How To Effectively Develop The Habit of Saving

How many times you tried to set aside a portion of your income for savings? How many times you failed? How many times it started so well but didn't last long?

Everytime we think of saving most of us think about how much are we going to save, how much is it going to be at a certain time and what are we going to do with it. Similarly, evertime we start to save, it's painfully difficult because usually the amount we decided to save is too much for a beginner. We do this because we always think of the amount we be able to save at a certain time, also because we want to use that certain amount of money for something and because of this, we fail.

Saving is a habit. Habits are routines of behavior that are repeated regularly and tend to occur subconsciously. Until you develop the habit of saving, you can never be successful with saving.

Here are 3 simple ways of developing the habit of saving:

1. Don't set goals. Don't think of how much money you will have at a any given time in the future. Remember that you want to develop the habit, and it's not how much money you are going to have.


2. Start with ridiculously small amount. The most common reason told by most people why they don't have savings is that their income is not even enough for their daily needs. Now, think of a ridiculously small amount that you can set aside everyday for 3 months that won't affect your spending habits. You have to save the same amount everyday. Don't be tempted to save a lumpsum that would cover your supposed to be saved in a week or in a month. Remember that you are developing a habit here and not how much money you are going to have. A coin bank can help you here to store that ridiculously small amount you are saving. You can open a bank account when it reaches the minimun amount required to open a savings account.


3. Do a little sacrifice. After three months of doing that routine activity you would probably be ready to do a little sacrifice. Review your spending habits. Think of something that you can do away so that you can have some money to add to that ridiculously small amount you save everyday. Don't do big sacrifices, just little sacrifice that is not painful, something you won't mind. Here are a few examples:
• If you smoke, can you do away with one cigarette so that the amount you set aside for that one cigarette can be added to your ridiculously small amount for savings?


• If you buy food everyday (lunch or snacks), can you set aside another ridiculously small amount out of your daily food budget to be added to your ridiculously small amount for savings?


• Think of other ways you can do a little sacrifice by revisiting your daily spending habits. What are the things you buy everyday? Do this little sacrifice for another 3 months.

Once you have successfully completed the 3 simple steps, you will be surprised at how you developed the habit of saving. You are now ready for the next challenge.