Saving money is not an exciting, passionate, or romantic thing. It’s necessary to save money, especially if you are on a budget, but it can often feel like a chore. Instead of spending money on something fun, you have to do the opposite; not spend money and probably stay at home.

It’s time to change that attitude about saving money. You should “fall in love” with the concept of savings, which in turn will help you save more money. Here’s some ideas to help get you passionate about saving money.
 

Make a Game Out of Saving Money
 

Making games out of uninteresting tasks is called gamification and is a popular way to learn and develop good habits. It’s why teachers in school often play games with their students around the subject matter. It gives them a sense of accomplishment when they succeed and uses their competitiveness as a driving force to push through the hard parts.

The same can be said for saving money. Normally a tedious task, turning it into a game can help motivate and cultivate good saving habits. You just need to find the right game for you.

There are some apps that can help gamify savings like Qapital where you are rewarded or punished for certain actions you set up. Got a big goal or project you want to accomplish? You can give yourself an incentive of putting in a few extra dollars into your checking account. Just went over your budget on getting coffee? Money is transferred out of your checking and into your savings.

You can also make a game with other people to drive your competitive side. A friend, spouse or family member will work. You challenge them to see who can save the most money in a month. By going extra thrifty, you’ll think twice about making luxury purchases and try to save money on essentials. Having someone to play against helps, but it will also keep you accountable.
 

Celebrate Your Savings Accomplishments
 

Saving money can feel like a thankless job. People aren’t praising you for not spending money, even though you desire some recognition. Especially if you struggle with saving money, you need to celebrate when you save.

One positive way of celebrating is rewarding yourself when you avoid temptations of spending money. For example, you really want to buy yourself something nice at the mall, but decided you didn’t need it. Reward yourself with a fun drink or meal on the way home. Sure, you’re still spending a little bit of money, but you avoided buying something much more expensive, and that should be celebrated.

If you have a significant other, close friend, or family, you could also share with them when you save money like finding a great deal. Everyone loves to hear about how much someone saved on important purchases and can help you feel validated in saving money.
 

Take on a Challenge of Saving Money
 

Use social media as both a carrot and a stick to save money. Take part in a recently popular challenge of going a whole month without spending money and share about it on social media. By putting it out for all of your friends, family, and followers to see, you’ll be motivated to save money for sure!

Share regular updates about what you are learning, what obstacles you are encountering, and your triumphs. People will support your challenge from the sidelines, share helpful advice, and celebrate your victories with you. You might even motivate a few to do the challenge with you.
 

Use Passive Savings and Forget About It
 

Are you a person who hates vacuuming and bought a Roomba to deal with it when you are out of the house? You can do the same with your savings. Automate the task of saving money so you barely have to think about it.

For example, you can set up your direct deposit to transfer into multiple accounts rather than dumping it all into your checking. Split it up and send some to a savings account. That way, you don’t have to think about it.

Another tool you can use is Pioneer’s ChangeForward Saving Account. Every time you spend money using a Pioneer debit card, it rounds up the purchase to the nearest dollar and transfers the change into this savings account. 

Finally, investments like Pioneer’s Term Certificates can help you save money. By putting your money in a term certificate, you can’t touch it for a set term period, and it grows interest on your money more than an average savings account. You save money by not being able to spend it and it grows!

Open a Term Certificate