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It is always a good idea to do a checkup on the progress we’ve made with our savings and measure that against the savings plan that we make during the beginning of the year. This way, it allows us to make necessary changes if we are falling behind schedule and make sure that we still give ourselves a chance to make up for lost ground. For those who are on track (or even ahead of schedule), doing this will make us happy but for others, it might be a true wake up call where we need to make drastic changes to our spending and saving habits.

Instead of doing this analysis in set intervals, I like to do it spontaneously. The general consensus is that not having a set schedule is not good because we would forget to do this but I care so much about my savings that I will never forget to do a checkup. So, I do what works best for me.

At the beginning of the year, I’ve made a goal of saving $30,000 in 2008. Upon looking at my records, I’ve transferred $18,500 into my brokerage already this year so I’m well ahead of schedule since this doesn’t even count my 401k and Roth IRA contributions! I’m very happy about my progress and results like these make me want to keep doing these types of analysis! So now that I know I will handily beat the original goal, I plan to increase my savings plan to $40,000 this year. I believe that it is going to be tough since my earnings for the rest of the year will be weaker than the first 4 months but it is going to be doable. In a few months, I will do another analysis and figure out my progress.

So, do you ever check your progress against your goals this year? If you don’t, I suggest you start today!