How Even Tiny Successes Add Up When Improving Your Finances

If you’re struggling to get ahead financially then it’s too easy to get overwhelmed. Discussion forums and personal finance blogs are filled with stories of people earning six figure sums, or inheriting huge wealth, or paying off all their debt in a matter of months. Just how do you match that?

Is it even worth trying to make a difference to your finances when the odds seem so stacked against you?

I’m here to tell you that in my opinion, even tiny successes can add up quite quickly. It’s entirely possible for most of us to take control of our money and improve your futures – even by taking little tiny baby steps.

Here are just a few of the tiny successes that can make a real difference to your financial future…

Tiny Budget Cuts

When I first started to dig myself out of debt, one of the main motivators was simply that I couldn’t afford to even make the minimum payments any longer. I was literally at the point of paying out more each month than I brought in, and the problem seemed to be getting worse each month.

Eventually I reached such a debt load that I had to “juggle” my bills; selecting one debt each month that would go unpaid, while I carefully dodged letters and phone calls till I next got paid and pretended I “forgot”.

The point of telling you this is that there was so little slack in my budget that paying back my debt seemed like an impossibility. If I couldn’t even meet my minimum payments, how could I find even more money to really start moving them towards zero?

As it turns out, there were a few things that I could cut from a budget. A few monthly expenses that could either be reduced down or eliminated completely. This immediately gave me just a little more breathing room to pay off debt.

The following month, however, a funny thing happened. I redid my budget, and realized that I hadn’t missed those few things I’d cut at all. In fact, truth be told, I was actually enjoying the experience of finally making a little financial progress.

So a cut a little more from my budget. And paid off a bit more debt. Each month I would surprise myself with yet more potential budget cuts, and so bit by bit they all added up. My debt started to go down faster and faster. Eventually, of course, I cleared one of them completely, then rolled all this “spare” money onto the next debt (the “snowball” method).

That first tiny tentative cut from my budget – which really amounted to no more than $50 – was really the starting point to an avalanche of cuts and helping me become debt free much, much sooner than I had expected.

Tiny Pay Raises

Just as tiny budget cuts can have a very noticeable effect on your finances, so too can tiny pay raises. All too often I find that friends of mine sniff over a few dollars pay raise. “What am I meant to do with that?” they say.

Here’s the thing though. Not only does each pay raise give you more freedom, but it also makes future pay raises even easier. Consider someone earning $30,000 a year. If they apply for another job that pays up to $35,000, the hiring manager will assume they can probably get them for far less. But if that person has slowly inched up to 31, then 32, then 33, then it’s a far smaller jump to the maximum salary on offer. What’s more, the less of a jump it is, the more likely you are to land it.

So don’t sneer or feel insulted if you’re offered a paltry pay raise; anything is better than nothing. Instead, look at it as the next rung on the ladder; one that will keep you moving in the right direction for years into the future.  

Tiny Promotions

Over the years I have seen a lot of people get promoted at work; I’ve even promoted a few myself in that time. When it comes to promotions it seems there are two kinds of people. The first type of person refuses to take on any extra work or responsibility without a change to their job role. For obvious reasons, these people don’t tend to get offered many promotions.

The other kind of person is perfectly willing to learn new skills and take on extra responsibility, even without an “official” change to their job title. The funny thing is that these are often the people who end up landing the big promotions (and the pay raises that go with them). The reason is simple; they’ve already got the skills and they’ve proven that they’re capable. Next time a vacancy arises, they’ll be top of the pile.

So when your boss offers you extra responsibility don’t groan about the extra workload. Instead, embrace the opportunity, as it could well lead to the next rung on the ladder. And if, after some years, you get tired of waiting for that vacancy to appear, jump ship to another company, knowing full well that you have all the skills they need.  

Tiny Side Hustles

I’m sure you’ve seen the big bloggers out there, generating six figure sums each year – sometimes each month. At the same time, it’s important to appreciate just how difficult it really is to build a blog, write a book or sell products on Amazon.

Every years thousands of people make an attempt at it, become despondent about their lack of results, and give up some months later. The reality, however, is there are very few “overnight successes”. Most of the high earners had to go through the same process of doubt, insecurity and wondering if they were wasting their time. But they stuck with it, pushed through, and came out the other side. As they say: success is often found just the other side of failure.

If you opt to start some kind of side hustle you might just “fail” – but even then you’ll be picking up valuable new skills can can be applied to your next venture. And even if your project is only mildly successful – let’s say it brings in just $300 a month – that money can still make a real difference to your financial future.

What’s more, of course, is that if you’ve managed to achieve this once, you can just replicate what you did, and do it again and again. You don’t have to make thousands of dollars a month from one side hustle; you can make a few hundred a month on dozens of websites, ebooks and other entrepreneurial activities.

Summary

When you’re trying to change your financial situation for the better, worry more about the direction that you’re travelling in than the size of the steps you’re taking. If your debt in dropping, or your savings are increasing, no matter how slowly, you’re making progress. And it’s all about progress, not perfection.

What’s more, as I’ve found time and again, even just tiny gains can all add up over time. Take pride in every success – no matter how small – and just keep moving. You’ll be surprised how much these little wins can speed up the process of hitting your personal finance goals.