This Secret Will Speed Up Your Money Goals

Keeping track of your savings plan is more complex than ever with multiple retirement accounts, regular personal savings or brokerage accounts.  This can be further complicated by having multiple financial goal categories, such as a vacation or remodeling fund, in addition to your nest egg.

Let’s first acknowledge that having some confusion about multiple savings accounts is a “good problem.”  Confusion is the opposite of clarity, though, so let’s take a look at this easily solved issue. By creating some focus and order around our financial accounts, we can achieve positive results sooner, and that’s what we want.

Just like our time, our money can slip away on meaningless “stuff” unless we clarify our goals before actually receiving money.  As the saying goes, money can burn a hole in your hand, but that’s less likely when there’s an intentional desired outcome beforehand.  Achieving financial goals is much easier when you are inspired by having specific outcomes attached to your savings plan.  That outcome ties back to the money reasons that I outline in the first chapter of my recent book, Earn Grow Give; Simple Steps to Grow Your Money While Creating a Rich Life, which you can download for free here.

Saving money can feel like an abstract and unappealing task, but putting money aside for a built in refrigerator and the perfect granite countertops is pretty inspiring.  Can’t you just see that beautifully remodeled kitchen?  And that’s what we want; visualize the outcome from your money to make it more real.  Then you start taking inspired actions, and look out!

What if your goals right now are to have zero credit card debt?  While that may seem a little harder to visualize at first, look beyond the initial accomplishment.  What is the outcome that follows completion?  I see financial peace, and the ability to move on to what you really want to do with your savings plan.

Clarifying your desired outcome makes spending money out of your kitchen remodel fund or your financial peace fund for another pair of unneeded black shoes much less tempting.  Remember, this is not about being cheap or feeling lack; it’s about being a wise and intentional spender.

Take some time this week to write the outcome you want from your money in 2012.  Clip some photos and make a vision board so you can clearly see that outcome.  Have some fun with this!  It will affect your daily earning and spending actions and lead to the accomplishment of what you really want from your savings plan.