Family Financial Goals

Break open the piggy bank! 

I honestly feel like I’m not the best person to talk to about finances. Well – what I mean is, I can manage money… I just really dislike doing it. And forget about leaving it to my husband. He doesn’t have a budgeting bone in his designer body. I’m probably one of the lazier budget people and only slightly anal. I let the bank pay our bills, schedule recurring ACH payments, split our paychecks, etc. But as far as strategy, I feel like I don’t have much of one for our family. This is where we lack.

My parents really didn’t instill money management in me when I was little. And I don’t blame them for the way I view things now… it’s just something we didn’t really talk about or practice. So, when I got to college, I felt like I let loose… frivolously spent money, and basically experienced every consequence resulting from things you’re NOT supposed to do:

• “What do I have to do? Sign up for a credit card and get a free t-shirt? Awesome… count me in!”
• “I get 40% off if I by 5 bras and sign up for a card? I always need undies and bras. Ok!”
• “Eh, I’ll pay that bill later… that $30 late fee isn’t too much.”
• “I seriously need these CDs, but I only have 1 more withdrawal on this account until the end of the month… eh, what the hell.”

Meanwhile, my spending remained the same, I left or lost part time jobs, I started paying for gas with quarters, and collectors began to call. Like most everyone, I eventually made it through and got myself to a better place. But the lessons were painful. And while I did learn from my mistakes, I've just gotten used to the fact we have debt. I've accepted a "we'll always be paying something off" attitude and that's not okay.

This is the first year I’ve actively been trying to get the family out of debt. There are things that I want to do and know that are upcoming that I’d like to prepare for. I’ve learned that once you know what you want, you have to create a plan to get it. I thought I’d share a few of our families overall goals, and some of my strategies that I’m using to get there. But our biggest hurdle: Debt.

Our Family’s Goals

• Build a more robust savings.
• Completely pay off all our debt, including credit cards we still have outstanding, auto loans, school loans, and anything else that we have to pay back (like the system we bought to kill the termites around our house.)
• Refinance our home. This could be tricky because we currently have an FHA loan. Then, I’d like to do what we can to make double payments.
• Cut our grocery bill in half and reduce how much we eat out.
• Long term:  Set aside money for an entrepreneurial effort in 10 - 12 years.

Our Personal Strategies

• Once we’ve paid off a portion of debt (car payment, cards), roll those payments into another payment.
• Drive our vehicles into the ground to save on car payments. We have Honda’s, so hopefully we are ok here! The first one will be paid off in October. Whoohoo!
• Continue our participation in the food co-op, and grocery shop bi-weekly, relying on bulk foods I’ve purchased for weeks I don’t shop, or eating leftovers I’ve frozen.
• Keep our eating out to 1 – 2 times a week. This includes going to lunch with coworkers.
• Be more diligent about catching sales. Currently, I never really look for sales.
• Keep our current furniture for another 4 or 5 years (our couch is already 10, and our mattress is 8. They should be replaced, but I’m going to stretch it.)
• Reevaluate our need for certain services, like cable.
• Constantly update our plan.

At this point, this is about all I would like to surrender to the public in a blog post regarding our family’s goals and strategies. J Do you have pointers or tips for us? I can revisit our progress over the next few months, so stay tuned! (And it helps me be more accountable.)

I’d like to share one last thing – when I was a kid, I remember asking for an allowance because I wanted to buy things on my own. But my mom only offered me things like $0.10 for taking out the trash or $0.25 for a sink full of dishes. Even as a kid, I knew that was really unreasonable. I’d maybe make $1 a week at those rates. Because I refused that deal, I never received an allowance. But for my daughter, I’d like to engrain money management into her. But I can’t do it if we aren’t good examples. I want her to understand when something is $300, and she only gets $10/week for chores (or something similar), it’s going to take a long time to afford. And remember that money is hard to earn and budgeting is key.

What do you to reiterate money management to your children?