Whether your dream is an overseas holiday, a new car, a wedding, or a deposit for your very own home, you'll probably need money to make it come true. But with daily expenses and unexpected bills, sometimes these dreams can seem out of reach.

But if you break that goal amount down and work towards it on a regular basis, your dream could become a reality sooner than you think!

1. Break it down

Try setting a date you want to have the money saved by. Then divide your goal amount by the number of months in that time frame. Does this smaller, regular amount fit within your budget? If not, you might need to allocate a little more time.

Help grow your savings with a Suncorp Bank account

Say you're saving for an overseas trip and you estimate that you'll need $8,000 for everything, from flights to spending money.

$8,000 sounds like a lot of money when you're starting out. But if you think of it as $333 a month (or around $77.00 a week) over two years, it's a bit more manageable. But what if you don’t have that sort of cash to spare?

$77.00 could seem like a big chunk of your weekly earnings. But you could be throwing away that much money each week without realising it. There are plenty of ways to find extra cash within your income if you're able to make a few small changes to your spending habits.

2. Earn on savings

By selecting a higher interest account like the Growth Saver Account, you could be rewarded for your regular saving with bonus interest.

How about using those extra earnings to help reach your goal even sooner? Or you could just put it towards more bowls of pasta during the Italy leg of the trip. Either works.

3. Schedule payments

Let your account do the work for you by setting up a regular savings plan between your savings account and your everyday account. A recurring transfer means you don’t have to worry about remembering to make a regular transfer, then accidentally overspending because you have extra funds in your spending account. The hard work is done for you, so your only worry needs to be planning which tropical beaches and food districts you will visit on your holiday. Well… we wish! But automatic transfers can definitely help take some of the stress out of saving.

Help save with flexiRates

If you don't plan on using your savings for a while, you could earn more interest with flexiRates. flexiRates allow you to lock away a portion of your savings for up to 12 months. As well as the obvious benefit of higher interest rates, this can help keep you honest with your savings goals by not allowing you to touch your savings for the allocated time period (you can withdraw funds early, but an interest adjustment will apply).

Say you're midway through your savings journey, and your favourite store has a sale. You justify digging into your holiday fund to go hard at the sale, despite the fact your wardrobe is already overflowing with clothes. Luckily, your savings are in a flexiRates fund for another 11 months, so you have to pass on this sale in order to continue earning a higher rate of interest. You’ll thank yourself a year later when you’re in a yacht cruising through the Greek Islands.

You can reach your dream with the right moves. Remember to break it down and stick to your regular goals.

Happy savings!

Published 3 July 2022