Use Your Net Worth As A Psychological Carrot To Motivate Saving

Saving for the future is important, but it’s hard to stay motivated if you don’t have something concrete to measure your progress. Personal finance weblog The Simple Dollar details how to keeps score — and stay motivated — by tracking net worth.

Photo by pfala.

Keeping score is an easy way for me to know how well I’m doing. It lets me judge, in a very clear way, whether I’m improving and whether I’m making forward progress towards my goals.

The primary way I “keep my own score” is by calculating my net worth quite frequently. I use my net worth as a score to judge whether or not I’m making successful, smart moves towards improving my personal finance state. I “win” if my net worth goes up. I “win big” if my net worth goes up by some specific amount each month.

Head over the the full post for more details on how Trent from The Simple Dollar keeps score using his net worth. Then let us know how you stay motivated with your savings (do you regularly calculate your net worth?) in the comments.

How I Use My Net Worth as a Psychological Carrot [The Simple Dollar]