financial goals planning process

How to Set Financial Goals: Set 5, Achieved 2, Failed at 3 (Lessons Learned)

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Disclaimer: This article is for educational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Investing involves risk, including the potential loss of principal.

The first of January 2024. Another year, another chance, a new me, new aspirations, and the same old problems. I sat down with a lot of energy, something I hadn’t felt in a long time. This year, I made a list of five financial goals I want to reach. I said to myself, “Wow, I’m getting my life in order.”

By March, I had given up on two of my goals, and by June, I had given up on another. I convinced myself that I only had two left to live through the whole year.

This is what I learned about not setting financial objectives by February.

5 GOALS I SET: WHICH ONES MADE IT?

  1. Put $5,000 in my emergency fund (DONE)
  2. $2,247 in credit card debt (ACHIEVED)
  3. Save $10,000 for a down payment on a property (FAILED; only saved $340).
  4. Make an extra $500 a month by doing side jobs (FAILED; made $200–300 a month on and off).
  5. Keep track of every expense for the whole year (FAILED, lasted 6 weeks).

Let me tell you what I learned that was good and bad.

Goal 1: Emergency Fund (ACHIEVED – $5,000 Saved)

financial goal checklist
Tracking progress toward financial goals

Goal: $5,000

By December, I had made $5,247.

How long did it take? 11 months

This one worked because I made it automated and dull.

What I did:

  • I opened a separate savings account and set up an automatic transfer of $200 from my salary. This meant that I would be saving $400 every month ($200 every paycheck), and some months I would add a couple of hundred dollars.
  • I “pretended” I couldn’t get to the money by making an account that I couldn’t get to.
  • The system would pay me first, and then I wouldn’t be able to touch that money.

I didn’t have to think about moving the money because it happened automatically.

What almost stopped it: My car needed $680 in repairs in August. I was about to give up on this savings goal and spend the emergency fund, but I didn’t. I put the cost on a credit card with 0% APR and paid it off in three months, so the emergency fund stayed full.

Goal 2: Pay Off Credit Card Debt (ACHIEVED-$2,247 Paid Off)

Credit card balance goal: $2,247

Accomplished: Paid off in September (9 months)

Every month, I paid between $180 and $250.

This was also because I hated losing more than $150 in interest per month at the beginning.

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What I did:

  • Stopped using the card completely
  • Paid more than $180 every month (a lot more than the $45 minimum payment)
  • Paid off the card with “extra” money like tax refunds, birthday money, and money from a side job

Why it worked: Motivation through feelings. Every time I wanted to stop making payments, I had to cope with the indignation of seeing how much interest I had paid ($1,800+ for the last 18 months).

What almost stopped it: I really wanted to get concert tickets for $120 in July. I almost put it on the card. I didn’t go to the concert, which is too bad, but I’m debt-free, so it’s worth it, right?

Goal 3: Save up for a down payment on a house (FAILED-Saved $340 instead of $10,000)

Goal: $10,000

$340 was reached.

Why it didn’t work: It’s a math problem.

Yeah, this one was dumb from the start.

So, to reach my goal of saving $10,000 in the first year, I need to save $833 every month and made $2,450 after taxes. I could spend $400 to $500 a month on things like rent ($875), a car ($280), insurance ($148), groceries ($230), and other things I needed.

I have already put $400 into the emergency fund. Where am I expected to get the other $833? $833?

What did I do? Each month, I put any extra money I had into the “house fund.” It was $50 some months. Some months it was $0. I put in $89 one month.

What I learned is that your goals need to be attainable with the money you have. “Just make more money” isn’t a plan.

Goal 4: Make money on the side (I failed and only made $200-300 a month instead of $500).

Goal: Make $500 more a month every month

Achieved: $200–300 a month; however, it was highly erratic.

Why it didn’t work: I thought I had more time and energy than I really did.

I thought I could make an extra $500 a month by doing freelance writing, DoorDash, and tutoring.

I got a wake-up call: after working 8 hours at my main job, I only had 2-3 hours of good energy. You don’t have enough time to start more than one side business.

What really happened:

  • Freelance writing: $200 to $400 a month (extremely erratic; clients stopped responding)
  • DoorDash: $500-600 a month (steady, although I had to give up my weekend nights)
  • I started tutoring in September. I earned $360 to $420 a month, which was the best return on my efforts.

I was making extra money, but I never made a steady $500 from side jobs alone. And I felt quite tired.

What I learned: Starting side jobs takes a lot of effort and work. Before moving on to the next one, be sure you know how to do the first one well. Don’t start more than one at a time.

Goal 5: Keep track of all expenses (FAILED—lasted 6 weeks)

financial planning calendar
Scheduling financial goals and milestones

Goal: Keep track of all costs for one year

Success: I kept track of all my expenses for six weeks, and most of them turned into time.

Why it didn’t work: It was frustrating.

I took the time to download YNAB and start keeping track of every trip to the store, coffee shop, and gas station.

For six weeks, I kept track of every dime.

And then one day, I failed to write down a coffee. Then, food. Then I just quit.

What I learned: It’s not worth it to keep track of every little thing you spend a dollar on. I should be keeping track of the bigger things, like rent, food, and subscriptions. I don’t care about $4 coffees.

Keep track of my spending in my head, and once a week, I merely write down which buckets the money went into. It’s not right, but it’s good enough. What I learned is that tracking doesn’t have to be perfect. There are levels. Frugal habits often provide the foundation needed to achieve realistic financial goals.

What I Would Change in 2025

Have fewer aims. Five was just too much. This year, I’m only going to do three. Set goals on autopilot. Both of the ones that worked (an emergency fund and paying off debt) had processes that worked by themselves. The ones that didn’t work needed willpower that had to be used over and over again.

Clear financial goals are easier to set once you understand how interest and APR affect long-term costs.

achieving financial success concept
Celebrating achieved financial goals

Check the math first.

Include some flexibility. Cars break down. You get ill. Things happen in life.

Instead of just trying to get results, focus on building systems. Putting away $5,000 is a result; moving $200 from each paycheck automatically shows a system. Systems are usually more stable. I am proud of the two goals I reached. The three I didn’t reach gave me important lessons on what not to do.

So, setting financial goals doesn’t mean you have to be flawless. It’s about figuring out what you can actually keep up with and making processes that work even when your excitement fades (which it will).

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