Squirrels are known for their habit of hiding nuts for use later. This process means that there are little bits of food scattered about in safe places for the squirrel when it needs it. This concept when applied to money means that you don’t have to necessarily have a specific purpose for funds like a true savings account. Squirreling means you have small amounts of money stashed in various places such as savings accounts, jars, drawers, etc.

Where, and how much you squirrel will depend on you. Some banks have accounts where every time you make an electronic transaction an amount of money that you pre-determine, will be automatically deposited into a savings account. It’s amazing how quickly $1 per transaction will add up when you leave it for a while. The same thing works with keeping a small amount of cash (not just loose change) in a jar in your bedroom or office, or car. You have to be strategic with creating your stash, however, squirreling isn’t the same as allocating a specific purpose to a specific denomination of coin or bill; nor is squirreling the same as a giant jar of loose change sitting on your counter collecting dust. Squirreling means you have consciously stashed small amounts of money for no particular purpose, other than the knowledge that some day you might need or want it.

To move ahead from where you are today, you will need to learn how and then do something to get you there. While this might seem obvious, it often stops people before they even get going. As soon as you target a destination, you create a gap. A gap can be uncomfortable, especially if you do not know how to bridge it. This is also why people often do not even set goals in the first place. If you don’t set a goal, you won’t have to do anything uncomfortable. When you break the goal down into smaller pieces it becomes more tangible. Therefore, rather than setting a goal to have $1 million dollars invested by the time you are ready to leave work in 30 years, set a goal to save $100 this month. Or, if you want to pay off your mortgage in 10 years, start with a goal to call the bank to have them make an extra $100 payment each month. It just takes one small step at a time.

Why? Because a one percent change in direction maintained continuously will build on itself, and eventually become a much bigger change. If you do something easy to implement, you will gain confidence and reinforce the idea that you can make things happen. For example, rather than starting out planning your life goals and making drastic changes to your spending, how about starting by committing to keep all the receipts from any purchases made the next day, the next week and the next month. Then add another step and decide to keep the receipts and record them so you can review them later. Then, add another step and keep the receipts, record them and organize them into categories. Then add another step to keep the receipts, record them in their categories and analyze the categories for possible adjustments, future planning and on and on. It is a process that, once started, is constantly evolving.