Thanks for all your tips on staying focussed on long-term savings!

As mentioned in yesterday’s post, when it comes to short-term savings, I’m a pro. As long as I have that goal right before me, I can save as much as possible.

Saving money over the long-term, however, is a different story.  As FruGuy and I have decided to focus on saving a deposit to buy a home in around 3-4 years, it’s going to take a bit more determination to stay focused over such a long period. Here are your tips on how to do it:

Mrs Micah via Twitter, suggests breaking the long-term goal down into short term goals.  I’m definitely planning on doing this. I will continue to pay into my savings as a ‘bill’ each month, rather than saving whatever is left over at the end of the month as some people do – has anyone ever successfully saved via this method??!!

Revanche from a Gai Shan Life recommends keeping the big picture in mind by visualising the final goal and remembering how important it is to you; and keeping in contact with like-minded people (that’s you) for support.

Mmmeg suggests continuing to track your progress, and keep a spreadsheet of your savings so that you can see them grow as further motivation.

My Pretty Pennies advises breaking it down into smaller attainable amounts, and keeping your eye on the ball by keeping reminders around you of your goal, like pictures or quotes, so that you don’t forget your target.

Paranoid Asteroid and PsychSarah both recommend automatic savings deposits each month so there is no option to skip a month without taking active steps to do so.  They also both agree that blogging about it will help keep you in line.

Mrs Smith suggests setting yourself timelines to have certain amounts saved, effectively creating mini-goals that are satisfying in themselves when achieved.

And the lovely Holly and the ever-captivating J Money say that they just automatically keep squirreling the savings away even without having a clear goal in sight. Just seeing their savings grow and knowing they will come in handy one day is enough motivation.

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