How to stay motivated to save as a 19 year old wanting a new car...

Grimezy

I posted a couple of months ago regarding whether it was a good idea to get a £5k loan for a new car as a 19 year old and the general consensus was that I would be much better off saving rather than borrowing which I came to agree with.

I planned to save £500 per month and was aiming to have £3000 saved up in 6 months ready for my 20th birthday and insurance renewal dates so that it would be easier to switch cars if I found something I liked.

I'm just really struggling... I think it was 2 months ago that I posted originally. On my first month I put £500 away and had no troubles saving that. On my 2nd month I put another £500 away and this is where I had troubles. I'm quite a techy person and a bit of an enthusiast when it comes to computers. I find myself in a position where I'm able to buy a lot of top end things for my computer and I get the feeling I'm not going to be able to control this urge to keep upgrading it. My 2nd months £500 has disappeared so I'm back down to £500. I suppose it didn't help that it was my girlfriend's birthday as well, I guess it could just be a bad month..

I just want to know how people motivate themselves to continue saving. I do need a new car really, I've been driving a 12 year old punto for almost 2 years and it leaks, it creaks, and it's just a bit naff. I've paid my dues in insurance by spending almost £3500 over the two years of driving for a car worth less than a grand and now my insurance is finally down to a level where on renewal I'll only be paying around £600 for the cars I'd like to upgrade to.

So how do I do it? Am I trying to save too much? Due to my youthful impatience should I be trying something more like a 3 month saving plan rather than 6-12 months. I'm quite happy transferring my funds into a savings account every month but I start to obsess over what I'm trying to save for and start researching the web for the car I want and that just makes me want to get a loan and be done with it already. But then if I don't stay excited about my goal then I go out and buy other things. I can't balance the level between wanting something enough to save for it and obsessing over it so much that I end up being depressed that I have to wait for so long.

Any suggestions and tips would really be appreciated. I don't waste my money on things like clubbing and if I do it's barely once a month. I know people will say that a car is just an expensive form of transport and not worth the money but at the end of the day with that philosophy, why buy nice things at all? Why buy nice clothes or a nice house? At the end of the day you can do the exact same thing in a cheaper alternative. Cars just happen to be something I have a lot of interest in as a 19 year old male and I do have needs for a decent one rather than an old banger due to long-distance commitments, etc.

Thanks guys, any help or personal experiences would be great. Sorry to rant!
Sam

lvm

Believe me it doesn't get any better when you're older! Just more difficult as instead of £5k for a car you'll be looking at £20-25k for a house deposit.

If you're struggling to stick to £500 a month then either it's unrealistic or you're spending on things you don't need. Have you taken all expenses into account before deciding that £500 is doable?

Have you got any option for a 0% purchase credit card you could use?

Sometimes it's nice to treat yourself once in a while so if you'd get a reasonable finance deal then it might not be the worst thing in the world - it'd be a bonus if there were no early repayment charges if you could pay it off in a year/18 months.

YoungBusinessman

Well I'm 21....I bought a car for £6,000 at 19. Since I didn't want an old banger anymore and I can honestly say, there's better things to save up for! Do you have an emergency fund? A £4,000 car may end up being more expensive than a £6,000 yet a £6,000 could end up cheaper than £4,000.

Do you know much about cars/general repair? I think keep your money just save as much as you can while you are going, decide what to do with it once you are a bit older.

UsernameAlreadyExists

Grimezy wrote: »

I find myself in a position where I'm able to buy a lot of top end things for my computer and I get the feeling I'm not going to be able to control this urge to keep upgrading it. My 2nd months £500 has disappeared so I'm back down to £500.
...
any help or personal experiences would be great.

Get some self discipline and make the decision ...
what do you want more ... the car or a top end computer?

UsernameAlreadyExists

YoungBusinessman wrote: »

... I can honestly say, there's better things to save up for!

The problem is that he's not saving

whitewing

Have a separate savings pot for computer stuff.

Or, when you sell your old car, allow yourself to use that money for computer stuff so you get new car and new computer stuff.

Put the savings somewhere where it is a little more hassle to get them out eg a notice account or premium bonds, for example.

Grimezy

UsernameAlreadyExists wrote: »

Get some self discipline and make the decision ...
what do you want more ... the car or a top end computer?

I already have the top end computer ;D I just like to keep adding top end things to it.

To be honest, I'd love to have the car just because I need it for work and as I said, long distance commitments on a weekly/fortnightly basis. But as I already have the computer and it's just the case of buying things here and there for £40-£50 it all seems to add up.

And as for the other posts, perhaps you're right, maybe I'm being unrealistic with my savings or maybe I don't need to save that much for a car. £500 is realistic for me but if something like a birthday comes up that's when it all falls to bits. I suppose I'll just have to stick at it. Ideally I'll save as much as I can until July and see how I've done, if I can only afford a £2000 car then so be it. I'll have things like insurance, service, tax and MOT all to pay at the same time so even £2000 could prove difficult!

endure

Sell your old car and catch the bus for a few weeks. That'll be motivation enough...

LittleMissAspie

When I was saving for a house deposit I made a cumulative graph in Excel so that I could see the amount going up each month. It was very encouraging seeing the bar getting taller each month and comparing it to previous months.

Another thing you could do is give yourself savings pots. I keep a spreadsheet where I divide my savings into different categories. So if you can save 500 a month, you might want to dedicate 400 to the new car, 50 to your computer and another 50 for presents or holidays. Or whatever you want. That way you won't feel deprived of other things you want to buy, even if it means you have to wait a month or two to save up. I've got pots that I only put 10 a month in, but it builds up.

Alex92_2

Work more hours, get a different job, use external income for toys.

I used my external income to pay for my first proper motorbike, ended up selling it and making huge profit (around £2500+), keep buying and flipping with that.

If I want something badly enough, ill buy it. Trouble is I have nearly everything now, other than stupidly expensive things.

Gets hard when you walk past and aston martin dealership every morning and see that you can buy the 2008 Vantage in the showroom the same day, in cash and get insurance on it but have to remind yourself that a house is a better idea. Doh!

xylophone

Assuming you have no ISA for this tax year, put what ever you have saved so far into a Coventry 60 Day Notice ISA for this tax year and add what you can until 5 April.

Then you could could save up to £250 a month with N&P regular saver Set up a standing order.

Put anything else you can afford into an ISA for this tax year.

This will mean putting off the car purchase until you are 21.