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A new year is synonymous with new beginnings, including financial ones. So if you're intent on setting some new money goals you'd like to achieve in 2022, we've got a few pointers you can follow to make sure you're setting yourself up for success.
Select spoke with Brittney Castro, a certified financial planner at Mint, to share some of her best tips for creating financial goals you'll actually be able to keep in the new year. Here's what you should keep in mind.
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1. Avoid creating goals that are too extreme
It can be easy to feel like you need to achieve all your financial goals at the same time — maxing out your retirement contributions, paying off thousands of dollars in debt and limiting your discretionary spending so you can save more. But setting goals that are likely beyond your current reach can actually set you up to feel bad if you don't hit those marks.
"One of the difficulties with goal-setting is 'all or nothing' thinking," Castro says. "It's an extreme mindset, and when we do things like that, we set ourselves up for failure because we don't take into consideration all the grays of life."
If your goal is to save $500 a month, but you haven't even started saving $50 a month, it will be very hard to take the necessary steps to review your budget and make sure you actually have an extra $500 to save each month, says Castro.
Setting goals that are more doable for your personal circumstances — even if they feel small, like saving $50 per month — allows you to build healthy financial habits that will be sustainable long-term. This way, you can feel motivated when achieving your current goals and work your way up to bigger ones.
2. Focus on creating progressive shifts
One way to avoid creating goals that are too extreme is to focus on ones that give you room to grow over time.
"You can say, 'I'm going to increase my savings by 1%, and every few months, I'll review my budget and increase my savings by another 1%,'" Castro explains. "This is more sustainable than going from saving nothing to saving a much higher number."
It's also important to keep in mind that things can change. You may spend more money some months because you have big occasions like birthdays, weddings and holidays. Other months, your spending may be a bit lower. Because of this, it's extra important to give yourself some grace and start by creating small, healthy shifts with your money. And, as your income and budget increase over time, you may have more room to make even bigger leaps toward your ultimate goals.
3. Accept the fact that there will always be financial surprises that pop up
Making progress on any financial goal, like paying off credit card debt, can feel great — until you have to use your credit card again for an emergency and the pay-off cycle starts again. There's a lot of emotion when it comes to managing your money, even after you've achieved a big goal, because you may feel a new pressure to maintain it. That can be hard to do when it feels like there's always some new expense sneaking up on you.
"With money, there's always this unexpected event that comes along," Castro says. "That's a given, so the sooner we accept it, the easier it gets. Maybe your car breaks down, or you get an unexpected bill. You need to embed this into your financial strategy so you're not blindsided, and it won't derail your progress."
One way to prepare for surprise expenses is by starting an emergency fund. An emergency fund is money separate from your savings account that you can use to cover any unexpected expense. This way, you can pay off that surprise bill or cover your emergency car repair without taking on too much additional debt.
Financial experts typically recommend putting emergency money into a high-yield savings account, which allows you to earn higher amounts in interest each month compared to traditional banks. This way, your money can grow a little faster even if you aren't making regular contributions. There are many options out there but Select ranked the Marcus by Goldman Sachs High Yield Online Savings as the best overall account, and the Ally Online Savings Account as the best option if you also prefer to have a checking account.
Read Select's round-up of the best high-yield savings accounts.
4. Use your budget to figure out what is most doable for you
The last, and perhaps the most important piece of advice for setting attainable financial goals, is to be aware of your current expenses and spending habits. This allows you to create goals that are realistic given your circumstances.
Tracking your spending and expenses can feel daunting — especially if you've never done it before. In fact, if you've never written out a monthly spending plan before, this could be one financial goal you decide to work on in 2022.
There are lots of ways you can approach this, including rifling through your bank statements and jotting down how much you spend each month. Or you can use a budgeting app like Mint or Personal Capital, which connect to your bank accounts, investment accounts and any other financial accounts you have. A budgeting app automatically keeps track of your transactions and categorizes them for you so you can get an overview of the types of things you spend the most money on.
From there, you can make intentional decisions about areas where you'd like to spend less (or even spend more) and how you'd like to redirect your money toward your new goals.
Bottom line
It can feel like there's a lot of pressure to set new financial goals and actually achieve and maintain them. Start by reviewing your budget so you can set goals that are doable for your circumstances. This way, you can make small shifts that are both progressive and impactful while still preparing for financial surprises that may pop up. It's not always easy, and can sometimes even be emotional, but the pay off can be very worthwhile.
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Editorial Note: Opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the Select editorial staff’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any third party.
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