5 Small Changes We're Making To Achieve Our Future Financial Goals

Finances. Not exactly the most riveting of topics, I know, but hear me out.

Doug and I were talking the other day about how important money is. It’s one of those things where we of course know that ultimately it doesn’t matter – the best things in life are free, as they say – but it’s no doubt essential for all that non-free stuff that’s also pretty darn important. Things like food, shelter, day care, travel, and that little ol’ thing called college. Like it or not (But let’s be honest…who doesn’t like it?!), money is a big deal.

We think about money all the time. In the beginning of the month, when rent is due (Still have a hard time swallowing that on the regular. City rent is insane.) At the beginning of every week, when we pay the girl’s day care. (Two kiddos + Day care = More than the insane Chicago rent referenced above. Very fun.) Daily, when we grab food or essentials from the store. (We eat. A lot.) In the middle of the month, when Doug’s graduate school student loans are due or when we put money into our girl’s college accounts. At the end of the month, when we analyze our credit card bill and vow to be better next month. (Eek!)

Did your head start spinning reading that? Because mine started while typing. I hated math when I was in school and that’s one thing I never grew out of.
Life is expensive no matter who you are, but add living with two kids in the city to the mix, and you’ve got yourself a pretty robust factors to consider. We’ve had to get very smart about how we approach money and budgeting. And while we have a long way to go to be financially where we feel comfortable, I do have to say that I’m proud of all we’ve been able to accomplish! We keep ahead of our expenses. We’ve been able to save. We’ve invested. That all definitely counts for something. (AH the puns that just came to mind!)

How have we been smart? Our biggest secret so far is that we’ve approached finances by starting small. Here are a few things that we’ve implemented and are prioritizing to get us to our future financial goals:

Prioritize finances. We try not to fall into the trap of thinking, “Ohh it’s just money. I’ll deal with this another day.” (Which is far too easy to do!) Prioritizing our finances, I’ve found, has been imperative. Get organized. Make a plan. Doug and I regularly sit down together and go over where we stand on money, our budget, and how we need to adjust to get us where we want to be.
Auto-deduct into retirement. I’ve allocated a certain percentage of every paycheck to be put into my 401K, which happens before I even see the money. It’s been the best plan because I don’t even know what I’m missing, so it’s like it was never there. I will regularly check on my account and be pleasantly surprised by how much is accumulating.
Make a plan for college tuition. If you’re like us and are saving for college accounts, that makes finances extra tricky. This is one of those areas that’s easy to put off but it’s so important to prioritize. While we don’t have a ton right now to put into our girl’s accounts every month, we put in what we can, and little by little it’s starting to add up! By the time they go to college, our goal is to have it all covered for them.
Focus on debt payments. Debt is such a horrible beast; it’s stressful and totally consumes you. The day I paid off my graduate student loans was one I’ll never forget; it was last year, and as I sent in the final payment it was like a massive weight was lifted off my shoulders. It’s so hard to feel “ahead” when you have debts — so we’ve chosen to pay them off first before diving too far into additional debts that would further stress us out.
Skip on that extra cup of coffee. If I told you how much we spent on lunches and coffee last year, you wouldn’t believe me. It was honestly a shameful number. So, we’re trying to be smarter about our choices while on the go in attempt to save more! (Note: Your “coffee” doesn’t have to be actual coffee; it can be whatever that $5-a-day thing you spend money on!)

For more simple steps to achieve your financial goals, visit Country Financial. I love their philosophy on starting small: “To solve the big challenges of tomorrow, start with simple steps today. So whether you’re protecting your first home, saving for your child’s future or preparing for retirement – don’t get overwhelmed, get started.” Yes, yes, yes. All of the yes’s.

We view our finances as a journey; something that we’re working hard to get ahead of, and something that we need to remind ourselves, sometimes daily, to be better at. We’re certainly not perfect, nor are we in our *ideal* financial state, but we’re trying!

Ahead, behind, right where you want to be…no matter where you’re at financially, I want to place a friendly reminder that the best things in life are free. Like pillow fights on a rainy day, the laughter of children, or tickle fights, all of which these photos were rich in. <3