We’ve all been there. We’ve made a list of financial goals and set out to achieve them. It’s a great feeling… until you fail to follow through. It can be difficult to stay motivated to reach any goal, let alone financial goals.
Things come up. Fun new products are released. Houses go on sale. And the buy-now-and-don’t-pay-until-2018 deals can seem tempting (though they never should!). So, how can you stay on the road to monetary success in that type of environment?
Don’t deny yourself purchases, just delay them
Before you make that purchase, ask yourself if this purchase goes along with your long term financial goals. If not, then pass on it. But maybe this purchase isn’t something that you had thought of when you put your money into savings and you really do want it or need it. How do you know if it’s worth getting off track for?
When you find something that you are interested in purchasing, don’t buy it just right then, but rather put it on a list of things that you want. Put it on the list… and wait. For at least a month. If, after a month, you are no longer interested in the item, then you just made a very good financial move, and all it took was a month. On the other hand, if you are still excited about making the purchase after taking this time to reflect on the purchase, then chances are good that this will be a wise fiscal decision for you.
Stay up to date with the world of finance
One of the best ways to keep your eyes on the prize is to keep finance in the back of your mind. The great thing about finance is that it is a topic that is growing, changing, and evolving all of the time. There are lots of new and interesting tips and bits of information coming out constantly, and the internet is a great way for you to get these.
Start following Forbes Finance and keep an eye out for topics you love. The site has loads of finance information that focuses on the individual, and many of the emotional issues that come along with money.
CNN Money is another great website with posts that focus on finance from the perspective of young adults and deliver breaking news stories involving finances.
If you ever start to feel a little lost out there amidst all of your financial goals, find your way back to the goals that started you along the journey, and check in with the community that cares about finances the way that you do. Learn from your past financial mistakes and work toward future success!
How do you keep your financial goals in mind? And what are your favorite big-name finance sites?
I love your “write it on a list for later” tactic. This really helps me to delay purchases and, more often than not, we don’t end up buying the thing. It certainly helps to put a potential purchase in perspective!
Thanks Mrs. Frugalwoods! “NOW” is always an appealing salesman 🙂
I’m an avid reader of CNN Money, I love their posts about finances. Sometimes, I feel that I’m not on the right track on my expenses, but I’m trying hard to track my income and expenses.
That’s always a good start, Kate!
Being a personal finance blogger helps keep me in the loop on the finance world but I also take what I learn and put it into practice. It might not happen all at once but bit by bit I try to implement what I think is best for my family. When it comes to purchases if we don’t have the cash, we don’t buy it. We save for what we need first because debt isn’t worth it for us especially if it’s for stuff that is just a want and not a need.
Cash-first is never a bad idea!
When you said “Don’t deny yourself purchases, just delay them” it makes me think of the phrase “I can’t afford that”. “I can’t afford that” should really be “how can I afford that”. You may have to delay the purchase, but it’s still possible.
Thanks for your comment Kalen!
I like the delay tactic. I just told Save.Spend.Splurge that I was delaying buying a bottle of tylenol because I have a perfectly good bottle in my drawer at the office. Now that would require a trip into the office to retrieve, which would take gas, so I’m still mulling over my decision and looking at the sales flyers as well as googling home headache remedies. j/k…. I kid you know.
I totally use the wait and see method…it’s like magic. Most of the time I forget I even wanted the item
Totally! Thank you for your comment!
I love the delaying advice. I actually keep a “wishlist” Pinterest board when I find things I like. In some weird way, squirreling away the ability to buy it is often just as good. If I still want it after a few months, I’ll usually buy it then… which works everywhere except with stupid ModCloth, who regularly run out of stock of clothes and then never replenish them. :oP
And for birthdays and holidays, when people ask what I want, I can just pull some books or whatever off of that list to tell them.
Oooh, awesome idea Mel!
There’s plenty of things that go into my amazon shopping cart and just stay there. Sometimes they are things that I really do want but I waited to long and they went out of stock…. I guess that’s one way to save money.
But the delay tactic is good. Usually I just wait in hopes of something going on sale.
Waiting for sales is another great delay tactic!
I like the “don’t deny yourself purchases, just delay them” advice. By the time we save up the cash for something we may decide we don’t want it anymore – and if we do still want it, we can pay with cash – win/win!
Thanks for your comment Brock!
Really appreciable post! Everyone has some more or less financial goals but saving goals should always be there in mind. I really like the point “Don’t deny yourself purchases, just delay them” as it’s a good tactic to move towards your financial goals along with saving mentality. I am also a regular follower of Fobes and used to read all it’s latest financial articles.
Thank you Nancy!