“I should save more.” It is one of the most common resolutions, and one of the most quickly forgotten. In January you enthusiastically put an amount aside; by March the savings account has gone quiet again. That is usually not down to a lack of discipline. Often it comes down to the question you never really answered: why do you actually want to save?
A savings goal without a clear “why” is an amount without direction. In this article you will read what motivation research says about this, why some goals carry you and others wear you out, and how a simple exercise can help you find your own “why”.
Not all motivation is equal
From the 1980s onwards, psychologists Edward Deci and Richard Ryan developed self-determination theory (including Deci & Ryan, 1985; Ryan & Deci, 2000). Their core idea: it is not only about how much motivation you have, but above all about what kind. They describe a sliding scale:
- External motivation: you do something for a reward or to avoid a punishment. “I save because the bank recommends it.”
- Introjected motivation: you do it to avoid guilt or shame. “I save because otherwise I’m a bad parent.”
- Identified motivation: you see its importance for yourself. “I save because I want peace of mind if the car breaks down.”
- Integrated and intrinsic motivation: the goal fits who you are and what you value. “I save because freedom and caring for my family really count for me.”
The further your motivation shifts towards that last end, the better people persevere, according to the research, and the better they generally feel about it. This ties in with work by Kennon Sheldon and Andrew Elliot (1999): goals that fit your own values and interests (“self-concordant” goals) attract more sustained effort and contribute more to well-being than goals you pursue mainly because you have to.
Three basic needs behind every goal you stick with
According to Deci and Ryan, lasting motivation grows when three basic psychological needs are met. You can translate them to saving like this:
- Autonomy: you choose the goal and the amount. A savings plan that someone else imposes on you soon feels like a straitjacket.
- Competence: you see that you are making progress. A goal so big that you never feel any progress undermines your motivation.
- Relatedness: your goal is connected to people who matter to you, or you share it with someone who supports you.
Tim Kasser and Richard Ryan (1993) found that people for whom wealth is a central life goal report, on average, lower well-being than people who mainly strive for growth, relationships and making a contribution. So saving is strongest when it is a means to something you value, not the goal itself.
Karim’s story
Karim (34) works as a logistics operative. Every year he resolved to “save 300 euros a month”, and every year it stopped after a few months. During a conversation with a coach he was asked: “What would change if that money were there?” He had to think for a moment. Then he said: “Then I could visit my parents in Morocco without being in the red for months afterwards. And then I could also say no to overtime now and then.”
That became his new goal: a travel and breathing-space pot. He gave the savings account that name in his banking app, added a photo of his parents and lowered the monthly amount to 150 euros, an amount he could really keep up. “It no longer feels like something I have to do. It’s something I want to do.”
Exercise: find the why behind your savings goal
Take ten minutes and a sheet of paper. Work through these steps one after the other:
- Write down your current savings goal, even if it is vague (“save more”).
- Ask “and why is that important?” five times. Each time, write down the answer and ask the same question again. Often, after three or four rounds, you arrive at a value: security, freedom, care, adventure, independence.
- Test your motivation. Read your answers and ask yourself: does this come from me, or from guilt or what others expect? If you want to sharpen your values, the discover your values tool can help.
- Make it concrete. Phrase the goal so that you can see progress: what amount, by when, how much per month? The SMART goal tool helps you make your goal clear and achievable.
- Give your goal a name and an image. Rename your savings account after your why (“Calm when things go wrong”, “Visit to Grandma”), so that you are reminded of it every time you glance at the app.
When the why is not enough
A strong why does not automatically make saving easy. If you live on a tight budget, you come up against real limits, and that is not a motivation problem. In that case, start small: a few euros a week that you transfer automatically also count. That, too, strengthens your sense of competence. And if it doesn’t work out one month, that is no proof that your goal is wrong. Look at what happened, adjust and carry on.
Motivation that feeds your peace of mind
Saving from a why of your own does more than make your balance grow. It gives you the feeling that you are in the driving seat yourself, and that sense of control is an important part of financial well-being. You no longer save because you “have to”, but because you are building something that matters to you. That is financial self-care in the true sense: taking good care of yourself, today and later on.
Would you like to explore your relationship with money in more depth and learn how to make choices with more confidence? Then discover the course Boost your financial confidence.