The thought of saving for a large purchase can feel very daunting. Fortunately, you don’t need to save all at once. Regularly setting aside even a small amount of money can add up quickly.
We’ve created free template savings trackers to help you visualize progress toward your savings goals.
Step One: Determine How Much You Want to Save
Knowing what you are saving for can help you determine how much and with what frequency to save.
You may have a specific goal in mind – like saving for a friend’s destination wedding or a ticket to see your favorite band. For these goals, you would divide your expected cost by a set period of time to know how much to save to reach your goal by a specific deadline.
Savings goals do not have to be tied to a specific purchase or milestone. You may consider simply setting aside money in case of an emergency or to treat yourself. Instead of starting with a total amount to save, choose a particular amount per month or a percentage of your paycheck that fits your lifestyle and budget.
Financial Goal Setting: Where to Start
Step Two: Choose The Tracker That Best Fits Your Needs
Whether you’ve resolved to save more or there is an exciting life event ahead that requires dedicated funds, we purposefully built these flexible savings trackers to fit various goals and circumstances.
If you’re paid biweekly, choose the tracker with 26 slots to map out your savings by paycheck. For those who prefer to budget by month, the tracker with 12 slots may work best to map out how much to put aside.
There are two ways to determine how much money to write in the tracker slots. The first is writing down the particular amount per week, paycheck or month you want to set aside. Curious about how that money will add up? Multiply that amount by the number of weeks or months to check your savings progress or estimate how much you can save by a certain date.
For those with a specific goal, start with the total amount of money and divide that by the number of weeks or months you’d like to stretch saving across. That is the amount you will need to save over the set period to reach your goal.
Step Three: Pay Yourself by Putting Money Into Savings
With your plan in place, it’s time to start putting money aside. You can choose whether to use an existing savings account or open a separate savings account for specific purposes, like purchasing new furniture or buying your child their first car.
Depending on your goal and the amount you have on hand to save, savings vehicles like CDs and Money Market Accounts often yield higher interest rates than a traditional savings account. Talking to a banker about each option can help you pick what makes the most sense for your financial situation.
Pro Tip: Automate your savings by directly depositing a percentage or amount of your paycheck into a savings account. It’s one less thing on your to-do list!
Find the Right Type of Savings Account by Taking This Quiz
How to Use These Template Trackers
Every person’s situation and style differ – these trackers are a flexible planning tool. You can download a copy to your device and use a photo editing application to fill it out. If you prefer an analog tracking style, print it out and use a pen or your favorite highlighter to keep tabs on your progress.
How you decide to fill out the tracker is up to you. You can fill in the boxes with the amount of money you want to save each week, pay period, or month as a visual reminder to stay on course to reach your goal. Once the money is in your savings account of choice, you could color in or cross out that box.
An alternate option is to fill in the actual dollar amount you’ve deposited to keep track of how frequently you’re saving. Check your savings progress by looking at the account balance or adding up the amount you’ve tracked.
Example of How Quickly Savings Can Add Up
The holiday shopping season can be full of joy, but the credit card bill in January can feel like starting the next year off on the wrong foot financially. While nearly 40% of the people we surveyed in 2023 said they start to budget for the holidays one to three months before the holidays, you can get ahead of the game by putting a small amount away each week. Here is how a savings plan for the holiday season could look:
We’re Here to Help
Our bankers at Rockland Trust are always happy to help you find the right type of account, loan options, or other financial strategies to help you live your best financial life. Check out the Learning Center for tips and advice for every stage of your life.
