There is a lot of chatter on the personal finance blogs about I Will Teach You To Be Rich’s new challenge, where they are trying to give you tips to save $1,000 dollars in 30 days. I was really glad to see them acknowledge that even if you don’t make it all the way, saving anything is good, and I’ll certainly be following along to see what they come up with.

But how reasonable is $1,000? Based on 2005 data from the Census, the median individual income in the US is about $28,000 for people between 25 and 34. The situation is different for everyone, but that’s roughly $22,000 after taxes, or about $1,800 a month. And that is just the median; half the population is below that number.

So to save $1,000 a month, you’d have to get by on just $800. Which isn’t impossible by living with roommates, splitting bills, eating cheap, and keeping expenses low. But I wouldn’t call it “practical” and simply turning down the heat or brewing your own coffee isn’t going to get you there. And I think what is often ignored is that when you convince people they can do something, and they pour effort into making it happen without getting real results and meeting their goals, they are less likely to ever try again. Which is why obtainable spending goals are important; when giving advice, we have to be aware of the downsides of asking people to work on their financial lives in way that isn’t achievable.

I joined Thrive because it isn’t just trying to help people who have money make more money, we’re trying to help the millions of people who are just getting by. This isn’t about just pretty pie graphs of your spending and ways to beat the market. The raw truth is that outside of a 401k, most people will not invest before they are 30, and there are plenty of people coming to Thrive just looking for a way to keep their head a little further above water.

So what’s my point? I’m certainly not saying ignore what I Will Teach You To Be Rich has blogged about. Just the opposite, as those tips will help anyone, rich or poor, to save some money this month. But let it be about more than just this month. Start using a personal finance tool, be it Thrive or an Excel spreadsheet or a handwritten budget, to keep track of your spending, make real lifestyle changes that will get you where you want to be, and set some goals not just for this month but for the rest of your life. That’s my challenge for people and it is ongoing. Things can change: you can change them.

And there is a side challenge for personal finance bloggers: find at least one way, in the next 30 days, to consider a population that you may not have previously considered.

(A special thanks for the folks commenting on this issue over at Get Rich Slowly, who pointed out just how much $1,000 really is for so many people.)