Wealthy Wednesdays Financial Advice: It Takes Five Bucks…

Question for Jordan Goldberg, Stickk.com: “What have you learned about successful saving after years of working with people?” 

Here’s his answer:

“…goals made on a day-to-day basis are most important. You want to hit that $10,000 or $20,000 threshold in savings, well, it starts with a $5 here and $5 there.” ~Jordan Goldberg, CEO and founder of Stickk.com, launched in 2008 has helped thousands and thousands of people achieve their goals. This quote comes from the 2014 documentary film, Thinking Money. 

Over the years, David Bach, the author of the classic book, Latte Factor, has been bashed over and over. His critics say that his advice of giving up that daily latte (his latte is just a symbol of a Shiny Object Syndrome) won’t make a difference in accumulating wealth.

But…small things DO matter. Small decisions and small choices lead to big habits over time. They add up. Simple example: someone struggling financially feels they need a boost from all the daily stress so s/he buys one latte a day for a year (grande cafe latte from Starbucks, $3.65 day x 5 days a week for about a year will cost you almost a thousand bucks a year), a small habit that can lead to some larger habits that can then derail you from building wealth. Living in the moment is great and all, but can’t you do that with fancy coffee from home?

This all points to Albert Camus’ quote: “Life is a sum of all your choices.”

No one is saying give up all your lattes or whatever you love to have on a daily basis. If you’re struggling financially, have a latte as a treat or figure out a way to have your latte without screwing up your finances even more. That thousand bucks you give to Starbucks can be instead handed over to one of your debts. There’s always a way.

~Marilyn, TFF