiveness of success. But saving… well…
I mean, seriously, who likes saving anyway?
It is too much like self-denial.
What’s in it for you, right?
For me, in order to find the motivation to save, I had to set an achievable goal. You see, I want desperately to go to Apricale in Liguria, Italy. It is a goal that is lofty enough to keep me motivated but achievable enough that I do not feel overwhelmed. I have a photo of Cinque Terre as my desktop background to remind me daily of what I am working towards.
What is your motivation?
You need to find something that will motivate you to pinch those pennies. This motivation has to be strong enough to offset any and all temptations (well most of them anyway) in order to be successful. The idea is to find something that is just out of reach but definitely within the realm of possibilities. This will keep you going.
Maybe you can use the prospect of buying a house as motivation. Or saving for your son’s Princeton University tuition. Or maybe just upgrading your current brake pads so that you stop getting all those stares at four way stops. Whatever it is, stick to it and give yourself a daily reminder.
Then something very cool happens…
You start realizing that every cent and dollar you save is not really self-denial, rather they are getting you that much closer to achieving your goal.
I think about it like this: instead of eating out at the lame restaurants around this neighborhood and buying movie tickets for two for a movie which will undoubtedly disappoint, I can save that money and hold on to enough of it to travel to Italy for one day’s worth of projected expenses. If I start saving money instead of going out to the movies seven times, I would have enough money to spend a whole week in Tuscany. JUST LIKE THAT. Convince your significant other to skip seven stupid movies and you both will find yourself in another continent in no time.
But only YOU can make it real
Not going to the movies or eating out so much is a conscious choice that I have had to make every weekend so that I can put money in my Italy travel fund because I realize that if I do not act on my motivation, then all I have is a really pretty desktop background and nothing more.
If I don’t save, I will NEVER make it to Italy and that to me sounds like self-denial.
What motivations are you all using to save? Are they strong enough to overcome temptations? Has it been easy or hard?
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to our RSS feed!
Related Posts:
I need to shape up...
Sally on October 8, 2009
So hard for me to save! So hard for a good majority of us to save….I can’t really save if I wanted to right now because I don’t currently work. But back in the day it was very difficult. There’s always something I NEED NOW! I can almost ALWAYS justify NEEDING IT NOW. I could wait and eat at home but I am hungry now, what if I faint from hunger on my drive home? Yeah, better eat out. Buying make-up…need I remind you that when I see the world, the world sees me too? The outfit I’m wearing today is sooo last week! Need a new one! The list goes on and on. I personally know people who never in their life have saved a penny, living their life in the now. Never once thinking about the future! They buy things simply because they just got paid and can. Buying about 2 or 3 DVDs every paycheck….AH!
MOTIVATION! I think it’s hard to motivate people who have NO DREAMS…How can you be motivated if you have no ambition? Those are the types of people I have grown up around…though I have dreams, it’s quite hard to imagine they COULD come true! The only reason I feel it is possible to achieve dreams is because my boyfriend has helped me achieve one of them!
M-O-T-I-V-A-T-I-O-N!
Mike on October 8, 2009
Sally,
I can definitely relate. Delayed gratification is one of the hardest things that I’ve struggled with. It’s just human nature. So how can people get over this? I think that you’ve touched on it a little bit. Having goals/dreams is a must. Essentially people have to change their mindset.
But how can you change your mindset IF everyone around you is a shopaholic??? Easy, you just change the people you hang around with! I don’t necessarily mean cut-out your friends from your life, but you have to make a concerted effort to seek out better influences. You said that your boyfriend influenced you, now imagine if all your friends or the people that you converse with the most had the same mentality…it would hard NOT to be frugal, because you’d feel left out.
The one piece of advice that I’ve taken to heart is this: The people that you hang out with and the books you read are the influences in your life. Two things will happen, either they will influence you or you will influence them. The choice is yours.
Discouragement « Minting Pennies – Personal Finance, Investing, and Microfinance on November 11, 2009
[...] either through positive reinforcement or negative reinforcement. We have already discussed how motivation is essential in keeping your focus on saving. By having a goal, it becomes easy to find the will [...]
Finding Lessons In Finding Nemo « Minting Pennies – Personal Finance, Investing, and Microfinance on December 11, 2009
[...] need to become the leader and show them goals. But if they are not receptive to your goals and dreams, then it does not make sense to keep them around all the [...]
Minting Pennies – Personal Finance, Investing, and Microfinance on February 10, 2010
[...] Articles Why Not Kiva? Finding Your Perfect Match Living In The Fast Lane The Finish Line Motivation Your Two Cents HereIn Case of Emergency, Break Piggy [...]