LIVING YOUR BEST LIFE WHILE ACHIEVING YOUR FINANCIAL GOALS

ENJOY LIFE WHILE ACHIEVING YOUR FINANCIAL GOALS

Yes, it is true that in order to meet financial goals, you do have to make some sacrifices. For most of us, it would be difficult to travel the world while staying out of debt, saving for emergencies, and planning for retirement. However, just because we cannot do everything we want whenever we want does not mean we cannot enjoy life while setting and achieving financial goals.

No matter where you are with your finances, there will always be someone who has more. So, it is so important not to compare what others are doing, or what they appear to have. Just because someone is driving a nicer car, has a better house, or goes on amazing vacations does not mean they are living their best life. Maybe they are doing great and can afford those things, but often people live this type of lifestyle and struggle with debt because they are living beyond their means

Living within your means and enjoying things that you can actually afford will give you a much more satisfying life than always trying to reach for that next level above where you are currently at. I am not saying you should not reach for more, but don’t try to live that way until you are actually there.

ESTABLISH GOALS THAT HELP YOU MEET YOUR CURRENT AND FUTURE NEEDS

Consider the life you would like to live now, as you are setting your financial goals. You will need to make some decisions on where you can cut back in order to achieve the goals you are working on.  However, make sure to allow yourself some freedom to spend money today on the things you enjoy in life. There will need to be some balance, but you can decide what you are willing to give up and what you are not willing to give up. Don’t set your goals so high so that they make it impossible to have any enjoyment in your daily life now.

It is important to save money for various things and to prepare for your future.  However, you don’t want to set such high goals to enjoy life in the future, by completely taking away any enjoyment you have in the life you are living now. Say, for example, you would like to be saving 15% of your income for retirement.  Yes, that is a great goal to set.  However, if that means you have to make extreme sacrifices now, then maybe you can find a middle ground instead. Maybe you can do 1/2 of that, and increase your contribution by a percent each year until you hit your 15% goal.

There is nothing wrong with setting a goal a little smaller to make it attainable and then building on it from there over time.

CONSIDER SETTING UP A PRE-DETERMINED ALLOCATION WHEN YOU COME UPON EXTRA MONEY

Sometimes you might come across extra money. Maybe you got a bonus at work, or a larger tax refund than you expected.  Or maybe something you budgeted for came in less than you expected. It can be helpful to have a predetermined allocation on what you will do with any found money. By doing this you can alleviate the stress that may arise in trying to determine how this money should be used. You can also remove any guilt you may have by spending it in a way that might feel irresponsible.

I used to always feel a little anxious whenever extra money became available because I would worry about what I should put it towards. What has really helped me is setting up an allocation that I apply to any extra money that we find in our budget.

So, for example, you might say whenever extra funds are found we will put 65% to financial goals (that could be paying down debt, emergency savings, retirement savings).  If you choose, you can further allocate that – maybe 40% to debt, 15% to an emergency fund, 10% to retirement.  The more specific, the less you need to think about it. Then maybe you might want to put 10% to miscellaneous savings to cover those random things that always come up. And the remaining 25% could go into a fund to just be used for fun, maybe for a day trip, dinner out, or whatever you would like to do with the money.

This is just a random example of how you could divide up the money.  But, the point is balancing out how to allocate any extra funds you come across to meet goals and also to enjoy your current life.

SPEND ON THINGS THAT YOU REALLY VALUE

One way that you can really impact your ability to live your best life now, while also achieving your financial goals is to make sure you are spending your money on what you truly value. When you take the time to consider what it is that you really value, you can often cut back on spending in other areas that are not as important. Most of us cannot afford to have everything, so taking a look at where your money is going can really help you see if you are spending on the right things.

Take some time to really think about what is most important to you in your life. Then review your expenses and see what costs you might have that don’t really align with those values. Maybe you are spending more on take-out food than you would like.  Possibly, you have a car that is a bit more luxurious than you really care about. When you know what is really important to you, often you can find some areas to cut back on so that you can put more funds into what is most important to you.

FIND THINGS YOU ENJOY THAT DON’T COST A LOT OF MONEY

There are often many things you can do to really enjoy your life that cost little to no money. While everything you enjoy will likely not be free or inexpensive. However, if you can fill in the gaps with some low-cost activities, you can have more money available for the things you love that do cost more. Plus, it’s just really fun to find things that you can have a lot of fun with without having to spend money on them. There are so many things that we can enjoy that we sometimes forget to take advantage of.

Something just as simple as going for a walk at a local park, playing a board game, or reading a book can make your day really fun without spending much at all. Depending on where you live, you can often find many free local events to attend on a free day. You could consider volunteering your time with an organization that helps a cause that is important to you. If you get a little creative you can often find many things that you can get a lot of joy out of that will not use a lot of your financial resources.

MOST IMPORTANTLY CHOOSE BALANCE AND SET REALISTIC GOALS

Being too lax on your financial goals will likely take some of the joy out of your life. If you know that you should be and also can be doing more than you currently are doing for your long-term goals, you will likely have some feelings of guilt. At the same time, if you set your goals too high, they will be unattainable which will put too much pressure on your daily life.  This will not allow you any freedom to enjoy your days.

It’s important to set goals that are a little bit of reach, but that still allows you to have some money available to live an enjoyable life now and not just live for the future. It might take some time to figure out what the right balance is. Just start where you are at.  You can always make adjustments until you find the right balance.

Thanks so much for checking in! If you would like to hear the podcast version of this topic to check out Lola’s Frugal Life Podcast! Also, be sure to check out my other blog posts on this site!

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