We all have financial goals wed like to achieve.

Get out of debt.

Improve our credit scores.

An African American woman celebrates.

But weve also seen our well-intentioned resolutions never become reality.

Setting Money Goals As SMART Goals

Lets break down each aspect of setting SMART goals.

Make Your Goals Specific

The more explicit and detailed you might be about your money goals, the better.

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Describe exactly how youd like to carry out your money mission.

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For example, its too broad to simply say you want to increase youremergency fund.

Being specific gives you a game plan to follow.

Youll know exactly what youre working toward and how to get there.

Make Your Goals Measurable

Youll need to track your progress as youre working to meet your financial goals.

Thats why its important to have something to measure.

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It could be a dollar amount.

Perhaps you want to pay an extra $100 above the minimum payment on your auto loan each month.

You might measure your goals in terms of a particular action.

Make Your Goals Attainable

Setting an unrealistic goal is just setting yourself up for failure.

Factor in your current circumstances when drafting your financial goals.

Ask yourself: Does this seem realistic for me to achieve?

What hurdles will I have to overcome?

Will I burn out trying to do something nearly impossible?

Goals are meant to be challenging, but they should be attainable as well.

Make Your Goals Relevant

Knowing the why behind creating your goals is essential.

Its not enough to just say you want to raise your credit score.

Your money goals should tie into what you want to see happen in your life.

Make your goals significant and relevant by exploring why you want to see them to fruition.

Give yourself a date for when youd like to see your goal accomplished.

Your goal then becomes timely because youve got a deadline to make it happen.

Be specific and realistic about your timeline.

Say, for example, youd like to purchase a home in the next 12 months.

Then you spend the next five months building up your savings for thedown payment and closing costs.

you’ve got the option to dedicate the remaining two months to touring houses within your budget.

Nicole Dow is a senior writer at The Penny Hoarder.

Probably not as good as youd like.

It always seems like an uphill battle to build (and keep) a decent amount in savings.

But what if your car breaks down, or you have a sudden medical bill?

Ask one of these companies to help…