Nearly everyone grew up being told to pinch pennies, and save their spare dollars. Similar advice comes from financial advisors, schools, and friends today. You may have heard something like “Make sure you have enough savings to cover 6-12 months of expenses.” or “Don’t forget to pay yourself first!” Everyone knows that it is important to save and still, 70 percent of Americans don’t have more than $1000 saved.
On the other hand, we’ve seen in recent years an excitement about investing with apps like Robinhood. Crypto currency has taken off in popularity as well. So what is it about traditional saving that leaves us wanting?
Perhaps saving has become boring and we tend to enjoy putting our money into things that excite us. Below are a few ways that may make saving money more exciting and fun!
#1 Reward Yourself
Give yourself a target savings to reach for. Start small and each time you hit a target, reward yourself with a prize! Let’s say you want to have $1000 saved for emergencies. Make that your ultimate goal, but set some smaller milestones for yourself to achieve first. Perhaps every $200 saved you could treat yourself to a meal at your favorite restaurant. Breaking your overall goal into smaller savings pieces will help you feel that your goals are more manageable and you’ll enjoy reaching each milestone along the way.
#2 Discover Your Reason for Saving
Saving money will never be meaningful without a great reason motivating you to push forward and achieve your goals. If you’re young, perhaps retirement shouldn’t be the only goal you have in mind when saving. Maybe there are some shorter-term goals you can think of that can help motivate you between now and retirement. For some, this could be saving enough to go on your dream vacation. For others, it may be saving for a down payment on a home. Whatever your reason is, let that be your focus while saving. Each dollar saved is progress toward your financial goals.
#3 Allow Yourself Fun Money
Part of the reason many folks have a hard time saving money is they feel robbed of dollars they otherwise would have spent on something fun. Make sure that as you save money, you are also putting a percentage of your income into spending. Go out to eat every once in a while! See a movie with friends! Go on dates! Whatever fun looks like for you, make sure to include money for it in your budget. Then, saving will feel less restrictive and instead, it can begin to become fun!
#4 Try a Savings Challenge
Try a savings challenge like the 52 week savings challenge. Start by saving one dollar, week one of the year, and increase by a dollar each week until you reach the final week of the year when you’ll save $52. Completing this challenge brings you a total yearly savings of $1,378! There are loads of other savings challenges out there and some are more aggressive than others. Find one that fits your budget and style and then stick with it!
#5 Open a Prize-Linked Savings Account
Perhaps the newest and most fun way to save is by opening a prize-linked savings account like Prizepool. These accounts make saving money fun by incentivising you to save with pools of money that can be won each week! Every dollar equals a ticket into the drawing, meaning the more you save the greater your chances are of winning more cash. You can win prizes up to $25,000! Saving this way is far from boring and it’s FDIC insured – meaning your money is safe!
Whatever method(s) you choose to use, you will find that saving money doesn’t need to be a hassle. Try one or two of these out and begin having fun!
