I’ve made a conscious effort over the last few months not to spend any money out of the joint account. My aim has been to save up spare money from our budget, to put into our big trip fund.
When I’ve come in under budget on anything, I’ve saved the money for the fund. For example, We’d budgeted £500 for a new window, but it ended up only costing £379, so that £121 is going in the trip fund. I reduced the cost of our contents insurance by looking around for the best deal, and saved £48 on last years cost, so that money is going in the fund. I’ve also resisted spending. There are some items that I would love for the house, but we don’t need them, so I haven’t bought them, I would rather have the money for the trip.
Overall I’ve managed to save £500, which I’ve already transferred to the ING account. This motivates me, making savings on things to fund a dream. It keeps me going.
What do you do to keep you motivated?
{photo credit: the amanda}
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
I like to run numbers of “what if” scenarios for saving to see how much we could save if we worked really hard at it. Seeing those numbers is often very motivating for me. Also, looking at my net worth on mint.com and seeing that it’s so close to being a positive number (including our mortgage that we still owe), is very motivating. I would love to finally have more in savings than what we owe on our mortgage! I would love it even more to no longer have a mortgage!
Great savings for June. We, rather, bought a new camera and a swingset for our boys…spending quite a bit. But, both totally worth it!
Mama Bird’s last blog post..Learning to Swim
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its a great idea. hmm – motivated by inspiration!
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I love seeing those number grow!
For me, I get motivated when I set goals with a deadline. Then I plan backwards and break it down into mini-goals, so that it’s 100% attainable. Then I play a game with myself and *secretly* try to beat the mini-goals, so that I can give myself all kinds of pats on the back. LOL It may be childish, but it’s fun and it works!
kirwin’s last blog post..Living mindfully — Conversations with Furniture
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Awesome! You’ll meet your Big Trip goal in no time with this upbeat plan of yours. We’re doin’ some No Spend Weeks to make our goal grow. So far… it seems to be doing pretty good. Especially because weekends are always the hardest for us.
MoneyFunk’s last blog post..Menu Plan Monday
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