A mood board might be an unexpected money tool but it actually works, writes Frances Cook. It all comes down to psychology, so get out your scissors and glue and start meditating on exactly what you want in life.
I like to consider myself a fairly logical gal. It’s how I ended up in the money world, really. Facts over feelings. Get on with things and get things sorted.
But here's a fact: as a motivational tool, mood boards actually work. You might share my mixed feelings towards adopting wishy-washy woo methods, but if you have a big financial goal that you’re struggling with, I don't hesitate to recommend mood board. One study showed a 73% increase in savings among those who created a mood board, compared to those who just went about saving the usual way.
For those of you unfamiliar with the concept of a mood board, it's a collection of images thrown together to create a particular "mood". People create them to clarify in their minds what they want for their new homebuilds, or gardens, weddings or wardrobes. But if you use them the right way, they’re also rocket fuel for serious financial goals.
They can be made online (Pinterest is essentially a type of mood board) but the most effective way to create a mood board is with bricks and mortar, that is, paper, scissors and glue. Or some people like to use a corkboard on the wall with tacks. The more tactile experience gives you time to think about exactly what you want and how much you want it.
Think of it, as you print out images from online or cut images from old magazines, as a kind of active meditation. It will help you define in your mind exactly what you want and it will activate your motivation for getting it.
Psychology is key
Time to say the quiet part out loud. If being ‘good with money’ was as simple as just doing what we know we need to do, 90% of us would already be doing better than we are.
Spend less than you earn. Save some every week. Don’t panic-sell your KiwiSaver. None of that is breaking news. Yet many of us still don’t do it, for various reasons, big and small.
Why not? Yes, life is hard, and expensive. Yes, budgets are tight. But most of us could at least be saving $5 a week regularly. Plenty of us could save more.
Yet even when it comes to the small amounts that we could save, many of us don’t.
Cavemen were bad savers
Financial psychologist Dr. Brad Klontz says one of the reasons for that is the way our brains are wired. In his writing, he points out that we evolved to survive, not to save. Our caveman brains are built to grab opportunities in the moment, not squirrel away resources for a retirement 30 years away.
Long-term thinking takes effort. Delayed gratification doesn’t come naturally.
Now add to that our personal history with money, such as how we grew up, what we saw our parents doing (or not doing), and the cultural scripts we absorbed.
These create some deep grooves carved into the way we approach financial decisions.
If you’ve ever self-sabotaged a good savings streak by suddenly “treating yourself” into overdraft, you’ll know what I mean.
The problem often isn’t knowledge. It’s motivation. And this is where the humble mood board comes in.
Big mood bigger goals
The finance world doesn’t usually get emotional like this – there’s a preference for charts, interest rates, and acronyms.
But that’s part of the problem. If you're trying to actually change your financial life, not just read about it, that cold, clinical approach won’t get you far.
We’re wired to respond to emotion, imagery, and storytelling, not a spreadsheet.
That’s exactly why a mood board works. It’s working with our wiring, instead of against it.
Klontz told me about the study he ran, mentioned above, where participants either received standard financial education, or were asked to do something that sounds a little woo: they visualised their goals, connected them to their values, and literally created mood boards.
Scissors, glue sticks, the whole lot.
The result? A 73% increase in savings amongst the mood board crew, compared to just getting standard financial education.
Not because they suddenly had more money. Because they finally had a 'why'.
They could see their goals. Picture them. Emotionally connect with them.
If your savings goal is just a number in a spreadsheet, you’ll probably ditch it the moment a new iPhone drops.
We don't save because we 'should'
Nobody saves because they should, or to be "good", or because some "financial expert" like me tells them to. You’ll last two weeks, max, if that’s your motivation.
But if your savings account is literally called “Freedom fund to leave my toxic job,” you’re going to think twice before raiding it for a midweek Uber Eats.
When you give your brain a vivid, desirable future to chase, the present becomes easier to manage.
Want to quit splurging on sneakers, and save more? You’re not just saying "I should be responsible, I guess" - you’re choosing the beachfront bach, or the sabbatical, or the freedom to walk away from a terrible job.
Simple steps to stick with it
This is why naming your accounts matters. Call it House in Hawke’s Bay or F** You Fund, not just 'savings’.
Put a picture of the goal in your phone background. Tape it to the fridge. Open your online banking and rename your automatic transfers so they shout your intention right back at you.
Start with what feels good. What would feel excited to wake up to? What would you do if money wasn’t a barrier to what you want from your life? That’s where your real goals live.
On a surface level, it feels frivolous. But scratch the surface, and it’s anything but.
You’re building the emotional fuel that will power consistent, unsexy habits like budgeting and automating your savings. It’s how you keep going when it gets boring, or hard, or uncertain out there.
Now make the saving easy
Automation is part two of the trick. You’ve got the vision, now make it effortless to achieve.
Once the account is named ‘coffee in Paris’, set up an autopayment into it, for the day after you get paid.
Now when temptation hits – because it will – you’ve already made the good decision ahead of time. The money’s moving without you.
You’re still allowed to want nice things in the moment. But you’ve also made space for Future You to have something even better.
You can’t always change your income overnight, or control what the Reserve Bank does next. But you can get clear on what you want, break it into tiny, doable steps, and use every psychological hack at your disposal to make progress feel real.
That’s what a mood board does. It flips the script from vague overwhelm to specific ambition. It shows your brain exactly why it’s worth it.
Scissors, paper, glue
Get onto that mood board. Go ahead, print the picture of the house. Cut out the name of the country you want to visit. Write down the dollar amount you need to take six months off work.
Then put it somewhere you’ll see it, whether that’s a mood board, a picture on your phone screen, or naming a savings account after it.
It’s not magic. It’s neuroscience. And it works.
The information in this article is general in nature and should not be read as personalised financial advice.
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