Sometimes it's easier (and more fun) to spend any extra money that you may have. How do you keep yourself motivated to save?

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I sit down at my laptop and pull up my Microsoft Money program. It is more debt than savings currently but it does help me stay focused and up on top of the bills. And it even helps to look at the savings!

Well, as some of you know, I'm on a voluntary lay off right now. So what keeps me saving is the hope that when I get called back, my DH will say "gee, you've saved so much money since you've been home, I think you shouldn't go back to work!" Yeah, right...in my dreams! But I keep trying. I also keep a list of how much I've saved on what on the frig and try to outdo myself....like a game.

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i think what keeps me motivated is getting less bills in the mail.. i know wierd but i get such anxiety when there are 7 medical bills in the mail in one day so as those start to dwindle it makes me feel more at ease.

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SILENCE IS GOLDEN BUT DUCK TAPE IS SILVER.

Goals motivate me to save money. On October 19th, we will be consumer debt free. That does not include car payments and the house, but as far as store debt, credit cards, etc, we will have paid off approximately $20,000 since january of 2007! That was my goal; we sat down, added up all our debt (we've accrued a little more here and there along the way (aka our washer and dryer have hit rock bottom so we just bought a new set, etc...)) and figured out a way to pay it alllll off in less than one year. This goal will be achieved with two months to spare!!
After that goal, our goal is to save about $15,000 by the end of next year, if we decide to possibly try having a baby. This will solely be for when the child is born, and not before, as if anything unexpected happens, we will have money to cover it.
At the same time, we will be saving to build our dream home in 2013. So, we have five years to save up enough money to pay what we can in cash.

Saving is mostly about will power (other than actually having income to save!). It's setting goals, and going through with doing what it takes to achieve them. My goals are my motivation.

I read this idea somewhere...thought it'd be a great motivator...

Make a big giant graph chart and put it on your wall. Track both debt and savings (and even income if you want) on that same chart. The debt might start out high, and the savings low...but at some point they will meet in the middle - then switch, with the debt continuing to drop and the savings going up. I thought that sounded like a great visual - financial art! haha

Of course, you'd be blabbing your business to anyone who came over, so maybe putting it on the back of a closet door or in a notebook would work better.

My MIL tracks her investments in a notebook - she started with one piece of graph paper, and every so often charts where her investments are. She's had to tape many, many pieces of paper on to that first one, mostly going up and up!

Right now our "money saving" motivater is saving for our next Disney trip in March...My "personal goal" to save is I have given myself (after DH and I talked about it) $150 a week to spend between now and when we leave. What ever I don't spend of that is what we have to spend on our trip...It's a big motivater for me, because we love to have a great Disney vacation!

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One happy wife and mommy!!!

It really feels good to see our savings grow. I go online and check the balance in our accounts to see how much it's grown since I last looked and then I know I must be doing something right.