What is a Goal Attainment Scale? How can it help me manage my finances?

You're making some money, and you realize you want to save for some big items. A new phone? A trip? Car? You may even want to start saving for your future. But how???

Photo by micheile henderson on Unsplash

You can start by creating and using a Goal Attainment Scale to track your progress and help you reach your personal financial goals!

A Goal Attainment Scale involves choosing a specific goal and using a standardized scale to track if the goal is being achieved.

This 5-point scale is used to evaluate your progress over a specific amount of time. You know exactly where you are and how to reach your goal.

It is unique to each person, so the goals can be specific and easy to measure.

You can use the Goal Attainment Scale for many of your financial goals:

• Paying off your student debt: pay $15,000 in 5 years

• Saving for a new phone: save $800 in 6 months

• Investing money for your future: save $200 per month

• Paying off your credit card bill: pay $500 towards your credit card every month

You want to save up for a down payment on a car. How can this scale help you achieve your goal?

Photo by Swansway Motor Group on Unsplash

Your need a down payment of $4,800, and you'll purchase the car in a year.

Your goal: Save $400 per month for a total of $4,800 in 12 months.

Here's what your Goal Attainment Scale might look like:

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Every month, you assess your progress using the scale and assign yourself a score. You'll know exactly where you are and if you're working towards your goal, or if you're off track and need to make changes.

The Goal Attainment Scale works because:

• The Scale uses goals that are personal to you. You adapt the scale for your goals using this standardized scale.

• The steps on the scale are measurable.

• You assess weekly, monthly, etc. and give yourself a score so you know exactly where you are.

• Using the scale makes you accountable as you track your progress often and can see exactly how you're progressing.

What does it mean to have a measurable goal?

It means you need to have goals that you can check on periodically to see how you're doing and how close/far you are to reaching your goal.

• Taking out a student loan for school: This task is complete once you have the loan, so there isn't anything to track in terms of your progress.

• Making more money at work: This can be checked if you ask for a raise and get it, but it's only checked once, and then you're done.

• Paying back the loan: This can be tracked, so it works well with the Goal Attainment Scale. It takes time to achieve, and you can check monthly to see if you're close to reaching the goal.

• Add 20% of your pay to savings: You can track this every 2 weeks when you get paid and check your yearly goal along the way.

Tips to help you along the way:

• Add a reminder in your calendar to take 15 minutes to check your progress in bank account or savings. Depending on how much time you have to reach your goal, set this task to weekly or monthly

• If checking at the end of the month doesn't work, then start at the beginning of the month to make sure you're setting the money aside first.

• You'll score low at the beginning because you're just getting started. Give yourself time to move forward on the scale and understand that a low score doesn't mean it's not working.

But what if it's NOT working?

If you're consistently low on the Goal Attainment Scale and aren't progressing after some time, try these tips:

• Put some of your earnings into savings right away. This avoids any temptation from extra money in your account.

• Have a birthday or other occasion coming up? Tell people you're saving for a car.

• If you live at home and get an allowance, set that aside.

• If you want help with budgeting, read this Byte on 3 Ways to Make Your First Budget.