Real Simple is one of my favorite magazines. There’s a quote in the March issue that really struck a chord with me: “People fail because they trade what they want the most for what they want right now.”
If you have a big savings goal it’ll always be easier to not buy the little things than if you don’t.
Before I started my career I worked mostly part time and seasonal jobs which didn’t earn me enough money to save up for anything big so I’d just spend nearly all my income on little things (magazines, cds, 3 trips to Starbucks a day, a gazillion makeup items…) because that’s what I could afford. I didn’t make enough to be able to picture saving up for something big.
After I got my first paycheck at my first “real” job, I finally felt like I could save and started saving for a car. That paycheck came in May. I test drove my dream car in June so I could really get a taste of what I was saving for. Every time I wanted to buy something I thought to myself “do I want this lipgloss (or insert your vice here) or do I want the car more?” And by September I’d saved up enough to put over half down on the brand new car and get myself a 0% interest loan… I really can’t imagine doing much better than that.
My next goals are a really great vacation this summer and hopefully in about a year a down payment on a condo (though housing prices are sky high in my area so I’m not 100% sure that’ll be possible yet).
What are your bigger goals?
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