Comments on: How to Fail at Your Big, Hairy, Audacious Goal (And How to Set A Goal That You’ll Reach)

By: Inspiring Things I've Read Lately - Where My Soul Belongs

Inspiring Things I've Read Lately - Where My Soul Belongs — Fri, 31 Jul 2015 03:11:14 +0000

[…] this great finance blog after Sarah wrote a guest post on another blog. I LOVE it. She wrote about How to Fail at Your Big, Hairy, Audacious Goal (And How to Set a Goal That You’ll Reach). I applied this advice in my latest budget and debt snowball […]

By: 12 Easy Ways to Make 2015 Your Best Money Year Ever | Suburban Finance

12 Easy Ways to Make 2015 Your Best Money Year Ever | Suburban Finance — Wed, 28 Jan 2015 23:54:26 +0000

[…] 2) Generate small-wins […]

By: Kayla

Kayla — Fri, 14 Nov 2014 15:34:06 +0000

I love this! I have been trying to get rid of CC#4 (because it was my lowest balance CC), but I think I’m going to change focus to CC#5 instead. CC#4 is one that can be used at any store and for some reason I’m having a hard time paying it off. CC#5 is a store card and it easier to pay off since I don’t shop there anymore. The balances are similar and I think it will help me get a win faster (since I still occasionally end up using CC#4, which slows down progress). I need the win and soon! I’m getting discouraged, which isn’t good…

By: Kate

Kate — Thu, 13 Nov 2014 04:07:00 +0000

Me and my hubs have goals and we are taking it like a baby step, we are going to reach our goals slowly and hopefully we will achieve it in the future. First thing we want to achieve is to remove our debt and then we will proceed to our next goal.

By: Athena

Athena — Thu, 13 Nov 2014 02:00:26 +0000

I believe that psychology does have a lot to do with it. Like losing weight. You know exactly what you have to do but for some reason ( 95% psychologically!) you don’t. Money is the same way sometimes but not all of the time.

By: MontrealFlyer

MontrealFlyer — Wed, 12 Nov 2014 21:19:34 +0000

I think another really helpful strategy is to set big goals (need something aspirational), break them down into smaller hurdles and then use technology to help. For example, if you want to save $80,000 in 3 years, it comes out to $555 per week, and $225 per person per week, assuming you’re a couple. Now set-up a separate savings account, and automatically pay $225 into your account every week.

If you’re paying off debt, same thing. Put your debt repayment plan on auto pay! Get rid of the human element that affects as all i.e. temptation, procrastination. Set your bank account up so that it automatically pays your credit card company the amount required to achieve your repayment goal.

By: Mrs. Frugalwoods

Mrs. Frugalwoods — Wed, 12 Nov 2014 03:07:45 +0000

We’re working towards one big goal right now (financial independence) and it’ll take us about 3 years to get there. But, we also have monthly goals of hitting certain % saved rates, which helps us to stay motivated. By tracking our progress every month, and celebrating every month’s successes, we’re able to stay in it for the longer haul. I think you’re right that our brains need those incremental rewards!

By: Charlotte

Charlotte — Tue, 11 Nov 2014 18:09:40 +0000

This is the approach I’ve been taking over the past few months and I’ve had way more success than when I used to set bigger long-term goals. Even if the smaller intervals are part of a larger sum that I’m working towards, I find it motivating and easier to stick to. Really great suggestions in this post, Sarah, and congrats on all that you’ve been able to reach this year!

By: Jenna

Jenna — Tue, 11 Nov 2014 02:57:45 +0000

I agree — setting small attainable goals really works for me. It allows for me to keep the excitement going because I reach the goals! Then when I do better, it just feels awesome.

By: Newlyweds on a Budget

Newlyweds on a Budget — Mon, 10 Nov 2014 20:24:39 +0000

at the beginning of this year, we had $2 in our savings account. We set out to save $30k in one year for a down payment–thinking that it would take us 2 years to save the minimum $50k we needed for 10% down payment.

Well, we met our $30k goal at the end of July, which was absolutely flabbergasting considering just last year we were making $1k minimum monthly payments toward our debt.

So we upped our goal to reach $50k by the end of this year to put toward our down payment and we did it!

Absolutely insane bc we never would have thought this were possible just last year.