Now, this isn’t an incredible amount, but did I mention my internship was unpaid?  Our trip to New York City was pure fun and excitement, but did it ever put a dent in our account.  Luckily for us, we had been saving and saving as much as we could for the entire year and a half we were married.

Although we were saving so much, we never knew what we were saving for.  I didn’t know until less than a month before I left for New York that I would be going.  But because we planned ahead for the unknown future, we were able to pay for all of our expenses and still have enough to live on when we got back.

What would we have done if we were slightly shy of the cost needed to go?  Totally disregard the experience and possibly never get connections needed for future success?  That would be one choice.  Another would have been to take out a small loan.  A loan from a respectable lender would have given us exactly what we needed in order to enjoy our trip.

Don’t let petty things stop you from being successful.  If you want to do something with your life, figure out a way to do it, and then execute.  Start saving now for that unexpected opportunity.  You never know when something great is going to drop into your lap.

Figure out what you’re saving up for.  Put a goal in your mind of how much you need to save and what you’re going to use it for.  You will find that this also motivates you even more to save your money instead of blow it on fast food six times a week.

Perhaps you’re saving for a new car, or house.  Maybe you want to be able to put your kids through college when they’re old enough.  Or maybe you want that dream vacation.  Or you might just want to save money just because the economy is suffering and you want to be safe.  No matter what it is. as long as you have a goal in mind, you have a reason to save your money.

When you save your money, you also save yourself from spending your money.  We often times buy things we don’t need.  We buy fast food , even though we have several perfectly good meals sitting at home – being ready to be cooked.  Just be smart with your money, no matter how you use it.

Set Performance Goals – Don’t Set Outcome Goals
When you set goals relating to your performance, you keep control and have the opportunity to manage and direct how you do.  For example, if you were running a race, you would set a realistic goal of “a time in which you would want to finish” rather than “finishing in the top three” – which you can’t control the outcome of.  The same relates to your finances.  Set out to have a certain amount of money saved rather than earning that big promotion, which you have virtually no control over.

Set Realistic Goals
There are a lot of influences and reasons why an unrealistic goal might be set.  Don’t let other people set your personal goals for you.  They can help you to set a realistic goal, but if you let them take over and set it for you, you’ll find yourself striving for something you don’t necessarily want.  It won’t be as motivating for you and if you don’t succeed, you run the possibility of disappointing that other person.

Set Specifig Goals
Make sure your goals are measurable.  Don’t just set out and say, “I want to be rich!”   It doesn’t work that way.  Instead, set an amount of mony you want to have or something like that, as long as they are realistic.

I’ll post more another time, I promise!

Sometimes we need to stop and talk to ourselves.  Maybe we don’t always need to talk outloud and with people around, but it’s always good to be aware of your conscience trying to talk to you.  It might just tell you to buy the cheaper cereal.

If we do finally take the time to talk to ourselves, we should evaluate our lives – especially our finances.  Ask yourself some questions…

“When is my next paycheck coming in and for how much?”
“How are we doing this month with our budget?”
“Am I working toward getting out of debt?”
“Am I saving enough for the future?”
“Where is all of my money going?”
etc. etc.

By doing a self-evaluation, you should be able to find areas you need to work harder in.  You will find that you have more money and more freedom.  Your stress will go down and you will feel like you are on top of your life again.  Give it a try!

How come we don’t get that excited when it comes to our finances?  There should be an announcer there to get everyone pumped up when we have accomplished what we have set out to do.

I think the reason there is no announcer is because most of us haven’t set out to do anything in specific.  We just think, “I like money and having some would be great.”  Well, we need to be a lot more specific in what we want to do if we want more success.  Basically, I’m talking about setting goals.

When we learn how to strive to reach our goals, everything else starts to fall into place.  But what if you’ve never been good at setting or trying to reach goals?  Then the Internet is going to be one of your biggest assets.

There are tons of ways to start setting goals.  One way is by using a financial checklist.  This will help show you what you still need to do.  At the same time, it will boost your confidence because it will show you what you have already accomplished.  Learn more about it by clicking on the link.

If you have any questions or just want to leave any tips for future readers, please leave a comment!