17 ways to smash your savings goals in 2024

17 ways to set and reach savings goals in 2024:

1. Keep it simple

Set your saving goals up for success by not overcomplicating what you’re aiming for. Try to stick with 1 – 3 savings goals per year, max. If you like, you can always reset your goals every 3 months.

2. Make your goals specific

“I want to own a home one day” is your dream. Your saving goal must be a lot more specific than that - outline exactly how much you want to save, in what time frame, and the desired result. For example, “I want to save a £20,000 deposit in the next 5 years so I can buy a 2-bedroom home in the region of £180,000-£200,000”. Make sure it’s realistic though - there’s some truth in the law of attraction, but we can’t all turn into millionaires overnight by simply believing it will happen.  

3. Set your goal with the Tembo app

Know how much you want to save for your first home? Sign up to the Tembo Lifetime ISA app to get the wheels turning on building your house fund. Put in your ideal deposit budget, plus how much you can put aside each month and will show you how long it could take to get there - plus personalised tips to get there sooner.

Don’t know where to start? You should try our app's Home Finder feature. Search any postcode in the UK and choose the type of property you want. Then, we use real-life house prices to show you how much you could need for your deposit and how long it could take to buy your first home.

You might like: Are house prices on the rise?

4. Set money milestones

Don’t wait 12 months to revisit your savings goals. Instead, check in at least every 3 months and ask yourself these questions:

• Am I on track for where I planned to be?
• Are these goals still realistic?
• What can I do differently next time?
• Set your goal with the Tembo app

If you find yourself not meeting your goals, you might need to adjust them to make them more realistic or take a hard look at your spending habits to see where you might be going off track. 

Speaking of…

5. Understand where your money’s going

Do you ever get to the end of the month and think “Wait, have I been robbed!?” 🥵 If you really want to save, make a habit of regularly keeping track of your money (not just to see when your wages have come in) - including what you spend it on, and where you might be splurging more than you think.

Having a clear idea of your money-spending habits can help you to:

• Understand how much of your money goes towards essentials vs non-essentials every month.
• See where you could cut back.
• Make better decisions about your money.
• Stop yourself from going over budget.

With the Tembo Lifetime ISA app, you can connect multiple accounts and track all your money in one place. You also get insights about your spending, including where you shop most and what you’ve spent your money on this month - all organised into easy-to-track categories.

6. Pay yourself first

As soon as your money lands on payday, have a game plan of what you’re going to do with it. To keep your savings goals at the top of your priority list (instead of a last-minute thought the week before payday), you could transfer your savings to a specific account for your savings (like, your Lifetime ISA). Even better, set up a direct debit and it’ll do it for you automatically. 

With that money kept safely in a savings or investment account, you’ll be less likely to spend it on other things.

7. Open a Lifetime ISA

Want to make up to £1,000 a year just by putting your money into an account? Well you can, with a Lifetime ISA. A Lifetime ISA is a savings or investment account that lets you put money aside for your first home (or retirement) - with a free 25% bonus from the government. Every tax year (which runs from April to April), you can put up to £4,000 into your LISA and score an extra £1,000 towards your first home if you max out your account.

Find out all about Lifetime ISAs and the tax year here.

8. See which savings have the most impact

Sick of hearing that a Netflix subscription is the only thing stopping you from buying a home? Uh yeah, us too. When you’ve got a big goal to reach, like building an emergency fund or saving for your first home, you want to cut back on the stuff that’ll actually make a difference.

When you sign up to the Tembo Lifetime ISA app, we’ll show you your Time to Buy along with ideas on how to cut that time down based on your real-life spending - so you can buy a home sooner.

9. Reduce your costs

Even if you saved £20 on your bills every month, that’s £240 a year you could put towards your goals. Cutting down recurring payments like your utility bills, phone and internet contracts could help you save without changing your current lifestyle.

10. Focus on building new habits

You can achieve big goals by breaking them down into small, everyday habits. Let’s say the majority of your spending happens in restaurants, but you have a savings goal you want to reach this year. So, you make a new habit of going for dinner twice a month instead of twice a week. Just from that, you could cut your spending by around 75% and can put that extra money towards your goal, while still enjoying yourself.

11. Look for discounts

Every penny counts - looking out for discounts makes a difference, as all those small savings add up. So when you do buy anything look around for if there’s a way to shave some pounds off. 

Here’s where to find discounts:

• Get in touch with the business and ask if they have any promotions going on (e.g. influencer partnerships often have discount codes)
• Install the Honey app on your browser.
• Go digging for discounts on Facebook’s Ad Library
• Instead of ordering through apps, get your takeaway from Too Good to Go
• Wait for seasonal sales. Here’s a list of when they usually happen

12. Ask for a raise

If you can live comfortably on what you earn now, you can put anything on top of that towards your savings goals. 

Here are some tips on how to successfully ask for a raise:

• Show how much value you bring to the company (with evidence if you can).
• Give plenty of notice.
• Clearly state how much you’d like to earn.
• Choose your time wisely (e.g. when they’re setting a budget for the new tax year, which starts in April).

13. Make money from a side project

Flipping furniture. Affiliate links. This woman made £8,000 selling sculptures of boobs.

With a few hours a week, you can take on a side project that boosts your income (and your savings goals). Just remember, if you make more than £1,000 from your side project, you have to tell HMRC and pay tax on it.

14. Ask for money instead of gifts

“Hey, your birthday’s coming up — what can I get you?”

Sound familiar? This year, instead of replying with ‘Oh you don’t have to get me anything’ (even though you know they inevitably will) you could ask for some money to put towards your savings goals instead.

With our Gift Time link, it’s super easy for your friends and family to send you money for your first home. One link, one secure payment and you’re one step closer to smashing your goal.

Download the Tembo Lifetime ISA app here

15. Sell your unwanted stuff

That stuff you’ve been meaning to get rid of? It could help you reach your savings goals this year. Just think, you exist in a time where you can sell stuff from a tiny computer in the palm of your hand. From eBay and Facebook Marketplace to Gumtree and Depop — there are heaps of apps out there that make it super easy to turn anything into cash.

Any extra money you make? You can send it instantly to your Tembo Lifetime ISA with one-off contributions.

16. Celebrate along the way

Before you reach that big goal, you’ll achieve lots of mini-goals. Small things like building a new habit, sticking to your goal 2 months in a row, putting money towards your goal from a side project, cutting your monthly bills by 20% — all that stuff.

When you achieve a ‘small win’, you’ll get a hit of our happy hormone ‘dopamine’. This helps your brain stay motivated! So celebrate the in-between milestones, because they lead the way to your end goal

17. Remember the big picture

Yes, you want to save £4,000 this year, but what is that for? Take a minute to think about the bigger picture. You want to buy a home one day and this goal will help you do that.