Welcome to the second week of the Master Your Money Bootcamp. This week we're revisiting our goals.
Exercise 2: Re-evaluate your goals
In a previous exercise, we made a priority list of our financial goals. And then we calculated how much we would need to set aside each month or each paycheck to make them happen. It's good practice to revisit those goals periodically because our money can be impacted when life and work circumstances change.
The goal for this week: To see if any financial goals need to be adjusted.
1. Consider what are listed as your top priority goals. Is it paying off a debt balance? Saving for a house? Taking a luxurious vacation? Building an emergency fund? Are those things still your top priorities?
Most of us don't have the money to work toward every goal at the same time. Be judicious about what you want — or need — the most, and you'll likely increase your chances of getting there because your resources won't be spread too thin. After you've met one goal, you can pivot and start working on the next one.
2. Ask yourself: Am I saving efficiently? For example, if you're regularly coming up short in setting aside $300 a month, maybe you need to break it down to $150 per paycheck. Or $75 a week. If you often forget to make transfers from your checking account to savings — or you spend the money before you get the chance to transfer it — automate the habit. Remember that the objective is to remove as much effort as possible so you can focus your time and energy elsewhere.
3. Finally, think about how you can stay motivated. This is important yet often ignored. Dreaming up goals is the exciting part, but the road to getting there can be tedious if you're only focused on the actions that seem like a sacrifice today rather than the eventual payoff.
Try a vision board, with photos of your goals or words of encouragement, hung up where you can see it every day. Or set up mini-milestone celebrations, such as a dinner out with friends or a spa treatment for yourself (within budget), to mark your progress along the way.
As a reminder, here's what you'll accomplish in this month's Bootcamp (we'll link to each exercise as it goes live):
For each exercise, you'll get a detailed explanation of how to complete it and why it's important. Use the hashtags #MasterYourMoney and #MasterYourMoneyBootcamp to share your thoughts, progress, and connect with others across our Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram as you make your way through each exercise, then join us for the live events.
