Everyday you decide where you spend your money. Are you spending your money on what’s important to you, or what it right in front of you at that moment?

When you decide to buy one item and not another, you are already prioritizing some parts of your life over others. When you choose what to prioritize, rather then going with the flow, you will end up with the life you actually want and you’ll have the money to live it. Taking some time, even just 15 minutes, to think about what is important to you is how you create a winning budget.

To make sure you have money when you need it, set some goals. Otherwise, you will fall victim to the biggest enemy of your budget: An irregular but predictable expense. These are the items that force us to go into debt or to spend our savings. These surprise expenses are often paid for with a credit card because we don’t have the money in our bank account.

Motivate yourself by making goals. When you’re working towards a goal, you change your perspective from “I can’t have this now” to “I will have that in the future”. When what you’re saving for is something you truly want – something that aligns with your goals – then sticking to your budget becomes easier.

Decide what’s important to you

You’re a unique individual, and your goals will be unique as well! Make a list of what is important to you – both big and small things. Here is an example:

Organize your goals

Decide which goals you want to keep. If your list is long, you’ll need to shorten it. Aim to have at least one short-term (less than a year), one intermediate (five years), and one long-term (15 years) goal for yourself. Make sure to create SMART goals: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and timed. Use the table below as a reference to create your own SMART goals.

If you aren’t sure how to complete the table, for instance, you don’t know when you want to complete a goal, or you don’t know how much per pay you need to save, do your best! You decrease your chances of reaching your goal if you don’t make it as specific as possible. To make sure your goal is achievable, don’t promise to save more money than you can. Failing to achieve a goal is stressful and reduces motivation. The fact is, you only have so much money, so be realistic about where you can spend it.

Let’s imagine you set these financial goals on May 1st, 2024. 

When you don’t have enough money to reach your goals

It’s incredibly frustrating when you realize that your goals are further away than you want, or need them to be. Not having the income to visit family, or buy a good winter coat, or save to send your child to school isn’t fair. Give yourself a moment to feel the frustration and injustice that some people struggle while some people rarely have to worry about money.

When you’re ready, these are your options if you don’t have the money to reach your goals. You can:

1. reduce your expenses.
2. increase your income.
3. increase the time you have to reach your goal.

As they say, money is the bottom line. In other words, you only have the money you have and money is the final deciding factor. Please remember, it is better to move slowly, even glacially, towards a goal rather than not make a goal in the first place.

Whether you decide ahead of time or not where you’re going to spend your money, you are going to spend it! Why not plan for your future self and make sure you have the life you really want? Take a few minutes to make your SMART financial goals today!
 
By Nastashya Wall
 
Sources: myMoneyCoach; myMoneyCoach Budgeting Video Series; and Broke Millennial by Erin Lowry. Accessed May, 2024.