Strategies for building a consistent savings habit.

How to create a savings habit.

Saving is a critical part of financial wellness, yet many people struggle to develop a consistent savings habit. There are several practical steps that can help establish and maintain the habit. Whether you’re saving for a rainy day, a major purchase or for long term financial security, these tactics will help get you on the right track.

1. Set clear financial goals. Clear goals provide purpose for your savings and purpose is essential for motivation. Knowing exactly what you’re saving for makes it more tangible and will help you stick with your goal. Writing your goals down and even sharing them with others can also help.
2. Create a budget. A budget helps you understand how your money flows in and how it flows out. It makes it easier to identify areas where you can cut back your spending to support your saving habit. It also instils discipline. Spending in line with your budget will help make sure that saving is a planned activity rather than an afterthought.
3. Automate your savings. Using automation makes your savings habit easier and more consistent. There are various techniques you can use including using Internet Banking or Mobile Banking to automatically transfer some of your income into one or more savings accounts and using round2save to automatically save small amounts of money each time you spend. Round2Save is available in the Beyond Bank Mobile App. You can use it to automatically “round up” transactions on your Visa Debit card and transfer the rounded-up amount to a nominated savings account. You can read more about round2save on our website.
4. Use Beyond Bank’s savings tools and products. Our Beyond Bank Internet Banking, Mobile Banking and BeyondBank+ Apps all provide savings goals features to help you plan your goals and track your progress toward achieving them. We also have high-interest savings accounts like monESaver and the Purple Bonus Saver. Both these products pay higher interest than you’ll generally get on a transaction account. Higher interest rates give you better rewards for saving. The Purple Bonus Saver can help by encouraging you to save each month and not make any withdrawals.
5. Monitor your progress. Regularly reviewing your savings goals and tracking your progress keeps you accountable and motivated. Tracking progress also helps you adjust your plan to help you stay on track. Celebrating milestones reinforces your habit and helps you stick with it. It’s often said that building a new habit takes about 21 days, but it often takes longer and research suggests it usually takes about 66 days. Either way, the sooner you start, the sooner you’ll be able to build a consistent saving habit and improve your financial wellbeing.

We’re here to help. 

If you need help with savings tools or setting up savings goals, let us know. Remember, we’re here to help.