All it takes is consistency to achieve your goals, so start small but start now.
Many people believe that achieving certain dreams or goals in their life is too hard and only reserved for a select few that are either lucky or happen to be wealthy. Some are led to think that such dreams will never happen because it takes too long or it’s way too expensive for them to achieve. But the truth is, nothing is impossible for those that persevere.
When Genti (CEO of StandUP Advisors) and I decided to join our lives we also joined our finances and our dreams. Some of our goals were for me to be able to finish college without any debt, save money for a new house downpayment, and with our traveler spirits, a savings budget for our yearly travel. We both originate from other countries, which motivated our desires to travel, see other places and see each others’ motherlands. Our first goal was to travel to my home country, Colombia, for Genti to meet my family.
The first step into understanding how much we needed to save was to roughly calculate how much such a trip would cost. After some estimates we came up with the closest number we could and then, my math expert husband helped us figure out how long and how much it would take us to save enough for it to happen. We have been using Mint to keep track of our expenses and financial accounts since we got married. One of the cool features of this budgeting tool is that we can set savings/goals as part of our budget (I believe this keeps us more on track and accountable.) Part of achieving our goals was our need to understand that in order for the trip to happen we needed to reduce several expenses, such as:
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Eating out: yes, cooking at home doesn’t sound appealing to many, but hey you could also achieve other goals, such as eating healthier.
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Entertainment: we didn’t go to the movies, clubs or other entertainment events too often, so we reduced this budget by watching more movies at home (Thanks to Netflix, Amazon Prime, and iTunes.) We started going out to state parks more often, and we also started practicing outdoor sports and biking together on the weekends. The way I see it, a win-win, you exercise and build a bond over a sport you both like.
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Our personal spendings aka allowance: we both have small amounts that we can use for spending in different things we like as individuals. In my case, I had to reduce shopping. I know ladies, it sounds painful but at the end I stuck with it and started finding other ways to use my small allowance, even saving it towards a bigger item every few months.
We set small amounts for each of those personal expenses, added our regular bills, mortgage, groceries, gifts, taxes, insurance, etc., and only then we could free some money to put towards our goals. It took some time to get used to it, but as we got creative in the ways we use our time, eat, and spend, it became a routine and we didn’t feel it as much as before. In the end, with our savings, tax refunds, and extra effort, we made a two-week vacation trip to Colombia in 2015, plus couple road trips in the US. We enjoyed time with my family and went on a weekend trip to the north Caribbean of Colombia with my mom and little sister. Needless to say, this trip was cheaper and easier to achieve than our next one, but it got us used to the process of saving for what we wanted to achieve. The following year, in 2016, we traveled a lot more and even went to Europe. So you can say that the trip to Colombia taught us the importance of consistency and discipline in order to achieve our goals.
Share your experience with us, leave a comment telling how you made a dream/goal come to reality and how did you feel about it when you did it.