I’m not a huge fan of New Year’s resolutions, but the start of a new year is a great time to refocus on what your goals are for the next year, five years, 10 years, etc. It’s crazy to look back and see how much has changed in a year. Last year, we were houseparents at a children’s home and I didn’t really even want to pay attention to our budget. I felt defeated in the big picture outlook. So long as we weren’t overdrawing our accounts and were paying a bit extra on our debts, I was happy. We were drifting financially, emotionally overdrawn, and had no grand plan for our future.
In the late winter, a safety problem came to our attention involving one of our three younger children. It rocked our world. Once we realized that the problem would not be resolved in a way that we were comfortable with, we knew that we needed to make a move. Thankfully, Mr. Sim’s skills are very marketable. We were able to find a new home almost immediately after we started looking, and the transition was fairly seamless for our finances. However, we needed to recover from the emotional turmoil that came with needing to leave behind children whom we love dearly.
I needed something to which I could look forward. I needed to have goals. I need to make progress. I needed to know that I was doing something beyond surviving. I realized that with our position changes, managing the finances was something that was bring Mr. Sim a lot of stress. For years I had put the burden of handling bills and budgets on Mr. Sim’s shoulders because, honestly, I was afraid. I decided to pick a Total Money Makeover book we had in our personal library, and a fire burned inside me to DO SOMETHING about our finances besides ignoring them.
First, we sold our car. We already knew that was a necessity. Instead of buying a newer van to take the place of our car payment, we were able to pay $1,000 for a 2004 Chrysler Town and Country. We purchased the van from a family friend who had babied it. The mileage was low for the age, and it used to be the highest end model that the car dealership owned. The dealership owner’s wife drove it around. It was quite a steal! And we were able to buy it in cash, knocking down $10,000 worth of debt overnight.
Next, I analyzed Mr. Sim’s remaining $20,707 worth of student loans. I figured out that we would be able to be debt free in June 2020. Then I wiggled some things around and cut other things out of the budget. February 2020! I then realized that if we didn’t go on that Disney vacation with our tax return money, we could cut it down to late 2019. Finally, I decided to change up our insurance policies, phone carriers, and start a couple side hustles (working retail, housekeeping, photography, etc.). We are now on board to become debt free in February or March 2020!
Back to the point of this post. Goals. Goals push you to achieve more than you thought you could, or even give you a target to aim for! They’re helpful for preventing drift, driving you forward, and providing a sense of accomplishment once they’re achieved. To assist me in achieving my goals this year, and to keep me sane with our crazy schedules, I got a Happy Planner for Christmas this year! I love the fun look, weekly scheduler, monthly calendar, and goal-setting slots. I even got the meal plan add-on to keep everything in one place! So while I won’t call the following list my “resolutions,” they are my goals for 2019.
1. Become debt free. This WILL happen. There’s no denying it now!
2. Max out Mr. Sim’s Roth IRA ($6,000), contribute to Mr. Sim’s Roth 401k up to the match once he becomes eligible in May (4% of his salary), and max out my own Roth IRA ($6,000). We are behind on retirement accounts, and it does terrify me. However, I’m thankful to have found FI so that we can push towards these goals in the same way that we pushed to become debt free! It will be very difficult to be able to max out my Roth IRA because our tax return this year will finish the debt wipe-out. Which leads me to the following goals:
3. Earn $3,000 from my photography side hustle. I’m currently not earning much because I’ve priced my services low as I gain experience, and I’m investing back into my business. I would like to become profitable by March and start filling more slots.
4. Build up my blog to pay for itself! Hosting a website and all that comes with blogging costs time and money! It’s something that I enjoy and is a great way to keep myself accountable, build community, and have a create outlet. But it’d be great if it paid for itself! This year I made rousing $3.98! Woohoo!
5. Financial independence means nothing if you don’t have your health. I do tend to stress eat, particularly carbs. Being a mother (and foster mother) to four children ages five and under is STRESSFUL. Wonderful. But stressful. I need to make my health more of a priority this year. I am down 30 pounds from last year! But I’d love to lose another 30.
6. Read two “adult” books every month. No, not those kind of books. I mean books that were not meant to be read by children. I read hundreds of those every month! But I have started to lag on my own book consumption.
7. Create one “wow” experience for our family every month. I want to intentionally set out and plan an experience that will be memorable and meaningful every month. This doesn’t necessarily have to cost money, but it will cost time and effort. I need to live for the now, too!
8. Continue to simplify our lives. This includes possessions, time, and mental clutter.
There you have it! I hope that you stay on this journey with me in the coming year and hold me accountable on this journey!
