Things are gettin' weird.

Last week I shared my 2014 goals with y'all. I must say, the first weekend of the new year was off to a productive start! I'm quite proud of us. We were finally on the mend, so we dechristmassed our house, we cleaned, and we set up a new system for some of our disorganized paper areas. We also went to church, I volunteered at the Art Museum, and we attended Financial Peace University, we had a budget meeting, and we talked ALOT about this upcoming year. Who are we???? I went to bed last night feeling rather accomplished in some areas that had kind of been neglected for far too long. Yay, 2014! 

So what's FPU? I highly encourage it. We took it the first time before we got married, back in 2010 and we've pushed our way through babysteps 1-4 ( babystep 1- $1000 emergency fund, 2- pay off debt, 3- save up to a fully funded emergency fund of 3-6 months of expenses, 4- contribute to long term savings/investments (IRA/retirement), 5 -save for kid's college-NA!, 6-pay down your mortgage early, and babystep 7- build wealth & give!) My friends Emily & Nancy also have wonderful insight to financials, too. They're definitely inspiring and encouraging! So ...Steven and I are sort of in a state of reassessing our habits and such. Last year we sort of just did whatever we wanted ("within the budget"), and we were alright, but we spun a bit out of control with our spending habits and adventuring. We're about to change in a bit of a radical way because we have some goals in mind for 2014. One is, as mentioned, take a carribbean vacation---let me hear your recommendations! Another would be to save up for a car, sooner rather than later. And personally, mine is to invest what I make back into myself professionally. In doing so, we're cutting back on our monthly spending to the extreme and things are gonna get weird. You'll hear us say "NO"! Our adventures will pale in comparison to last year! (aka, my instagram feed will be filled up with Finley. Apologies in advance). We will be getting creative in terms of date nights & fun. We will definitly feel more poor than the past few months. I will certainly get frustrated, but I just have to keep the beach on my mind as motivation. TOES IN THE SAND. 

How are we going to do it?

Going back to the basics, the budget is the biggest priority. Tithing will be happening-probably the biggest adjustment in our budget from this last year. 10% YIKES! Saving will be continuing. I'll be avoiding TJ Maxx, avoiding shopping emails sites (though-I do have a couple of gift cards to use-so THAT will be some relief!), and I'll be in check with Steven. I just discovered unroll.me --DO IT. What a cool tool for decluttering your inbox! Avoid the temptation, friends. I'll also just be filling my time with GOOD things. Designing, volunteering, and maybe even a book or two. Perhaps even painting.

I find that if I'm more focused, I just won't spend much money. And this isn't about stopping the shopping altogether. I see no problem in getting the occasional pair of cute shoes or whatever. Gosh, especially when on sale and in my size. #tinyfeetproblems This is just about prioritizing for a fresh new year. Amen to that. 

How are you reaching your goals for 2014?

xo,

SugarMeg