Financial Goals

As fun as it can be to get things for free, that alone does not motivate me to work hard to save my family money.  Living like no one else now, does not seem like much fun without knowing that later on we will be able to LIVE like no one else.  Having some real attainable, financial goals to work towards makes it more rewarding to do without some things that we may like to have.  Everyone should have goals in life, including some sort of financial goals.  My husband and I work together to evaluate what is really important to us in life and then we set our financial goals from there.  

Try to make your goals attainable and challenging at the same time. Your goals don't have to be big, they can be as simple as saving up gas money for a small car trip.  Try to set yourself a realistic time frame for meeting your specific goal.  Your goals also don't have to be set in stone, if somethings changes, you can re-evaluate your goals and work from there.  My husband and I try to sit down and go over our finances and evaluate our financial situation at least twice a year.  If we aren't getting any closer to our goals then we know something has to change:  we either need to figure out how to bring in more money, or cut down on money going out. 

Although my husband and I have a number of financial goals, our main one right now is to pay off the principle on our home mortgage.  We hope to accomplish this goal within 2 years.  As of September, we have paid off 56.7%.

It can be very discouraging if you have large financial needs and little money coming in.  Try to get everyone in your household on board with your current financial goals.  Try making a chart showing how much closer you have gotten to achieving your goals each month if you think this would motivate you.

I will try to post monthly updates on our financial goals because it helps to motivate me and hold me accountable.  Please feel free to share your own progress toward your goals in the comments below!