“Saving more” might not be the solution to your financial woes: Amid the pledges to exercise more and eat less, saving money ranks fairly highly on the list of the world’s most popular new year’s resolutions. It’s a common-sense solution to limit some of our financial anxieties and plan for the future, whether that’s saving for a particular goal or paying off debts. But making vague commitments to save more can become an unattainable resolution destined to fail soon after the first few months of the new year roll through.

To be clear: We’re not telling you to ditch the financial planning entirely and burn your cash, but without more specific commitments you can probably forget about reaching your goals.

Be specific: Turning vague desires into actionable plans could start by being SMART-er. How much do you want to save? Over what timeframe? What are the conditions for success? And how will you measure failure?

And keep your target grounded in reality: It sounds self-explanatory but setting a target that isn’t within the realm of possibility will end in failure. Keep in mind your circumstances, and the time and resources available to you, and go from there.

Keeping tabs on your debt: Paying off debt will require much of the same framing as setting those saving goals: it’s all about planning. There are dozens of strategies, like the snowball method, that help make paying off debt a slightly less nerve wracking endeavor. The snowball method suggests that you opt for paying off the debt with the smallest balance first. This has the positive psychology of getting one less source of debt off your back and encouraging more frequent debt payoffs, according to the Harvard Business Review.

The pay yourself first method: Most people wait to determine how much to save only after they’ve paid for a host of essential needs and non-essential wants throughout the month. Paying yourself first is a strategy that involves setting aside a fixed amount of your paycheck before spending on anything else. This strategy is admittedly a very stringent way of making sure you’ve committed to your savings goals but it can easily become a difficult task to sustain if you’re left with gaps in making ends meet.

But it’s no secret that simply cutting back on small indulgences is not enough to help you reach your financial goals: Although reducing how frequently you eat out might help free up some lost income, it is by no means an end all be all solution. The reality is that stagnant wage growth in many countries has severely limited people’s ability to save and invest in the future. So cut yourself some slack.