New Year, New You! Smash Your Savings Goals with Stoa Saving Score—It’s Lazy-Proof.

I’m nearly 40 years old (yes, I went there). My birthday is on the 23rd of March, in case you’re feeling generous and want to get me a gift. Like most people, I find keeping New Year’s resolutions incredibly hard. If you’re anything like me, you’ve probably been setting resolutions for years, only to struggle to keep them. For me, that’s been 28 years—yes, I started at 12. And let’s face it: setting a New Year’s goal is the fun and exciting part, but sticking to it? That’s where things get tricky.

Trust me, I get it. It’s tough. We’ve all tried (and sometimes failed spectacularly) to maintain our health, financial, or personal goals.

Why Do New Year’s Goals Fail?

There are plenty of reasons why we struggle. Maybe the goals are too big, or we lose motivation because we don’t see progress fast enough. Sometimes, life just gets in the way, and we get bored or overwhelmed.

But I’ve found a solution that works.

When it comes to goal setting, I’ve learned that starting small—really small—makes all the difference. Set a goal so realistic that it’s almost impossible to fail. Achieving it quickly gives you that dopamine hit of happiness and accomplishment, which motivates you to keep going. And before you know it, you’ve smashed your original goal and gone way beyond what you thought you could achieve.

This approach has worked for me in every aspect of life: business, health, and finances.

• In business: My first goal was to win one big client for my creative ad agency. I ended up winning multiple big brands over 15 years.
• In health: I set a small daily target of just 3,500 steps but now average 8K to 12K steps most days. I aimed for 10 minutes in the sauna and now do 40 minutes with a cold plunge in between.
• In finances: My goal was to buy one small house. I ended up buying several.

Do you see the pattern here? Setting small, achievable goals works.

The Power of Marginal Gains

Sir David Brailsford, the legendary coach of the British cycling team, built an Olympic and Tour de France-winning squad around his philosophy of “Marginal Gains.” He focused on improving every small detail, from his cyclists’ diets to even what their pillows were stuffed with. Every little improvement added up to an extraordinary outcome.

This same principle applies to savings.

Introducing Stoa Saving Score

This brings me to Stoa Saving Score. My co-founder, Sam Goodenough, and I wanted to help people build a simple habit: checking their saving score. Whether you’re already great at saving or just starting out, the Stoa Saving Score works for everyone.

It’s not a wealth score, and it won’t leave a mark on your credit file (unlike the dreaded credit score—let’s be honest, no one likes that). Stoa Saving Score is a quick and easy way to measure your saving behavior over the last 12 months.

Think about it: almost everything in life has a way to measure progress. A speedometer tells you how fast you’re going. A thermometer tells you the temperature. Even a credit score shows how good you are with credit. But there’s no tool to measure how you’re doing with saving—until now.

That’s where the Stoa Saving Score comes in. It’s your personal gauge for saving habits—simple, quick, and fun.

How It Works

It’s ridiculously easy and takes less than 30 seconds.

1. Log in using your email or social media.
2. Link your main bank account (don’t worry—it’s read-only, safe, and completely anonymized).
3. Get your score in just 30 seconds.

We even secured the fancy domain SavingScore.com to make it easy for you to check your score anytime. It’s a web tool, so there’s no need to download an app. You can use it on your phone, laptop, or even your desktop (if you’re old school). Best of all? It’s completely free.

Start Small, Save Big

When saving feels hard, remember: Start small. Do big. Crush your savings goals.

Check your Saving Score today to see where you stand. Then make it a monthly habit—ideally at the start or end of the month—to track your progress and crush your goals. It’s fun, easy, and designed to keep you motivated.

Unlike a credit score (which can feel like punishment), the Stoa Saving Score is built to be shared. Compete with your friends and family to see who’s saving the smartest.

Honestly, we couldn’t have made it easier. It’s lazy-proof.

A Note to Fintech Investors

If you’re a fintech investor reading this and think what we’ve built is cool, we’d love to hear from you. We get a lot of investor interest, so please let us know in your email what value you can add to Stoa beyond the money—whether it’s merchant introductions, new market entry support, or distribution ideas.

Reach out to me (Mike) or Sam directly via: mike@stoa.money or sam@stoa.money

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Written by: Mike Saraswat
Date: 28th December 2024