Sometimes just “saving” in general is not enough incentive to keep families on
the budget track. You need a goal to get started. To use a diet analogy, it’s easier to
lose 10 pounds when your high school reunion is around the corner. A goal not only
gives a family something to reach for, it makes a savings plan short term.
Knowing you don’t have to give something up forever makes the sacrifice easier.
Once you’ve reached your goal, you can abandon your strategy or apply those
savings to a new object.
That approach worked for Cynthia McIntyre, who launched a search for extra
savings after she spotted an antique table that fit perfectly in her living room -- but
not in her budget.
McIntyre went over her checkbook carefully and realized she was buying 10
books every month. A lifelong reader, she couldn’t wait to rush out and snap up
a new release. “It was a $400-a-year habit,” she says. The worst part was, many
of the books didn’t live up to the reviews and McIntyre gave them away. Now she
gets the latest bestsellers from the local library. “Reading them a little later doesn’t
spoil the story,” she concludes.