Savings challengesAny goal
Savings tracker
A savings goal sheet with a thermometer on the left and a deposit log on the right. You choose the goal amount, the thermometer is marked in 20 equal bands, and each deposit goes in the log with the running total and the amount still to go.
- Type your details or print blank
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On this page
What prints
The title Savings Tracker is centered at the top, with a "Saving for" line below it. If you type a purpose in the settings, it prints as "Saving for: Emergency fund" or whatever you wrote. Otherwise it stays a blank line to write on.
On the left is a tall thermometer with a round bulb. The bulb is labeled $0 and the top is labeled with your goal. The tube is cut into 20 bands, each worth 5% of the goal, and every second band line carries a label, so you see the 10% steps along the way.
On the right, a sentence names your goal and the value of one band: "Shade a band for every..." followed by the dollar amount. Start date and Target date lines come next, then a log of 26 rows with the columns Date, Deposit, Total saved and Still to go. The log is blank; you add the numbers.
The settings
- Tracker. Pick the savings goal tracker. The 52-week challenge and 100 envelope challenge are the other two choices.
- Saving for. Up to 50 characters.
- Goal amount. From $100 to $100,000, moving in steps of $100.
Picking a goal worth shading
Shorter goals keep you going. A $500 car repair fund fills fast, so each shaded band feels like progress. For a big target such as a down payment, set a date and divide the goal by the number of months to find a monthly deposit.
Name one goal per sheet. A sheet for "vacation" and another for "emergency fund" are easier to read than a mixed one. Keep the page on the fridge or in a planner, and shade the band the moment a deposit hits your account.
Worked example: a $3,000 goal
With a goal of $3,000, each band is worth 3,000 ÷ 20 = $150. The labels appear every second band, so the thermometer reads $300, $600, $900 and so on up to $3,000.
Mia plans to save $250 a month. After three months she has 3 × 250 = $750. That is 750 ÷ 150 = 5 bands, a quarter of the tube, so she shades up to the fifth line. In the log, her third deposit row reads $250, total saved $750, still to go 3,000 − 750 = $2,250.
At that pace she needs 3,000 ÷ 250 = 12 months, so she writes a date a year out in Target date.
Making deposits routine
The easiest saving is the kind you do not decide on each time. Set up an automatic transfer on payday, then log it on the sheet as it clears. If a month is tight, shrink the deposit and write that down, rather than skipping the line, so the log shows a steady habit.
Remember
Where you keep the money matters as much as tracking it. This sheet is a motivation tool, and nothing in it is a recommendation about specific accounts.