Got a Big Savings Goal for 2024? 4 Steps to Achieve It

According to findings from The Ascent's research team, the second most popular financial New Year's resolution for 2024 is saving money for a big milestone. That certainly sounds familiar to me; I ended 2022 planning to save a chunk of money to enable me to buy a home in 2024, and I achieved that goal (and I'm still saving). Let's say your goal is to save $10,000 next year. Here's how to approach a big savings goal like this one.

1. Find the right place to save

If you're just getting the ball rolling on a savings goal, you might assume it's best to stick with a bank account you already have -- why make life harder for yourself? Well, good news! It's not hard at all to open a new bank account, especially if you opt for an online bank. It'll take about five minutes of your time to provide some personal information (like your name, date of birth, and address) and open the account.

But what kind of account is best? I recommend either a high-yield savings account or a money market account. Both account types have higher-than-normal APYs right now, thanks to the higher federal funds rate we're all living with. A savings account is certainly the option with fewer requirements -- you likely won't need to meet a minimum deposit to open the account or maintain a minimum balance to earn that high APY. But you won't have the easiest access to your money, as it's rare for a savings account to come with a debit or ATM card.

If you open a money market account instead, you'll likely get a debit card or even checks. But you may face a minimum deposit or balance requirement. The choice is yours -- just weigh all your options to decide.

2. Break it down to smaller contributions -- and pay yourself first

Saving $10,000 is significant, and that's a big number to contemplate. Rather than getting hung up on the big number, I recommend focusing on and creating smaller goals for yourself along the way. If you have 12 months to save $10,000, that works out to just about $833 a month. If the average month has four weeks, that's just about $208 a week. Or you can divide it by 366 (leap year!) and arrive at about $27 a day. Doesn't that sound a lot more feasible?

This is the trick I used to save money all year. I ran the math and knew how much I needed to save every week, and with very few exceptions, I made that target. I also leaned hard on paying myself first. This meant that instead of waiting until after my bills were paid every month, I treated saving money as another bill, and one I couldn't put off or disregard.

3. Increase your income

It's not enough to have the goal -- you must also have the means to carve out money to save. This isn't easy for most Americans, as almost two-thirds of us can't cover a surprise $500 emergency expense (according to data from SecureSave). While you might be expecting me to tell you to cut out your store-bought coffee and eat ramen noodles for every meal under a single 40-watt light bulb, I'm not going to do that.

The better way to find cash to save is to add to your income, if you can. That could look like signing up to drive for a ride-hailing service a few nights a week or perhaps increasing your hours at your current job, if you can. You could also ask for a raise, although getting one isn't a guarantee (it'll help if you can show your employer how much value you bring, though). Any extra money coming in won't already be committed to your bills, so you can stick it in the bank.

4. Dream about your goal

Finally, don't underestimate the importance of actively thinking about and planning for your goal. If you have just a vague notion to save $10,000 in 2024, you might easily lose focus in the face of all the stress that daily life brings. The way around that is to consider what it might be like to achieve that goal.

Let's say that $10,000 is going to pay for a small backyard wedding and then a dream honeymoon. That money represents the start of a new chapter in your life, and being able to do this without going into debt is going to be wonderful. Dream about that feeling and turn the dream into reality.

If 2024 is the year you save a solid chunk of money to improve your life in some way, be it for buying a home, taking an amazing vacation, or shoring up your finances before welcoming a new baby, I'm rooting for you. And the feeling you'll have when you achieve your goal will be worth all the saving along the way.