How To Set Savings Goals & Track Progress In Notion

Whether you’re saving for an emergency fund, vacation, home purchase, or student loan payoff, creating a goal progress tracker in Notion gives you structure and clarity.

Instead of guessing where your money is going, you’ll see exactly how close you are to reaching each goal.

In this guide, I’ll walk you through my complete customizable Notion savings tracker setup. I'll give you the setup ideas, how to build the databases, and design the beautiful finance dashboard.

You’ll learn how to break down savings categories, set realistic goals, log deposits, and use formulas to calculate goal progress.

Let's go!

How to track savings goals using Notion?

You can create your own Notion savings tracker template that helps you set, organize, and track savings goals in one place. If you’d rather skip the manual setup and jump straight into tracking your finances with a ready-to-use system, grab our Notion Finance Templates

**Track Your Savings Goals with the Ultimate Finance Template**

Here’s how a savings tracker in Notion can help you:

Organize multiple savings goals. Whether you’re building an emergency fund, planning a vacation, or saving for lifestyle purchases, Notion lets you create categories so each goal has its own space.
Track progress visually. By using formulas and progress bars, you can see exactly how close you are to reaching each goal. This makes saving feel more rewarding and keeps motivation high.
Log deposits and contributions. With a linked database, you can record every deposit. Rollups then automatically update your current balance so you don’t need to calculate manually.
Prioritize financial planning. A Notion savings tracker makes it easier to see which goals are on track and which need more attention. This helps you budget smarter and allocate money where it matters most.
Create a personal finance dashboard. Because Notion is highly customizable, you can design an overview page with charts, filters, and widgets that give you a big-picture look at your finances.

Break down savings categories

When creating a savings tracker in Notion, the first step is to break down your savings categories.

Instead of keeping all your money under one general “savings” label, divide it into specific goals. This makes it easier to see progress, stay motivated, and manage priorities.

By organizing your savings goals into categories, you give each one a clear purpose and can track how close you are to reaching them.

Example of personal savings categories

Here are a few common savings categories you can add to your Notion tracker:

Emergency Fund – Build financial security for unexpected expenses like medical bills, healthcare, or sudden job loss.
Vacation Fund – Save for travel expenses such as flights, accommodations, and activities without overspending.
Education Fund – Save for tuition, books, school supplies, or even a student loan payoff buffer.
Home Fund – This can include a home or rent deposit, as well as savings for home repairs and maintenance, such as fixing a leaky roof, painting, major renovations, or appliance replacement.
Car Fund – Track both long-term goals like buying a car and ongoing car maintenance such as oil changes, new tires, or unexpected repairs.
Lifestyle Purchases – Cover planned purchases that improve your lifestyle, such as a new laptop, phone, furniture, clothing, or hobby-related gear.
Holiday Fund – Prepare in advance for holiday costs, including gifts, decorations, and special meals.
Wedding Fund – If you’re planning a wedding, track progress toward big expenses like the venue, catering, attire, and décor.

By setting up categories before you log any numbers, you make your Notion savings tracker more structured, flexible, and motivating.

Set personal savings goals

A savings goal is a specific amount of money you set aside for a planned purpose such as emergency fund, vacation, home deposit, or student loan payoff.

Instead of saving randomly, you assign your money to clear targets, which makes it easier to stay motivated and track your progress.

For example, you might set a $5,000 emergency fund goal, a $2,000 vacation savings goal, or a $15,000 home deposit goal. By defining the target amount for each category, your Notion savings tracker can calculate progress and show exactly how close you are to reaching your financial milestones.

**Manage Your Savings Goals with the Ultimate Finance Template**

Best practices when creating savings goals in Notion:

Name goals clearly – Use simple, descriptive labels like “2025 Summer Vacation – Japan” or “Laptop Model X Upgrade” so you instantly know the purpose of each fund.
Be specific with amounts – Don’t just say “save for vacation.” Set a number like $2,000 for flights, hotels, and activities. Make sure your savings goal is realistic and achievable, not set so high that it feels out of reach.
Break big goals into milestones – Instead of only focusing on the full target (e.g., $10,000), break it into smaller checkpoints ($2,500, $5,000, etc.). This makes progress feel achievable and motivating.
Prioritize your goals – Decide which savings categories matter most right now, so your money goes where it counts. Balance immediate needs (like holiday gifts) with bigger targets (like a home deposit).‍
Add deadlines – A goal with a date feels more concrete. For example, “Save $3,000 for wedding by June 2026.” You can use a Date property in Notion to keep this visible.‍
Automate deposits when possible – Even though Notion doesn’t move money, you can note recurring transfers from your bank account and log them in your tracker. Consistency makes saving easier.‍
Celebrate completed goals – When you hit 100%, mark the goal as “Completed.” It gives a sense of accomplishment and frees up space to focus on the next one.

Create a savings tracker database in Notion

To build a functional savings tracker in Notion with goal progress, the first step is to create a savings database.

This database serves as the foundation of your system, where you’ll store all your savings categories, target amounts, and progress updates.

Here’s how to create a Notion savings goal database step by step:

1. Create a New Page

Open Notion, create an empty Page in your Notion workspace.
Hit the "/" button on your keyword, select Database – Inline to start with.
Name the page something like “Savings Tracker Database”

2. Add Key Properties (Columns)

Your database needs properties to capture details about each goal. Here are the essentials:

Name (default column). Name your savings goal, e.g. Family Japan Vacation 2025.
Start Date and Deadline: Add the date you begin saving and the target deadline for reaching your savings goal.
Categories (Select): Create multiple savings dropdown options like Lifestyle, Travel, Maintenance, Home Deposits.
Target Amount (Number). Enter the total amount you want to save for each category (e.g., $5,000 emergency fund).
Status (Select/Status). Create dropdown options such as Active, Pending, In Progress or Completed when you reach 100%.
Current Balance (Number or Rollup). Track how much you’ve saved so far. You can update this manually or use a rollup linked to a deposit log.
Remaining (Formula). Use prop("Goal Amount") - prop("Current Balance") to calculate how much is left.
Progress % (Formula). Example: prop("Current Balance") / prop("Goal Amount") → this shows the completion percentage. Format the Progress % as a “Bar” in Notion to create a visual tracker.

3. Customize with Filters and Views

Once your properties are ready, use Notion’s database views to make your tracker more flexible:

List View → Clean, sortable list of all savings goals.

notion savings goal tracker list view design

Gallery View → Card-style layout, useful for quick visual scanning.

best notion savings goal tracker template with progress bar gallery view — **Organize Savings Goals with the All-In-One Finance Templates**

Board View → Organize goals by status (In Progress, Completed).

notion savings goal tracker template with progress bar board view based on status

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Connect your savings tracker to an Account Tracker

Before you can split money into different savings categories, you first need a clear view of your total savings balance. This is where an Account Balance Tracker comes in. Think of it as the “starting point” for your savings journey in Notion.

An Account Balance Tracker in Notion simply records the total amount sitting in your savings account (for example, your Bank of America balance). You don’t need to connect your bank directly to Notion—this keeps things secure and avoids sharing sensitive banking information.

Every time your bank balance changes, you update this number in Notion. This gives your savings tracker the data it needs to calculate and distribute money across different goals.

**Account Balance Tracker updates by debiting or crediting whenever you log expenses or savings.**

Automate savings goal tracking in Notion

Nowadays, most of us save money through digital banking—whether it’s a dedicated savings account or an online bank.

Instead of physically moving money into multiple accounts, you create “virtual savings envelopes” in Notion.

Each envelope represents one of your savings goals, and you assign a percentage of your total bank balance to it.

For example, you might allocate 20% to an emergency fund, 10% to education, or 5% to a vacation.

With the All-in-One Personal Finance Templates, you can easily automate your savings goal tracking and manage multiple goals from a single bank account.

Step 1: Connect to your account tracker

Once your Account Balance Tracker is set up, you can link it to your Savings Goals database in Notion. This connection allows you to:

Pull in your total available balance as the starting point.
Use Allocation % formulas to distribute funds virtually across multiple goals.
Keep your progress tracking automated without juggling multiple bank accounts.

Step 2: Allocate savings percentage

Instead of opening separate accounts for each purpose, you can use the Allocation % property in our Notion savings tracker to virtually divide that balance across different goals.

Here’s what it might look like:

General Savings → 25% of total balance
Home Deposits → 40% of total balance
Summer Vacation → 10% of total balance
Kitchen Renovation → 15% of total balance

This approach allows you to break down one lump-sum balance into clear, trackable categories inside Notion, without the hassle of managing multiple bank accounts.

Step 3: Automate the calculations

Depending on your expertise with Notion formulas, you can set up automatic calculations for your savings tracker. The key ones to include are:

Current Savings → shows how much you’ve saved so far.
Remaining Amount → calculates how much more you need to reach your goal.
Progress → displays a progress bar based on the percentage of your savings vs. your total goal.

With these formulas in place, your tracker updates instantly each time you add a new deposit. This removes manual math and keeps your progress visible at a glance.

notion savings goal tracker template databases — **Automated Calculation of Savings Tracker inside this Finance Templates**

Setting up a personal finance dashboard

A Notion finance dashboard is more than just a page — it’s your command center for money management.

Your dashboard should pulls together key views from your savings tracker, account balance tracker, and deposit logs into one curated hub. This makes it easy to see your savings progress, upcoming deadlines, and financial health at a glance.

**Savings Goals Tracker dashboard layout inside our Finance Templates**

How to build your money dashboard in Notion

Create a new page and name it “Finance Dashboard.”

Add linked databases for your Savings Tracker, Account Balance Tracker, and Deposits Log.

Use filters and sorts to display only the most relevant data (e.g., active goals under 100%).

Add progress bars, rollups, and formulas to make your data visual and easy to understand.

Organize the layout with columns (e.g., left column for balances, right column for savings goals).

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With this setup, you won’t need to open each tracker separately. Instead, your finance dashboard in Notion becomes a single hub where you can monitor progress, adjust allocations, and stay motivated to hit your financial goals.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a savings goal tracker in Notion?

A savings goal tracker in Notion is a customized database that helps you plan, organize, and track your financial goals. Instead of juggling spreadsheets or apps, you can create a single system inside Notion that shows your goal amount, current balance, and progress percentage. This makes it easy to visualize how close you are to reaching goals like an emergency fund, vacation, or home deposit.

Is a Notion savings tracker better than spreadsheets?

Yes, a Notion savings tracker offers more flexibility than spreadsheets. While spreadsheets can calculate balances, Notion adds databases, relations, rollups, and progress bars to make tracking more visual and interactive. Plus, you can link savings goals with your budget planner, expense tracker, or income log to get a complete picture of your finances in one place.

How do I set up savings goals in Notion?

To set savings goals in Notion, start by creating a database where each entry represents a goal (e.g., Vacation Fund). Add key properties such as Goal Amount, Current Balance, Deadline, and Progress Formula. You can then update deposits manually or link them to a deposit tracker database. The formula will automatically calculate your progress, showing you how much you’ve saved vs. your target.

What is an Account Balance Tracker in Notion?

An Account Balance Tracker records the actual money sitting in your savings or checking account. Instead of connecting your bank directly (for security reasons), you manually log deposits and withdrawals. This balance can then be linked to your savings tracker database, so every time you update the account balance, your savings categories and progress update automatically.

How do I automate savings goal tracking in Notion?

You can automate savings goal tracking in Notion by combining formulas and rollups. For example, use a formula to calculate progress:prop("Current Balance") / prop("Goal Amount").If you also track deposits in a separate log, use rollups to pull totals into your savings goals. Paired with percentage-based allocation, Notion will automatically update how much each goal receives from your total account balance.

What’s the benefit of a Notion finance dashboard?

A Notion finance dashboard centralizes all your money tracking into one hub. Instead of switching between multiple databases, you can view your total balance, savings progress bars, upcoming deadlines, and deposit history on a single page. It’s like having a financial command center where you instantly see your financial health, spending habits, and savings journey.