Guide

How to save for something big

Saving for a phone, a laptop or a trip is easier when the goal is a date on a calendar, not a vague "someday". Here's a simple plan.

1. Put a number and a date on it

Write down the price, then decide when you want it. Divide the price by the number of days until then. That's your daily saving target.

daily saving = price ÷ days until your target date

Example: 15,000 in 120 days is 125 a day.

2. Check it against your pay

Turn the daily target into work time. If you earn 100 an hour after tax, saving 125 a day means setting aside 1 hour 15 minutes of each day's work. If that's more than you can manage, move the date back or choose a cheaper option. Don't cut into money for bills.

3. Pay yourself first

Move the saving out of your main account on payday, before you spend anything. A separate savings account, an e-wallet you don't use for shopping, or a cash envelope all work. What you can't see, you don't spend.

4. Find the money

• Cancel one subscription you don't use. See the subscriptions audit.
• Cut one daily habit in half. See what small daily buys cost you.
• Sell something you no longer use and put the money straight into the goal.

5. Wait before you buy

When you reach the goal, give it one more week. If you still want it, buy it and enjoy it, because you paid for it in full and owe nothing on it. If you don't, you've just built savings.

Why not just use a credit card or instalments?

Paying later doesn't make something cost fewer hours. Interest and fees make it cost more, and the hours are owed from future pay you haven't earned yet. Zero-interest instalments can be fine if you'd already saved the money, but they make it easy to buy things you couldn't otherwise afford.