With a new year comes new goals - be those personal, professional or even, financial but the question always remains - how do we stick to them? We want to change our ways, get in better financial shape, really start knuckling down on becoming the best versions of ourselves but that can be easier said than done. The motivation is there on January 1st, but it dwindles as the year goes on, things start to change and we forget what we were aiming for in the first place.

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So, what do we do about it?

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1. Make Your Goals Achievable

You are more than capable of doing whatever you set your mind to, so aim high! Just make sure that you are ambitious without being unrealistic. Try not to set goals that are simply not achievable - saving £10,000 in a year is not going to happen if you can only save £200 a month. Perhaps aiming for £3000 and saving that bit more than you ever have could be a better goal for you. You could cut down on buying clothes, if that’s where you tend to overspend, and you could reach that goal. It will feel much better to achieve a savings amount and maybe even overdo it than be far from it when December rolls around. 

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2. Don’t Forget The Numbers

Rather than ‘Reach my savings goal for a house deposit’, try ‘Reach £30,000 in my house deposit fund’. Including specific figures will allow you to get a better hold of your goals. Say you have £5000 left to save, then you can split that up by 12 and figure out how much you need to save each month. Rather than putting some money away as and when you can and hoping to save some, you can actually see how far away you are from your goal amount. 

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3. Keep Yourself Accountable

Figure out a way that works for you to stay on track. This could be a spreadsheet you fill out every payday to see where you’re at and the progress you’ve made. Or perhaps, if you save your minimum each month, you could treat yourself with an iced coffee. Spending when your goal is to save can seem counterproductive but if it keeps you on track, then why not? (As long as it's in moderation).

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Find Like-Minded People

Whether it’s a supportive friend or a group on Facebook, finding people with similar goals to you will help you to keep up the same mindset as the year goes on. If you and a friend can check in with each other and motivate one another throughout the year, this can be really helpful to stay aligned with your resolutions. 

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Resolution Examples:

• Create a realistic budget that I will stick to
• Save £X towards a house deposit
• Start investing X% of my wages per month
• Build an emergency fund that will cover three months worth of expenses
• Track my spending habits and reduce my unnecessary spending by X% by the end of the year