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June 29, 2022 As I was trying to think about the goals I wanted to accomplish through Project Money, I really struggled to narrow it down to specifics other than the obvious “save more, pay down debt.” It felt a lot like the question “Where do you see yourself in 10 years?” Whenever someone asks me that, I am a giant shrug emoji. What are your financial goals? Hm. Good question. Because I love organization, I started out by divvying them up between short-term and long-term goals and then making a list and thinking about how I could make them happen. Short-term Goals
  • Spend less on takeout: Meal. Plan. I love planning but I have 0 time to cook. When it comes to my schedule, anything that can hit my stomach the fastest is what I’m eating which doesn’t leave much thought for cooking.
  • Cut back on impulsive spending: Implement a spend day! This worked out pretty well for me this week in that I was so busy I didn’t have time to spend any money but also made me think about what I needed versus what I wanted and then limited my spending to one day which ended up being Friday.
  • Replenish my dogs’ savings: Olly’s tooth extraction and the extra costs with that was not pretty. Their savings account is looking bleak, so I plan to up my weekly deposits on that for the next month to rebuild.
  • Save for fall vacations: I have quite a few travel plans coming up for fall which won’t be cheap. I’m aware of them but hoping if I put more money away now, it will hurt less spending money come fall.
Long-term Goals:
  • Buy a house: I currently rent and had signed a two-year lease, a year ago, intending to buy next year. It’s looking like that won’t happen, so I’ll need to readjust my plans and hope the housing market doesn’t look so bleak for me in the next few years.
  • Another dog: People might think I’m crazy, but I don’t care! I’ve always been an aspiring crazy dog mom and I’m well on my way. I have big plans for my next pup.
  • Retirement/Investing: These two words are very daunting to me but I’m hoping to educate myself more so I can be saving more for retirement and my long-term goals altogether through investing. I’m positive that with the help of my Summit coach I’ll be well on my way in no time!
I’m sure more things will come to me in the future but for now, I think I have a pretty good start. Time to get to work. You might also be interested in What a ride it’s been! 2022 has been full of adventure and trying new things and I’m so excited by all the progress Project Money has given me financially. As the end of Project Money draws near, I can’t believe how far I’ve come since we started. Day to day, I always felt like I could be doing something more or felt like I wasn’t doing enough and I wasn’t seeing any progress. Looking back and thinking through how I’ve changed, I can see how much work I’ve put in and how far it’s gotten me. Thanks to Project Money, I’ve been able to: How many times did my dad tell me this as a kid when I really wanted McDonald’s? How many times do I tell myself this in a week when I don’t want to cook? A lot. It’s that time of the year again when you reminisce and look back over the year and start thinking ahead to next year. Every year, I try to make a personal goals list that I work on throughout the year. Some of the goals are random, some are fun, some carry over every year. Since I’ve been sharing progress on my financial goals, I thought I might share some other goals I’ve been working on alongside Project Money! Happy (belated) Thanksgiving! This year didn’t really feel like anything special since my goal was to keep it low key. I was able to make a nice dinner for my dad and I at home for just the two of us. I’m extremely grateful that he was willing to come to me this year, saving me the time, energy, and money of travel. One of the things, or problems, I knew about myself coming into Project Money was that I had a loose budget but I never let that stop me from doing the things I wanted to do. Budget might not even be the accurate term, maybe more of a tracking sheet every month just to see where my money was going and then trying to remember where I should trim it down the next month. This had never been an issue for me except for the fact that I knew it was a really bad habit to be in. I can’t believe we’re halfway through November! I feel like this entire year has just been me saying I can’t believe how time is flying. How is Thanksgiving already next week though?! One of the biggest things I’ve always been interested in is investing but since I struggle with crunching numbers and finances generally overwhelm me, I’ve never set aside the time to really learn about how to make my money work for me. And, as a big person of convenience, I’d rather just be able to set aside the money, have to do its own thing, and not think about it again. This week was a busy, chaotic week but a good one and we hit some big goals in this house! First, I finally paid off my last private student loan. It wasn’t very big to begin with, but it was still a few thousand dollars and the interest rate was higher than I’d like. I really had to prioritize paying off my loan. I could have done this years ago, but it just didn’t occur to me to do so when I had bigger things to worry about. Once I got my basic finances under control, I was able to direct more attention to my loan. Here’s the main things I did to achieve this: Featured Products Certificates Checking Accounts Home Equity Loans Home Loans Business Banking Certificates Checking Accounts Home Equity Loans Home Loans Business Banking Financial Education Upcoming Events Programs Tools & Calculators On-demand Webinars Podcasts Upcoming Events Programs Tools & Calculators On-demand Webinars Podcasts About Equity in Money™ About Summit Careers News Community Giving Equity in Money™ About Summit Careers News Community Giving Help & Support Contact Us Member Support Center Schedule an Appointment Find a Branch Contact Us Member Support Center Schedule an Appointment Find a Branch Please read the following before proceeding to: The website you are about to visit is solely the responsibility of the merchant or other party providing the site. The content of this third-party site, including materials and information, is solely the responsibility of the provider of the site. 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