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What do your finances and diet culture have in common? Both involve me starting a new year with high hopes and a salad, only to find myself shamefully eating a Big Mac alone in a parking lot by mid-February. Sure, you can cut out sugar and fast food cold-turkey, just like you can declare a “no-spend November”. In the short term, you’ll see results! And yes, a smaller pant size and a larger checking account are great…
But you won’t be able to make it last.
Ouch. Sorry, but it’s true. Is this me being overly pessimistic? No. It’s me being real with you, and it’s backed in science. Diets and extreme changes in financial behavior don’t work over the long term. There’s plenty of psychology behind this, too.
A couple of articles for reference:
Humans drastically overestimate what they’ll do in the short term, but massively underestimate the compounding effect of small, repeatable actions.
What does work is implementing small sustainable changes and building on them over time. Lasting change is small, incremental, and builds slowly. Do you want to be a financially free millionaire? Then find the smallest thing you can change today and start there.
So what tiny wins should you actually focus on?
Start by automating one thing (I recommend savings or investing)
Transfer $100 to a high-yield savings account each month
Contribute to your Roth IRA/joint brokerage/529/whatever investment account the same way
Automate your credit card payment
Increase your credit card/high-interest debt payment by $20 or $50 each month
If you aren’t paying off your credit cards each month, try incrementally increasing your payments each month until the debt is gone!
Aim to cut 10% from your overall discretionary budget
If you’re spending $2,000 a month on discretionary purchases (restaurants, shopping, hobbies, etc.), cut out $200 to start. Cut another 1% each month until you’ve reached your goals
Take it a step further by automatically pushing that $200 into a savings or investment account
Implement a “24-hour pause” rule
For any purchase over $50, take a 24-hour pause before you buy it. You’ll end up buying a lot less once you control your impulses
Set one small, short-term goal you can reach within 1-3 months
Build your emergency fund, pay off a credit card, start investing into a Roth IRA — do one small thing that’ll make a big difference!
Small wins build momentum and keep us motivated
Sign up for a money tracker/budgeting tool
There are some great ones! Monarch is my personal fave.
We don’t need to budget in spreadsheets anymore. Make it easy on yourself and let cool tools like Monarch track your money for you.
You want to know the secret to financial success? Good financial habits are boring and repetitive. It is the small everyday choices, the set-it-and-forget-it investing, the ability to pause before you buy. That’s it.
It’s almost the end of the year!! Here are a few bigger things you should absolutely do to improve your finances heading into 2026. Tackle them one at a time:
Negotiate your salary
Make sure you’re reviewing your benefits package this open enrollment!!
Review your big insurances (car, home, auto) and see if you can lower the premium or shop around for a better deal
Make sure you’re contributing enough to your 401(k) to receive the full company match (if you have one)
Read/listen to at least one personal finance book
Small wins compound, I promise you. Don’t try to complete revamp your entire financial system in a day. You will burn out and return to old habits. If you continually make tiny changes for the better, you’ll see massive results before you know it. Trust me, I’m a doctor*
*Woman who has read 100 personal finance and psychology books, not an actual doctor.
Cents of Humor Resources!
Hey, you! Thanks for being here. I have a lot of tools and recommended resources I’d love for you to check out. You can find them on the Cents of Humor Resources page HERE.
Want to work with me? Send me a note!
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