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Ready For 2023

December 28, 2022 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. At the beginning of the program, I was overwhelmed by working all the time and figuring out my finances short term and long term. I had some debt and I had big financial goals that I had no idea how I would accomplish in the future. Through Project Money, I’ve been able to make significant progress in all of my goals- short and long term. I outlined them in my last blog (check it out!) so I want to focus on where I plan to go from here. Short term, I’ve set up a vacation fund that will cover a lot of my travel going into 2023. I’d like to plan out my vacations a little bit more, I was pretty last-minute last year, so I can stretch the fund as far as possible. Instead of purchases of convenience that add up, I’ve really put more effort towards saving up for experiences I’ll remember long after they’re done or for pricier items that could save me money over the long run and are worth the investment (looking at you, espresso machine). Long term, I’m really focusing on building up a down payment on a house. I don’t know if it’ll be financially smart for me to buy a house in 2023 the way I planned, so readjusting those plans to build up a bigger down payment will help me in the future. Now that I’ve also paid off my student loan and my car, I’ll be able to take those payments and set them aside toward my house plans. I also got a small yearly raise that I’ll immediately contribute to my retirement funds. I can’t believe the program has come to an end and I truly can’t thank the Summit team enough for all the help they’ve given me. My coach, Jessica, has been endlessly supportive, encouraging, and kind. She’s given me great advice and acted as a fantastic soundboard when I just needed to think out loud about what else I could be doing to move myself forward when things got slow. Overall, I really can’t say enough good things about the entire team. Onward and forward to 2023! 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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