Update On Our Financial Goals:

Two of the main reasons I started this blog was to hold myself accountable financially and to allow others to see that living on one income is possible, if you're willing to work hard, be diligent & figure out the difference between needs & wants.  I want to be completely open with our financial goals, only because for us, that is what motivated us to work like crazy & pursue financial peace.

 It's amazing what can happen in a few weeks time...you  might remember when I posted about our financial goals for the year last month.  Well, it's time to revisit and update these goals!

Our original set of financial goals for the year was:

1. Pay off the van
2. Pay cash for our Disney vacation
3. Increasing our emergency fund from our current savings of $1,100 to approximately $5,000
4. Setting aside approximately $500 to use for furniture and supplies if/when we have another child
5. Opening some type of college fund for Piper, whether that be an ESA, UGMA or 529-plan. There are so many types of funds out there and I admit, it can get a little confusing!

In the last few weeks, a few things have changed. Which means, of course, our list of financial goals has changed a bit. 

Our New Financial Goals for the Next 6 Months:

• We met our goal for paying cash for our Disney vacation! We will be headed to the happiest place on Earth in June knowing we won't be coming home with vacation debt!

1. Pay off our van (we currently owe $3,350 & we are estimating it will be paid off by the end of June)
2. Save to replace our garage door  ...yes, an addition to the list! (our initial estimate is approx. $2000-we're hoping we can do it for less!)
3. Increase our emergency fund from our current savings of $1,100 to $8,000 (this is 3 months of our necessary expenses, such as rent, utilities, groceries, gas, diapers/baby food,  in case my husband lost his job or was unable to work)
4. This is a two part goal that we may work towards simultaneously:
1. Replace my husband's car with another "new-to-us" car (the  poor guy is driving my old car from my college days, has no a/c and where we live, summer is miserable because of the humidity!)
2. Open a college fund for our daughter (we currently have enough saved that we could open many different types of education funds out there, so this goal may be met before others; it just depends on when we meet with our financial advisor and what type of fund we end up going with-I tell you, it can make a girl's head spin round!)
5. Begin saving for a down payment on a home...I was talking to my best friend & her husband over the weekend about how I often feel drawn to the idea of paying cash for a home. When I read stories of others who have done it, I feel a stirring in my soul, as if this is what we're supposed to do. But, we have made no decisions about this yet, since we have 4 other financial goals to meet before we get here. I'll keep you updated!

We owe our financial success to Dave Ramsey, because his principals taught us how to live like no one else. Which these days, is a great thing!   I highly suggest you read a little about him and his thoughts on living debt free. I'm so grateful for all of the ideas he helped us put into place before we had our daughter; I am now confident that we've changed our family tree forever!

"Live like no one else, so later, you live like no one else."

-Dave Ramsey


What are some of your financial goals? I'd love to hear!