I wrote an article for RooMag recently on Navigating the Road to Financial Success. Here’s a snippet:
What would happen if you took a family road trip to an unfamiliar location hundreds of miles away and you left your map or GPS at home? Very likely you’d waste hours driving around trying to figure out which way you were supposed to go and you’d probably never reach your destination unless you stopped and bought a map or kept stopping to ask for directions.
It’s the same with finances: if you don’t really know where you are going in the first place, you’re going to be hard-pressed to ever reach your desired destination.
So many people dream of getting out of debt, saving to pay cash for another vehicle, paying off their house early, or giving more generously to others. Very few people, however, get beyond the dreaming stage. Instead, they drive around and around without a map, wishing they could go somewhere, but never determining where it is they want to go nor how they are going to get there.
Love your articles! This one really made me smile – since you wrote “What would happen if you took a family road trip to an unfamiliar location hundreds of miles away …” and I looked at the attached photo, which turns out to be a map of my state! I actually live just off the photo to the upper left! 🙂
Thank you for sharing Crystal, my husband and I have been so blessed to pay off $65,000 of debt in 3.5 years, save and invest in paying cash for our first home last October, and keep 6 months of living expenses in savings, all while on one income and 4 kids =) Yet lately since he was out of work for 4 months we kind of lost sight of any “financial goals” and I kinda of became like your arch nemesis “money spending mom”. Praise the Lord my husband has started a new job last week and God has renewed in our spirits to get back on track =)
We were never able to move forward with any amount of success in our finances until we started setting goals. Once we started setting goals and hitting them, we started setting just slightly out of reach goals and really stretching our family to reach them as well.
Great way to really put things into perspective, Crystal! I’ve been trying to pursuade my husband to change his perspective when it comes to money. He was raised with the mentality that “one will always be in debt”, and he still believes this today. I’ve been tying to get him to sit down with me so we can outline a budget and come up with some financial goals for our family, but he never seems interested. Now it’s something that I feel like I’m just going to have to do myself, which makes it difficult because it won’t work if I am the only one following the budget or sticking with our financial goals. I should have my husband read this post. Maybe then a lightbulb will go off, and he will finally “get it”.
My hubs has been trying to get me to set goals and make lists. I don’t know why I am somewhat afraid of doing it. It cramps my creative style! Maybe I need to change that thinking!
Thanks for sharing!
My husband and I finally did this about 3 years ago and now we’re out of debt and have our emergency fund almost full. During that time, we were able to pay cash, between $800-1200/month, for our son to have private speech and occupational therapy, because we had a “road map.” What a blessing! Before we took control, we never would’ve been able to pay cash for those services, let alone continue paying off debt during that time. We would’ve used credit cards. It’s so empowering to be in control, have money in the bank, and have our son be caught up with his speech. Great article!
Great article. I noticed that 2012 will be the 5-year anniversary of MSM! Have any big plans to celebrate 5 amazing years?
Hmm, maybe I should have my readers send in their suggestions for good anniversary celebration ideas! 🙂
How about a reader series? Five Things I Learned from Money Saving Mom. 😉
I know you seem to have a good relationship with god but I’m not sure he’d be able to throw you a party 🙂
Oops! Thanks for catching my typo!
I really love your approach to setting goals and making a plan for money. What strikes me as the biggest element that makes this successful is it means you are taking responsibility for your financial situation. I know this sounds incredibly obvious but that’s really the first step in successfully managing money. It’s like you said your book, you’re only stuck if you want to be. What I admire is you empower people to change without admonishing them or making them feel bad. Good for you!