first thing your doing after meeting goal #1

[sparkysgirl]

After you pay off or save whatever your goal is as of now... What is it you wanna do? will you be doing something to reward yourself,or move onto immediatley to step 2.. no rewards for anyone!

[PRICEPLUS]

Paid off CCs and now the goal is to save like a bandit!

[Aleta]

You're right, it's not a time to get blaise. I don't see anything wrong with rewarding yourself with small things, but nothing that would get you off your course. That's what happens with a diet. You lose the weight you want and then , you want to pig out to celebrate. My goal is to get a handle on medical bills owed that is currently in the insurance commissioners hands. The insurance wants to pick and choose what they want to pay. I need to get more serious about saving and meeting some goals and making plans for them.

[humandraydel]

I met my 2006 goal and set 2007 goals higher. The peace of mind that comes with a better financial position is reward enough for me. Plus, my budget allows a decent amount for entertainment, so I've never felt deprived. Maybe if I was clawing my way out of debt I'd feel differently?

[pearlieq]

Straight on to goal #2. I'm anxious to be done!

[JanH]

I think I will take a moment and yell YES! and then go on to goal number 2. I haven't really thought about it before....I might make me a celebratory treat.....

[rduell]

I immediately went on to goal #2.

[MonkeyMama]

Straight to #2. There is no room for rewards - hehe.

I agree - hitting my goal will be its own reward...

[Harrison]

I will definately reward myself first. This is a law to motivate yourself for the next coming up project.

[Broken Arrow]

I do think there is room for self-reward when achieving a major goal. I also think that it's a good motivator to help reach said goal. (For example, I bought a game system that I've always wanted when I finally saved up my full emergency fund.)

For the most part though, I'm prefer to head straight to #2. I want to be financially stable and well; more than any shiney, electronicky rewards right now. Yes, I do derive joy in saving, so I don't think I am depriving myself too much when I don't reward myself in the conventional sense.

[bjl584]

Well, I will be finishing up my MBA in about a year. Once I get my diploma I'm going to get together with my family, cook up a huge Prime Rib, and drink an expensive bottle of wine with it. I might even smoke a fine cigar afterwards. I figure that I will have earned the right to indulge a bit at the end of my classwork.

[Ima saver]

My goal is to pay off some land that I have a mortgage on. Then I will go onto goal number 2, which is pay off my car.

[Diolla]

I don't think a reward is out of line but my way is a reward unrelated to the goal so instead when I lost 40 lbs I rearded myself with a nice outfit (not a eating thing) Money is so entrenched in everything I don't know how I would reward myself for saving my EF without spending some. Will have to think about it...

[tinapbeana]

Originally Posted by Diolla

I don't think a reward is out of line but my way is a reward unrelated to the goal so instead when I lost 40 lbs I rearded myself with a nice outfit (not a eating thing) Money is so entrenched in everything I don't know how I would reward myself for saving my EF without spending some. Will have to think about it...

a day at home with absolutely no chores!!!

[Fizgig]

Heck yeah, I'm rewarding myself. My 2006 goal was to save a 4 month EF, and I just got there today! (!!!!!)

For the next month the weekly contribution I've been sending to the EF will go to a "splurge fund", and after that I will split that amount 70/30, with 30% going into the splurge fund every week. I'll use it for nicer clothes, vacations, furniture/decorating, stuff like that.

(By the way, my only debt is the mortgage and I contribute lots to my retirement. If more important stuff wasn't squared away, I'd pick a more practical use for the money.)

[amberbamber]

Originally Posted by pearlieq

Straight on to goal #2. I'm anxious to be done!

Right with you! Same thing here! Right on to #2!

[lrjohnson]

Originally Posted by PRICEPLUS

Paid off CCs and now the goal is to save like a bandit!

If bandits were big savers, would they need to be bandits?

[ren]

When I paid off my credit cards, I went straight to throwing everything at the car loan. That got me entirely out of debt and then, well, I went a little crazy. It was only a few months between that and deciding to get serious about saving, so it's only a few thousand we're talking about, but I'm still a bit angry at myself for blowing all that money. Oh well, it was nice to not scrimp and save for a while!

[DivaJen]

One of my goals was to increase our 401k contribution in the new year if DH got a raise. Now I'm thinking that paying off the car sooner ought to be included in the list of goals.

As for rewards - for me, saving is the reward.

I'm going to make my challenge money bigger. Hehe...