Budgeting money can be boring, but it doesn’t have to be. There are ways to make the process more engaging to help you stay on course to reach your financial goals.
Here are six ways you can make budgeting a fun and rewarding experience!
1. Set Financial Goals and Rewards
Setting a budget to reach your long-term financial goals can be daunting. While the big picture is important, working on smaller goals you can achieve in the interim is a great way to stay motivated.
Every time you achieve one of your goals, be sure to reward yourself in a small way such as a night out. Another forward-thinking way to approach this is to put money away towards a vacation when you reach a goal.
Examples of small goals include:
- Paying down one of your smaller debts
- Putting money away for your children’s’ sports or hobbies
- Maintaining an emergency fund balance
Every small win is a stepping stone towards achieving your larger financial goals and will reinforce your spending discipline.
You should also break down your larger goals into milestones that you can celebrate and then increase. For example, celebrate when you put $1000 into your retirement savings, and then set the next milestone at $3000.
2. Use An App to Gamify Your Budgeting
Competition can bring out the best in people, and budgeting is no exception. One way you can stay on target is to install a budgeting app on your mobile device. These apps help you keep track of your spending and engage with your financial goals through games or challenges.
Check out our piece on the best apps to budget your life and improve your credit score.
3. Use Visual Aids to Track Financial Goals
If you’re not really into apps, you can make your financial goals more fun by having a visual way of keeping track of your progress. Post these somewhere you will see them often to remind yourself to stick to your goals, and acknowledge your successes.
Some ideas include:
- A goal progress thermometer chart to track your debt contributions
- A board game style tracker to track your financial milestones
- Sticky notes to remind yourself of your achievements
These are also great ways to get your kids involved in celebrating your successes!
4. Prettify Your Budget Planner
Ledgers are generally pretty dull, but they don’t have to be.
If you’re the artistic sort, you can turn your ledger into a work of art. Simply look up “bullet journaling” to get a sense of the types of ways you can turn a simple list into a splash of color.
If you spend the time to beautify your budget, you are much more likely to take pride in it and honor it.
View this post on Instagram
5. Join an Online Financial Support Community
Like going to the gym, sticking to your budget is easier when you’re doing it with others. There are plenty of free online financial support forums and social media groups you can join to compare notes with others. It is likely you’ll find someone whose financial situation is similar to yours that you can learn from, and cheer each other on.
Here are a few online forums you can look into:
6. Turn Budgeting Sessions Into A Party Night
The act of budgeting doesn’t have to be stressful and gloomy. Grab your partner or some friends, put on some music, grab a bottle of wine and your budget planner and have fun! Budgeting with others will give you the chance to compare your dreams and remind yourself of why you have a budget and financial goals.
A big part of sticking to a budget is reframing how you think about budgeting, so why not have some fun while doing it?