Visualize Your Savings Goals

Written by Nickel - 14 Comments

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One of the biggest challenges when it comes to achieving major savings goals is maintaining your focus. The bigger the goal, the longer it typically takes to achieve it, and the easier it is to take your eye of the ball. One particularly effective trick for combating this possibility is to create a visual reminder of your savings goal.

Lessons from an eleven year old

I was recently reminded of how well this approach works when I discovered that our eleven year old was carrying around a tattered picture of an ASUS Eee PC netbook. Yep, that’s it (alongside his wallet) in the photo above. He’s been saving up for his own computer for quite awhile now, and he was concerned about blowing his hard-earned money on a less worthy item during a moment of weakness.

We’ve actually talked quite a bit with the kids about impulse purchases and how much they can set you back when you’re saving up for something big. In an attempt to avoid these sorts of problems, he decided to print out a picture of a computer like the one he wanted to buy and slip it into his wallet, thereby ensuring that he’d see it every time he was tempted to spend money.

And guess what? It worked. He saved like a madman with nary a setback and, as of last week, he’s the proud new owner of his very own netbook. So take it from an eleven year old… If you’re having trouble meeting your savings goals, create a visual reminder of whatever it is that you’re saving for and slip it into your wallet or purse.

Published on March 3rd, 2009 - 14 Comments
Filed under: Frugality, Saving & Investing
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About the author: Nickel is the founder and editor-in-chief of this site. He's a thirty-something family man who has been writing about personal finance since 2005, and guess what? He's on Twitter!

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Comments (scroll down to add your own):

  1. Solid idea– Many years ago, I used to take my resume and write what I wanted on it in red pen and look at it weekly. I eventually added 90% of what I wanted. I didn’t add the foreign langauges, but everything else made it.

    Now I do two wish lists: one for needed items like tools and a beater pickup truck with a plow and one for debts to crush. I review these weekly to motivate me.

    Comment by DDFD at DivorcedDadFrugalDad — Mar 3rd 2009 @ 7:19 am

  2. I followed the twitter drama with setup, was the first one eventually returned?

    This really shows that your 11 year old understands the value of a dollar. That’s the foundation for a life of smart money. Good job dad.

    Comment by the weakonomist — Mar 3rd 2009 @ 8:50 am

  3. I hope it doesn’t sound corny to say this, but I’m so proud of your son right now! (And jealous, too – I’ve been wanting an Eee, but haven’t been able to justify the purchase.)

    Comment by Danny — Mar 3rd 2009 @ 9:40 am

  4. Way to go both Dad and son! What a fantastic reflection on the two of you. You must be very proud of your incredibly motivated son!

    Comment by Juice — Mar 3rd 2009 @ 9:49 am

  5. What a great article and an even better lesson. Sometimes kids really do have the best ways to go about doing things. I am sure he will grow up to be a fine and responsible adult.

    Comment by Ian — Mar 3rd 2009 @ 9:58 am

  6. I’m going to steal that resume idea. Thanks.

    Comment by SandwichArtist — Mar 3rd 2009 @ 10:49 am

  7. I think many adults have impulse spending as well, but I doubt this would work with adults we always find ways to justify our spending.

    Comment by Ray — Mar 3rd 2009 @ 11:20 am

  8. Ah, there’s probably a lot we could learn from the simplicity of kids and their money!

    It may seem silly to see an 11 year-old do it, but never underestimate the power of a visual goal…

    Comment by Grant Baldwin — Mar 3rd 2009 @ 12:00 pm

  9. inspirational, I was looking for a way to motivate my son to keep saving for more than a couple of weeks, he alway fall and expend all his savings in stuff as collectible cards or cheap toys…

    congratulations I will use the tip for myself :)

    Comment by william — Mar 3rd 2009 @ 1:04 pm

  10. While he has a few years to go, one of the most formative experiences for me as a youngster was when my father showed me a graph of the power of compounding and how if you invested $2000 per year from age 25-35, you’d have more money in retirement than if you invested that same $2000 EVERY year from 35 to 65 (or something like that).

    I opened my first brokerage account at 18 and from that point on, I was a saver/investor. It allowed me to buy my first home right out of college!

    Comment by Darwin's Finance — Mar 3rd 2009 @ 4:59 pm

  11. Great idea. Funny how an 11 year old gets it but adults don’t.

    Comment by thomas — Mar 3rd 2009 @ 5:29 pm

  12. I bet even an 11 year old can see that it’s a waste of money to be putting money into companies like GM and AIG.

    Kudos to you – I hope we have more kids like him in the future to lead us out of this mess.

    Comment by financePHI — Mar 3rd 2009 @ 8:59 pm

  13. That is a great idea! This would tie right in with an article that I wrote yesterday about how to make saving money fun. A similar tip for someone with a debit or credit card would be to make a card sleeve (like the ones you get at the bank for your ATM card) out of plain paper and write the top 5 things that you are saving your money for on each of them. Then when you go to pull the card out of the sleeve, you are reminded of what you are trying to save your money for.

    Love the site (just added you to my blogroll), keep up the good work!

    Comment by Adam @ Checkbook Diaries — Mar 4th 2009 @ 1:55 pm

  14. I wanted an Eee PC for a while… ended up getting a certified used Think Pad x60 instead :) That being said I think its a great first time laptop for an 11 year old!

    I like this idea in principle but was trying to figure out what I would carry around a picture of when my goals are building an emergency fund and paying off credit cared debt…

    I could carry around a picture of my house on fire… and a photo of the vacation we took after our honeymoon that we had to charge … LOL.

    Comment by Danielle — Mar 8th 2009 @ 9:53 pm

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