How can you force yourself to save money?

[neatdesign]

Saving money is similar to losing weight: You have to have a clear goal and map out the steps you're going to take to reach that goal in order to be successful. Seeing yourself inching towards that goal, whether short-term or long-term, gives you motivation to keep going and persevere.

I have a few savings accounts with ING Direct (now called Capital One 360). I like those accounts for several reasons:

1) Incoming and outgoing transfers are free and super easy to set up.
2) Unlike with my regular bank (USAA), there is no limit on the number of transfers you can make per month.
3) There is a "Savings Goal" feature that provides a visual illustration of your progress each week. It also sends you an email congratulating you when you reach a goal!

One of my ING Direct accounts is my emergency fund, and each year I set goal to save a certain amount by Dec 31st. I use the other two accounts for short-term savings goals. Just last week I reached one of those goals, saving $900 for an upcoming trip to Las Vegas. My other current short-term goal is saving $700 for an iPad, and I transfer $25/week into that account.

One thing to bear in mind is the importance of not "over-saving" for lack of a better word. Last week I saved $150/week (most weeks, anyway) but I found myself struggling to stay within the rest of my budget. That's because I overestimated how much I could really afford to save. At the end of the year I reviewed my budget and reduced my weekly savings to $100/week and adjusted my savings goals accordingly. That extra $50/week made a big difference.

[gloria7819]

Know Where Each Dollar Is

I also think that the best way is to have each dollar accounted for each month. This helps me tremendously.

[mekap04]

I've just started getting into the habit of saving money and for me, it's about discipline and reminding myself that what goes into savings will help me out in the future when I really need it. I also have money taken out of my checking account that goes into my savings each month and that helps.

Now that I'm saving money, I try to make sure that I buy what I need as opposed to what I want. If splurge, I may end up needing money later on and I don't want to have to turn to the savings to get me out of a pinch I could have avoided by watching my spending.

[woodie96]

DW and I also have separate savings accounts for emergencies, and separate for retirement funds.

I would also tend to agree with NeatDesign....Saving should be a positive goal, but when you save too much and leave too little to function with month to month, that can get very stressful.

Many times on here people have said that one of the first steps to saving is to reduce the amount going out, or increase the amount coming in of the monthly budget. Kind of hard to save it, if you are spending it all.

[Beaver24]

Hardworker,

I didn't read all the responses, so forgive me if this is a repeat.

I'm recently married to a woman that wasn't so great at saving, and we're looking to buy a house, soon have kids, all the fun stuff, and here is what we do.

We have a separate savings account (which has been mentioned numerous times).
We also have limited our spending, you need to look through your last 3 months bank/credit card statements and realize what you're spending money on and if you really need to spend that much.

In the month following, take cash out of the bank and use that for your spending for a 2 week period, when you're out, you're out. We take cash out for 3 categories (eating out/restaurants, alcohol/entertainment, and other (shoes, clothes, dog food, etc.).

We have been very diligent to follow this and have even saved more than we have expected, and have put it back for vacation, or whatever you prefer.

It takes a lot of discipline and will take a little bit to get accustomed to, but after 2-3 months, you will be surprised at what you save.

Hope this is clear enough, if not, and you're interested please let me know.