Ahh, the listing of life goals. I can talk a lot about myself, but I always have trouble really looking deep down and figuring out what the hell it is that I want. Maybe I think too hard. Here's what comes to mind when I close my eyes and don't try to figure out if it's the "right" goals.
- I want to be a stay at home mom and homeschool my kids.
- I want to have a happy family.
- I want to live comfortably with the money and life we have.
- I want to, in the long term, run my own business (this is something I want in 10 years or so, once my kids are a little older).
- I want to grow my own food. Maybe not all of it, but I really really want a garden. And to learn to can. It's a little life goal, but it counts, right?
- I want to have no debt. This includes no mortgage, no car payments, no nothing. I want to own the things I have and be able to send my kids to college debt free.
My Feelings
How does my current financial situation compare to those life goals? Well, I currently am a stay at home mom and am homeschooling my kids, but I fear I won't be able to keep that up for long. Right now they are very young and don't require a lot for their schooling. But the reason I want to homeschool is to give them opportunities and experiences they can't get in public school. A lot of those things cost money. My oldest just started karate. It's so great to see him excited about something. It gives him good physical activity and he has the chance to meet other kids with a similar interest through this. This is almost $100 a month. In the next couple of years my younger child will want to get involved in something similar, probably with a similar price tag. There are co-op classes, field trips, museum memberships, and other expenses that come along with our lifestyle, and as they get older and become interested in more things, those expenses will only increase. Right now I barely know how to pay for the one activity, what will I do when they want more?
And as far as staying home, I still am dealing with the issue of trying to pay off my student loans on top of all our other bills with only one paycheck. I am often tempted to go get a "real" job for a few years just so I can get them paid off. But if I do that, the kids will have to be put in daycare/school, and it defeats everything I feel so passionately about (not to mention the costs associated with daycare, school, a new wardrobe, a reliable car, and meals might offset any money I make anyway).
Financial Goals
My financial goals aren't that much different from my life goals, I guess.
- I want to pay off my student loan (about $30,000-- yikes)
- I want to pay off my mortgage
- I want to get back to giving 10% of our income to charity
- I want to have enough to give my kids the extracurriculars they want
- I want to pay for my kids' college educations
Obstacles and Action Plan
Ugh. The dreaded action plan. $30,000 of private college debt and I still don't know how to properly write an action plan. Again, too much thinking. So first, the obstacles:
- Sometimes I use my credit card to buy myself things I don't really need, but I kind of feel like I deserve because I'm working so hard to keep my family happy and healthy and not in the poorhouse. And then I have to find a way to pay off said credit card, which then takes away from all of those more important financial goals.
- We keep finding more new and exciting ways to spend our money, without actually bringing more money in.
- We rely a lot on cards (mostly the debit card, a little on the credit card) for daily purchases, which seems to make the money disappear faster than it should.
And now for the action plan: How to deal with these specific obstacles....
- I should probably put my credit card in the freezer or something. Maybe I can find something to do with my time that doesn't involve going on a Target shopping spree or buying overpriced makeup, but is still fulfilling. Maybe I could begin volunteering one evening a week or something?
- We should take a look at where our money is really going and where it should be going and try to get on a better financial plan. We need to really prioritize our spending and decide what needs to stay and what can go.
Now, I know that "should" and "maybe" have no place in an action plan. But I'm having a really hard time coming to terms with the fact that I once again need to put myself in check. It's just plain embarrassing to admit that I lost control of my budget once again, when I was so sure of myself before. Oh, how the mighty have fallen.
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