It’s the savings goal to which your money management efforts are being directed that determines whether your efforts will prove fruitful or not.
I have been studying how to save well since October 1991. I know the secret and there really is no point in wasting lots of blah, blah, blah on this. I might as well just tell you and be done with it.
Here goes.
The secret of successful saving is–
Wanting with all your heart, mind, and soul to become a freelance writer of non-fiction books.
Wait a minute. That’s dumb. That cannot be the secret! What’s the real secret?
Here’s the thing. Wanting to be a freelance writer really was the secret for me. That was what I wanted to do with my life. Once I came to see saving as my ticket to getting to do with my life what I wanted to do with it, saving was no longer a drag. It became a joy. Remember that Van Morrison song where he told us how he got stoned drinking a glass of water? That’s how saving was for me once I identified a saving goal that came from the heart. Once I began saving to make a shift to a freelance writing career, saving made me high.
Pursuing the savings goal of financing an old-age retirement is not going to make you high. That one is so boring it doesn’t make anyone high. Pursuing the savings goal of becoming a freelance writer of non-fiction books is probably not going to get your juices flowing either. Your juices respond to a different sort of savings goal than mine.
But there is a dream out there that can be achieved with saving that you would love to see become a reality. Identify that dream, make it your Passion Saving goal, and you are on your way to becoming the next of the world’s great savers!
I can’t identify for you the savings goal that most turns you on. That’s a fun project that you will need to tackle on your own. But I can provide you a list of some powerfully motivating savings goals that have turned a whole bunch of other people into some of the greatest savers in the world.
I first began writing about Passion Saving in May 1999, on the Motley Fool discussion boards. The community of savers that I connected with there was a group of wonderful, smart, and generous souls. May I introduce you to a few of them to give you an idea of the sort of savings goals that work in the real world?
Here’s a list of 20 of the greatest savers in the world, and the savings goals that helped make them become 20 of the greatest savers in the world. I’ve identified these savers by the screen-names they used for posting on the Motley Fool discussion boards.
1) “Krumbunny” saved to be able to shift to a career of pottery making;
2) “Bmullens” saved to be able to open a music store;
3) “Rjstandford” saved to buy farmland;
4) “Notlance” saved to craft woodwind instruments;
5) “Slinkyfool” saved to have time to learn new things, such as playing an instrument or gardening;
6) “Phantomdiver” saved to be able to leave her career in marketing and become a web designer;
7) “Duggg” saved to be able to mountain bike on weekdays, when the trails are less crowded;
8) “Spl241” saved to open an ice-cream store;
9) “Chilkatsally” saved to be able to spend the summer months with her three school-age children, taking her own three-month vacations from the usual thing;
10) “Pablum” saved to reduce stress in his life;
11) “Jesever” saved to acquire true job security, so she would be assured of not ending up like a friend of hers who was forced to beg for job interviews at age 50;
12) “Biggalloot” saved to be able to work outdoors, with his hands, after years of being cooped up in an office;
13) “Foollala” saved to have more control over her work schedule;
14) “CFOFool” saved to have the time needed to be able to exercise and take better care of his health;
15) “Dory36” saved to be able to live on his boat;
16) “1HappyFool” saved to become a wood farmer and live far away from urban job centers;
17) “Wanderer0692” saved to be able to spend more time with his wife and children;
18) “Cmorford” saved to be able to run his own microbrewery;
19) “Ubermensch” saved to commit his life to work he personally found meaningful, not assignments handed to him by a corporate employer; and
20) “Arrete” saved to be able to avoid having to set the alarm clock on mornings on which she felt like sleeping in.
It’s why you save that determines whether your saving effort is successful or not. Save for a savings goal of intense personal concern, and you really will save.