Visualize Your Savings Goals With Graph Paper, One Square at a Time.
If you’re having trouble reaching your goal, visual cues can help . For example, personal finance writer Trent Hamm suggests using graph paper to mark your progress.
Visual cues or triggers work because they make your goal more tangible. It’s good to know that you’ve put together some lunch and saved some money, but it’s even more satisfying to see that this progress has actually been made – which is why gamification is so effective . Hamm explains his savings visualization strategy:
I would take a piece of graph paper with 100 squares by 100 squares on it and just mark one of those squares every time I did something that saved $ 10 and put that $ 10 somewhere in the account. Every time that account yielded $ 10 in interest, dividend, or growth, I would add another square. Then, over time, I can watch this square fill up … One small square. You can fill this square countless times throughout the week, and with each small square you fill, your success grows and the distance you still have to walk gets smaller.
It sounds silly, but these little tricks work because they make your goal less vague and more relevant. If you find it difficult to maintain the habit of saving, it is worth giving it a try – it will only cost you a sheet of graph paper.
Check out the full Hamm publication at the link below.
One small square | Simple dollar