The Holiday Season has finally faded away and we are barreling towards Spring, Daylight Savings time, and the fun times of summer. For some of us, the first bills from the Holiday Season have begun to arrive and we feel the hangover of our 2013 money decisions.
If you have been reading this blog for awhile you know that I’ve been busily working on plans, upon plans, and even more plans. This is part of my personality and I tend to enjoy making lists, planning for now, and for the future. Please note: my plans are flexible and change as things come up. Given this predisposition towards planning, I DO have a financial plan for 2014. By plan, I mean specific goals that you would like to achieve that are driven by money. I will give you some highlights of my plan for 2014:
- Continue to decrease my monthly recurring expenses without decreasing my quality of service/quality of life. I am decreasing another line item in the next couple of weeks and I am super excited about this change! A post will written next week about this process.
- Maintain a consistent level of savings in my savings account. I can’t tell you how long it has been since I’ve been consistent with this. This is a huge item on my “money” list. And I am happy to say that I am finally at the point where I will be accumulating money in my savings.
- Pay off Mr. Chubbs (last credit card) by July 24, 2014. I will throw as much money as possible at it and also all side hustle money.
- Budget for home repairs. This is huge as my landlord has been slacking with taking care of repairs. Oh wait, I’m my landlord! I will be scheduling a number of repairs after the Olympics end until about the 2nd week of March. These repairs include: changing fixtures in my shower, fixing cabinet drawers, fixing the kitchen sink, having laminate flooring installed in my bedroom, having my windows installed in my bedroom, and painting my bathroom. It is way past time to do these repairs. I have lived in my place since 2007 and I am needing my place to reflect how I am feeling-good! I’m still in the process of pricing everything and figuring out what’s my priority. Btw, yes this is a lot of stuff but if you visited you probably wouldn’t notice all of the things that I plan on getting fixed! It’s a really cute place, it’s just time for a “face lift.”
- Fully fund my emergency fund. As I look forward to striking out on my own, I am very focused on getting my Emergency Fund fully funded. This is super urgent as I am really focused on stretch goal for self-employment due to the next line item.
- Prepare for an overseas trip that I most likely will take in August. I will write about that in a couple of weeks.
I encourage you to think about what is your Financial Plan for the next year? How do you plan on implementing it? Are there things that you’ve already tried but didn’t work? What are the steps that you’re taking to make sure that your goals will be achieved?
It is still early in the year so if you don’t have a plan for the year don’t worry! Set some time aside and begin working on your plan. If you have a “person” they must also be an equal participant in that conversation. Be respectful of the fact that they may have goals that are specific to their personal/professional development and supporting them in achieving those plans is just as important as your combined goals.
Think about the following as you put your plan together: how do you manage your finances? Do you use an online budgeting tool such as MINT.com? If you use a tool such as MINT.com what didn’t work last year for you? I noticed that I had a very large amount of unaccounted for expenses-ATM withdrawals…I had no idea what I spent that money on. Because of that this year I created a system for how I am withdrawing funds and am going into MINT.com weekly to update and re-name any line items that are incorrectly labeled. Btw, I’m not affiliated with MINT I just happen to use that specific site.
Think about taxes. Always, always remember to keep taxes in your financial horizon because I don’t want you to have a huge surprise in 2015. If you are making side hustle money or have a business make sure to SEPARATE YOUR BUSINESS MONEY FROM YOUR PERSONAL MONEY!! Yes, I did that all in caps. This will save you a lot of hassle later.
If you exist without a plan or haven’t thought of your future goals you are aiming at nothing and will hit it every time. By the way, I love plans but when things come up and I need to change the plan and it’s obvious that I should change the plan then I do it.
Live in the now. As much as I enjoy planning things I try to focus on the moment that I’m actually in. I try to: enjoy each day, enjoy the sunshine, ride my bike, spend time with my mom, my friends, and eat good food. Enjoy your life don’t let it pass you by as you plan your future.
Good luck!
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Now that we will have a steady income again, I am excited to just get in to budgeting. So that’s really my 2014 plan. BUDGET (and find a new job).
I was unemployed for a year after I graduated from Grad School. I worked at Starbucks and it was very humbling. I totally appreciate the stress that your husband was under and am so glad that things are starting to get back to normal.
I’m excited to hear about your overseas trip!! I just wrote my feb goals jan recap post (for Monday) and was really happy to see how much I’ve tackled from my overall 2014 goals! Of course with room to be flexible as well. The only one I’m not really sure I can make happen is plan the ukulele. As much as I’d love to, the time and cost involved would take away from other things. Drats!
I’m keeping it under wraps because it also depends on a couple of other pieces…am super excited that you’ve made so much headway on your goals. OVERACHIEVER-LOL! The ukulele will happen. Looking forward to the Monday post. Kick butt on Sunday!
I’m also working on funding an overseas trip, which I’m planning to take in April. I got a rewards credit card that should cover $400 of airfare and side hustlin’ like crazy for the rest of it!
I’m hoping to take that trip but there are a number of things up in the air that will affect the trip…
Oooh! I’m excited to hear about your overseas trip! I live vicariously through others for those kinds of things for the moment. That’s really cool that you’re thinking about moving into self-employment. For me, I’m kind of stuck in the “golden handcuffs” situation. I have a government job with the pension and the cushy benefits – it would feel really risky for me to take the leap. I’m keen to hear more about your plans. Cheers!
I just applied for a new job that might affect my ability to take that trip. Everything is in flux right now. If I get the job, then I will continue to build my business and grow my brand while working. If I don’t get the job then I’m looking at starting to work for myself full-time by the end of July. The mental shift that I’ve been experiencing is complete-I’m not afraid anymore to do what’s best for me. I’m afraid of not doing what’s best for me. Staying longer at my job than this summer is not best for me. Am ready to “grow my best life.” BTW, I also work for the State and I have become worried about that feeling of comfort-I completely understand it!! It’s totally risky to take the leap-I just need to to grow.