Financially motivating yourself

[greentea]

What tricks or habits do you use to help motivate yourself financially? Have you found any of them to be particularly effective?

[bjl584]

Pay yourself first. Choose a set amount of percentage to save and stick to it. Have it automatically withdrawn at the first of the month or on payday. Then, live on the rest.

[TheKayla]

Starting a blog and joining this forum have been mostly motivating because it allows me to relate to like minded people, and especially with blogging, relate to people in very similar situations. I also love reading other blogs when people reach milestones, or pay off their debt entirely. It's a constant reminder of the feeling I can have if I just stick to my plan and try not to stray!

While my primary focus is paying off debt, even with saving and having better money habits, I found that saving more money until I had a bit of a cash buffer has always been motivating as well. I used to have just a few hundred at most in my account at any given time, and I'd usually spend it down to the last penny, even if it was for something responsible like loan payments or food. With a few thousand in assets now (and growing, even if still slowly while paying down my debts), a few hundred seems so tiny, so I reign in my spending and keep on track more so if my cash ever gets below a certain amount (more than a few hundred!) -- each paycheck seems like less, and I have greater motivation to save it rather than spend it. It's also more motivating building my assets and I don't feel as stuck now, allowing me to make smarter financial decisions, opposed to stress-related financial decisions. I love tracking my goals and looking at all the charts to see my progress increase. I see it as personal progress mostly, not just numbers in Mint.

[kork13]

Pay yourself first. Choose a set amount of percentage to save and stick to it. Have it automatically withdrawn at the first of the month or on payday. Then, live on the rest.

This is a big one for me. If the money just automatically moves into my retirement, investment, and savings accounts as soon as I get paid, there's nothing for me to mess up. The money that's left is available for my use however I may need it.

Also, having defined, written out financial goals (for the short-, mid-, and long-term) allows me to see what I'm doing, why, and monitor my progress toward those goals. I get similar benefits from maintaining and following a personal budget.

Another one that I've found helps me rein in my spending was to start tracking every dollar I spend. It can be a bit onerous for some, but it effectively shows you where your money goes each month, and allows you the opportunity to choose to reduce or eliminate certain expenses if needed/desired. Now that I'm in the habit of doing it, I'm not sure I can stop (lol).... Having that level of information into how you're using your money is really empowering.

[Augustine]

Physically depositing cash into my Savings and Investment accounts once in a while (however little it may be) is something I always look forward to, even if I have the option to automate the transactions.

[Caoineag]

Agreed on the pay ourselves first. There is no set percentage because the income can and does wildly vary but, every time there is an increase, I figure out where to stick it prior to it landing in my account.

[phantom]

I'll admit I'm a geek. But, my favorite motivation is generating charts of my progress. It's really nice to have a way to visualize the progress I've made.

[Inigo_Montoya]

I'm working on personal improvement, and one of my big issues was not having enough in savings, and then I paid the price for that later. I don't think people often realize how blessed they are until they've been through the difficult times that later make them appreciate how fortunate they are. Having been through that difficult time, a huge motivation for me is not wanting to relive those difficult times and knowing that I'm making the right decisions now to help myself in the future. I know that's a pretty bland answer, but the peace of mind is a huge motivation.

[disneysteve]

Pay yourself first. Choose a set amount of percentage to save and stick to it.
live on the rest.

I'll admit I'm a geek. But, my favorite motivation is generating charts of my progress. It's really nice to have a way to visualize the progress I've made.

I agree with both of these. You need to make saving a priority and you need to develop a love of seeing the progress you're making. I truly believe that some of that is innate. I have been a saver since I was a little kid. I was always the one picking up coins in the street, checking coin returns on pay phones and vending machines, etc. Then I'd fill my coin bank, roll my coins, count my coins, etc. I was definitely a financial geek at a very young age and it carried through into adulthood. I'd much rather see how much our portfolio balance is growing rather than seeing what new crap we've accumulated around the house.

[YLTL_Dan]

I'll admit I'm a geek. But, my favorite motivation is generating charts of my progress. It's really nice to have a way to visualize the progress I've made.

Same here, nothing shows progress better than tracking it on a spreadsheet. I just checked my net worth tracker, and I've been doing it for over five years now! If you want to use my template, you can download it here from my blog.

[kork13]

I'll admit I'm a geek. But, my favorite motivation is generating charts of my progress. It's really nice to have a way to visualize the progress I've made.

Same here, nothing shows progress better than tracking it on a spreadsheet. I just checked my net worth tracker, and I've been doing it for over five years now!

I'm the exact same way. I love using/updating my spreadsheets, and watching the progress and seeing how far I've come in the 4.5 years since I started tracking my finances. Last month I finally built a chart depicting my balances over time, and it's kinda fun to see. Yup, total geek here too.

[Jerry91]

It is not very easy to keep yourself motivated when speaking of finances. I occasionally treat myself well if I achieve any of my financial goals. It can be having a good lunch or dinner, visiting a beauty parlour, etc. It encourages me to achieve my other financial goals.

[snafu]

It sure helps to have financial goals. Big picture, where are you today, where do you want to be in 5 yrs? What do you need to do to get there? I like the 'pay yourself 1st' program. Making your money work for you is better than working hard to give it to others for stuff you no longer use, love or can name.

I think I was influenced by my gran who believed that paying interest to a vendor was as silly as standing on the steps and burning $ 10. bills. When I looked at how much interest I was being charged for the 1st 5 yrs of our mortgage, it became a goal to pay it down as quickly as possible. When I changed jobs and able to make decisions on how my retirement savings was invested, I chose Mutual Funds based on a combination of fees, how they compared to others in their market segment and top ten holdings. I admit to being far more aggressive than others. When the roller coaster market sinks I see it as 'on sale.' It's time to hold my nose and stay with my 5 yr. plan.

I'm distressed to see the traditional 4 point spread abandoned. Collecting under 1% income on savings and charging as much as 24% on CC is ghastly. Collecting 2% interest on long term retirement savings will not get me to the sums needed to fund 35 yrs of retirement.

What do you think?