You'll see this ridiculous picture in captions everywhere where someone's complaining about cutting out a daily work coffee to save money. The meme suggests that saving $20 a week gives you $80 a month or $960 a year. They've even got the maths wrong by assuming exactly four weeks in a month. After 10 years, you've supposedly saved $9,600, which isn't enough to buy a house, so you might as well enjoy your coffee.

This misses the entire point. It's not about the avocado toast or the coffee. It's about the behaviours that surround these habits. When someone originally suggested that giving up avocado toast might help you buy a house, the real message was that achieving major financial goals requires sacrifice and effort.

Everyone I know who has saved for a house has sacrificed something. Some cut back on alcohol, others got second jobs. I personally sold collectibles and things I wanted to keep. We worked harder. I'm not going to debate whether it was easier or harder back then - that doesn't matter. The fundamental principle remains unchanged: you must modify your behaviours to achieve your goals.

For goals with specific deadlines, like weddings, people are typically excellent at saving because there's a definite timeline. Buying a house feels more distant and can always be postponed - until suddenly it can't. Eventually, you have to take action.

Let's look at the reality with some numbers. In New Zealand, we have KiwiSaver, so the idea that your only saving comes from cutting out coffee is absurd. But let's explore this anyway.

Imagine you've finished university and started your first job with $1,000 in savings. You cut out coffee, saving $20 weekly (probably less than most people spend on coffee today). That's $1,040 annually. Assuming a modest 1% after-tax return on a savings account, you'll have about $6,500 after five years. Better than the meme suggests, but not enough for a house.

But don't forget KiwiSaver. With a $50,000 starting salary growing at 3% a year, $2,000 initial balance from parents and part-time jobs, contributing 3% with employer matching and the government contribution of $521 annually, assuming a 3% net annual return, you'd have $19,834 in your KiwiSaver after five years. Combined with your coffee savings, that's $26,243. Not enough for a house, but it's just the minimum effort.

What if you put in genuine effort? Increasing your KiwiSaver contribution to 6% would give you $28,362 after five years. If you started saving $50 weekly and increased that by $20 each year with pay rises, you'd have $25,056 in savings after five years. That's a total of $53,417 toward a house deposit. Coming out of university at 22, by age 27-28, you've got over $50,000 saved.

Now imagine having a partner doing the same thing. That's potentially over $106,000 between you - now you're actually looking at buying a house. And if not, continue for another five years.

After 10 years, even with the minimum 3% KiwiSaver and unchanging $20 weekly savings, you'd have $42,000 in KiwiSaver and $12,000 in savings - about $54,130 total. Not bad for minimal effort. But with 6% KiwiSaver contributions and increasing your savings by $20 weekly each year, after 10 years you'd have $61,336 in KiwiSaver and $77,129 in savings, totalling $138,466. Combined with a partner doing the same, that's a $275,000 deposit - enough to buy a house.

Of course, life isn't just neat mathematics. Situations change, life throws curveballs - early pregnancy, separation, or other goals can interrupt your plans. But I'd rather see you get five or six years on track with $30,000 saved, have to use half of it when something goes wrong, than to have saved nothing at all. Your KiwiSaver would still be growing, you'd still be putting money aside. You could pick yourself up and start again, but from a much better position than if you'd never started.

Years ago, when I was telling people they needed to save just $7,500 for a 5% deposit on a $150,000 house, many said they'd see how they go. A year or two later, the rules changed to allow 100% mortgages. I went back to those people saying even a few thousand dollars would be enough now - but many had bought cars instead and the car loan meant they could not buy a house, and so missed out on hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The point is, if you start working toward your goal seriously, you can deal with unexpected challenges when they arise. When situations change favourably, you can take advantage of opportunities. But if you do nothing, if you listen to naysayers who say "just enjoy life," you won't be able to react to positive changes. You'll be waiting for the government or your parents to sort things out while missing opportunities.

This advice applies regardless of your age or goal. Whether it's buying a house, paying off a mortgage, saving for retirement, a wedding, or children - starting with a plan and following through will always achieve more than complaining that you should still be able to buy extras. It's not about the avocado toast; it's about the habits.

Basic common sense from qualified Financial Advisers, not flash sales people. Get in touch today