If you expect to make your dreams come true, whatever they might be, you need to first be wiling to adopt proven savings strategies. The first and most important of these is that of setting a goal and developing a plan to reach it. It isn't important what the goal it, but it must be something that you really want and cannot afford out of simply the paycheck you earn. It should be something that is reachable or you will become frustrated and give up on it. That doesn't mean that if your dream is to live in a mansion and own several luxury cars you should give it up. No, of course you should never give up on your dreams nor should you allow anyone else to steal them from you, but as you begin your adult life, you have to set goals that are obtainable within a reasonable period of time and build on those.



Of course, some of you are now asking what is meant by setting small goals that are obtainable instead of going for the rainbow. Simply put, it means that you take something small that you really want and start with that. Let us assume for the moment that you live in Massachusetts and have a friend from your old hometown who now lives in Florida. You have a one-week vacation that is already scheduled six months in the future, and you'd like to use that to visit your friend. You can do that no matter what your income level with just some careful planning. First, you have to figure the time of year you are traveling ? keep in mind that if you are flying, the summer months are going to be the most expensive. If possible, you might want to think of taking your vacation in the spring or fall instead when you can pay off-season rates on both the airplane and accommodations in the event your friend is unable to accommodate you during your stay.

Once you know how much the trip is going to cost you, the next step is to develop a plan for saving the money. The best way to do this if it is offered is have money deducted from your paycheck and deposited into a savings account. The reason this option is so often suggested is because we are conditioned to having so many things deducted from our pay such as taxes, insurance, retirement plans, and the like, that a few more dollars would not be noticed, AND we don't miss what we don't see. It seems impossible for the average person to save $20 a week out of their pay, yet if that same $20 is deducted from their paycheck, they find a way to live without it. Doing this may mean you have to sacrifice some things, but that is the purpose of goal setting: to reach a goal by using whatever means you need to use in order to achieve the culmination of that goal.

Once you have started with your little goals such as your trip to visit your friend, you can move on to bigger things. Starting with small goals allows you the opportunity to see that it can be done with the right plan, whereas starting with a big goal such as buying that mansion by the sea will only make you frustrated as you try to achieve something that at the beginning is not obtainable. It's just like a diet: you don't lose twenty pounds all at once, but you do it in steps. Beginning small and working your way to the top rung of the ladder is going to get you there smoother than if you tried to do it all at once.