When you first set a financial goal, working towards it feels new and exciting. You may spend a lot of time researching ways to save money and feel motivated to change your lifestyle to get closer to your goal. But after a while, the shine wears off and you enter into a phase called “the boring middle.”
When you’re in the boring middle, you feel far away from your long-term goal. You may have several years to go before you pay off all your debt or save up enough money to buy a house. The financial changes you’ve made probably don’t feel exciting anymore—they feel restrictive. Some days you may be tempted to give up and go back to old financial habits.
Right now I’m in the boring middle of paying off my home. But I know it’s important to power through so I can get to the other side and be mortgage-free. Here are my best tips on how to stick to your financial plans when saving feels like a slog.
Trust The Process
Paying off our house early has started to feel like a slog. On the one hand, it seems like my fiancé and I are pretty close to our goal. Instead of having to wait thirty years to be mortgage-free, we’ll hopefully own our home outright in just four to six years. But some days, six years feels like a lifetime and I get restless.
That’s when I start tinkering with my spreadsheets to see if I can optimize the mortgage payoff process and make it go faster. I start stressing out about my budget and income and judging my choices. Why don’t I work longer hours or charge higher rates? Why do we eat out once a week and pay more for healthy groceries?
But the fact of the matter is, I’m not a robot and neither is my fiancé. We can’t cut out every small indulgence or work round-the-clock to pay off our home. We’d just end up burned out and miserable.
Sometimes you have to trust the process and stick to your original financial plan even when it gets tough or downright boring. Big financial goals take time to achieve, and I’ve learned there’s really no way to get around that (unless I win the lottery—a girl can dream).
Stop Checking Your Investments or Debt Balance Constantly
Although it’s tempting to check up on your investments or finances all the time, it’s important to find other ways to occupy yourself. I’m guilty of putting too much focus on achieving my financial goals, which makes the process feel like a slog. You know the saying: a watched pot never boils.
If you’re feeling burned out on saving, try a new hobby or spend some time with friends you haven’t seen in a while. Focus on creating a rich life outside of your finances. Time will start flying before you know it, and you’ll be much closer to your goal without even realizing it.
Measure Your Progress
I’ve always focused on how much money I need to save or debt I need to pay off and how long it will take. I haven’t been as diligent about measuring my progress and celebrating smaller milestones along the way. Although it’s important to track your debt and figure out how long it will take you to clear it, that’s not the only metric you should pay attention to.
Make sure you track your progress monthly or quarterly. Keep a running tally of how much debt you’ve successfully paid off or how much money you’ve saved. Calculate the percentage of your mortgage or student loans that you’ve cleared over the past few months and in total. When you see those figures, you’ll be impressed at how far your hard work has gotten you. You’re probably closer to your financial goals than you think, and all your effort deserves to be celebrated.
Celebrate Little Milestones
Don’t wait until all your debt is paid off or your emergency fund is full to recognize your discipline. Choose some smaller milestones and reward yourself for achieving them. You don’t have to go on a shopping spree or spend a lot of money to treat yourself. Your reward could be as simple as inviting your friends over for a potluck or buying yourself a celebratory cupcake.
When my fiancé and I have 20% equity in our house, we’re planning on celebrating at our favorite falafel place. Breaking our larger goal of paying off our home into smaller chunks has helped encourage us to keep going. Although being mortgage-free is still a ways off, I can see our next little milestone on the horizon, which is pretty motivating.
How do you motivate yourself when saving money starts to feel boring? Share your tips in the comments section below!
Finally, if you want a couple of sites that are great resources for saving money, here you should consider reading SavingAdvice.com, their forums are an excellent resource. Another good read is Glory Of The Snow, which is a bit of an eclectic name for a site that’s focused on lifestyle saving, but it’s a good read and has a lot of specific ideas on ways to ratchet down your costs. You can check it here.
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Vicky Monroe is a freelance personal finance and lifestyle writer. When she’s not busy writing about her favorite money saving hacks or tinkering with her budget spreadsheets, she likes to travel, garden, and cook healthy vegetarian meals.