Part of being a grown-up and together human being is learning to save money. Putting away a lump sum each month may not be the most fun thing to do with your cash, but it's a darn sight more sensible than holding out for a lottery win.
Because we live in tricky times, saving is harder for some people than it is for others, but what's important is that you give it a go – even a fiver left over at the end of the month is better than nothing. And if you're feeling bad because you haven't started saving at all, don't worry about it – there's no time like the present.
We've got plenty of advice on the best ways to save money but for some people, setting goals is what really inspires them to knuckle down. To get some inspiration on what goals to set for ourselves, we asked the members of our ever informative Money Diary Facebook group to tell us what they're saving for right now – over three, six and 12 months.
Click through to find out what people are saving up for, how much they've got and when they expect to reach their goals. And remember, every goal is a step in the right direction, from the house deposit to the holiday in India to the £650 Dyson vacuum cleaner.
I’m a student so it’s so hard to have money goals but based on this past year and my new job I’d say my goals are:
3 months – clear credit card.
6 months – pay all bills apart from rent for one year in advance.
12 months – have saved £2,400 in my help-to-buy ISA and £3,600 in my other half’s, and have saved about £1,000 in general savings. Also to be in a position to not have to get a maintenance loan for my third year.
Whether those will be achieved is [not clear] because I am definitely a spender...
–Ronnie
Mine are:
3 months – get my emergency fund back after paying a new rent deposit.
6 months – maintain that after paying for wedding stuff! (Having a verrrry cheap wedding.)
12 months – get up to £4k plus emergency fund and get a LISA.
–Sadhbh
My goal for the next year is to save for my wedding in March and honeymoon in May! So I'm gonna put mine starting a year from today!
3 months – build up an emergency fund since wedding will have wiped it out. My partner will also be going part-time at work to finish his Open University degree so need to think about that too!
6 months – get my bedroom redecorated and new furniture. The house we bought was my nan's before she died and we still have all her furniture apart from the living room, which we decorated last year. Just trying to get rooms done one by one when we can so the place feels more like ours!
9-12 months – we'll be planning to start a family so would like to have a bit saved up to cover maternity leave. I get four months fully paid, but after that being on SMP (statutory maternity pay) while partner is part-time might be a struggle so would like to have some money there to use if needed! And if there's enough funds, get a driveway in our front garden. Parking can be a nightmare on our street and the thought of parking ages away from my house with a baby when the street is busy doesn't sound fun.
–Ronda
3 months – get debt-free and have a three-month emergency fund saved up.
6 months – save £8k to a house deposit (need about £45k in total).
12 months – have the garden makeover done, hopefully be pregnant with enough passive income from my blog to cover maternity and have £12k saved for house deposit and net worth heading towards £50k.
They are lofty goals but I think it’s doable
We are getting married in 11 months so focused on saving for that, nice honeymoon and then hopefully will have enough saved up for a good house deposit.
3 months – save a further £1,000 to get savings up to £25k.
6 months – get savings up to £26k.
12 months – pay off wedding and honeymoon and have £14k left for house and £4k savings.
–Erin
6 months – save up for travelling in India in Jan while maintaining a stable bank account.
4 years – have enough saved for a deposit for a house. (If I can ever commit to something as adult as home ownership.)
–Ruth
Mine's quite lame:
3 months – enough to buy new car seat, printer, and Dyson hoover (£650).
6 months – add £7k to get savings to my end-of-year stretch goal.
12 months – save for long-haul holiday and trip back home to US (easily £5k for all the flights!).
–Lindsey
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