Ever since I paid off my Dental First credit, I’ve been a little apathetic about debt repayment. September has been a rough/weird month (I’m going to post a recap next week). Before we even get to that place, though, I want to publicly post my goals for October. One, because I don’t want to throw them together at 11:45 pm on September 30th. Two, because by posting them now I’m less likely to actually wait until October. Why wait another week, right?
ONE // TAKE MY CREDIT CARD OUT OF MY WALLET
I meant to do this awhile ago.
Having my credit card in my wallet is the absolute WORST, because I always think “I’ll make this payment tonight so it’s like it never happened.” BUT SOMETIMES I FORGET. Not all the times, but some of the times. Too dangerous. Way too dangerous. Part of the reason I was able to destroy my Dental First credit was because I never charged more on it. If I don’t get my credit card as far away from me as possible, it’s going to be a fruitless battle to pay it off.
TWO // ONLY GO TO TARGET ONCE
I have this dream, and I hope to do it in October. My dream is to write a list of what I need at Target, budget for it accordingly, and stay under my budget. Then of course I’ll post about it (DUH). THE REASON I want to be so detailed in going to Target is because I only want to do it ONCE. No “oops I forgot something” trip or “I’ll just grab one thing” or anything. You know how I need to keep my credit card as far away from me as possible? I need to stay as far away from Target as possible.
THREE // 30%
According to my Mint app, it’s best to be using less than 30% of your total credit. Right now I’m at 39%, but with lots of hard work I can bring that down to 30%.
FOUR // KEEP TITHING
It’s finally hit me that there’s no way I can rejoice about repaying money I owe to fellow human beings if I am not first surrendering a portion to the Lord to praise Him for how he provides, and to trust him to be at work in my finances and my dreams if I am being faithful and responsible. Tonight as I was looking over my spending and trying to figure out why I couldn’t find where I’d overspent, I realized it’s because I have finally gotten in the habit of tithing regularly and I didn’t make note of my tithe. I don’t want to get lazy with this.
FIVE // MEAL PLAN
This is so weird. I’m going to write more about this later, but I’m doing the Whole 30 thing. and holy CRAP it requires so much more planing than I’d imagined. I thought “I’ll go to Trader Joe’s, stock up, and be good for the month.” …bahahahha. No. It’s been less than a week and I’m just now figuring out what I like to eat and what I’ll need to replenish. Having a plan for what I’ll be eating will help me budget what I spend at the grocery store. Some of you might be like “yeah, welcome to the life of a grown up.” WELL I AM ALWAYS BEHIND IN LEARNING THINGS.
So there you have it. My 5 goals for my finances for October. ps I made that image orange and not pink in celebration of October.
Also, as a side note; the more and more I dive into the world of Debt Repayment, the more my eyes are opened to a huge world of financial savvy-ness that I have been completely unaware of. That’s why services like Wealth Within are so useful to those of us wanting to make big changes in our lives but don’t necessarily know exactly how to do that. Wealth Within offers a variety of services to help their clients meet their financial goals. The service I love the most are their courses! You know that old saying about giving a meal or teaching to fish? By offering courses, they enable their clients to understand different aspects of their financial health that might be harder for them to understand (like the stock market!).
Because of my apathetic response to my debt repayment, I was SO QUIET on the finance part of my blog this past month. But some of you have been killing it, I know… so please link up with our Final Friday Finance link up! It can be ANY and ALL finance posts you’ve written over the past month! Give me stuff to read so I can stay encouraged and motivated 🙂
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Totes forgot about this! But I love your goals! I need to set specific, strict goals for my finances too.
i was so bad this month and i FEEL IT. like i have no idea how much money i have or where it’s gone/going. the discipline is so worth it!
Those are such good goals, especially taking your credit card out of your wallet. I may need to do that!
i just did it!! you should too!!! ;D
Awesome financial goals!!!
thanks ashley! hoping i can accomplish them this month 🙂
Final Friday Linkup? Is this the last one? I’d love to join in on these.
hey! it’s not the last one, we just call it “final friday finance” because it goes live on the final friday of each month! but link up any post you’ve made about finances! it can be from whenever – it’s just about being able to be encouraged and accountable!
So the 30th this month? A couple of linkups that are like this usually put the date for the next one. Could you start doing that? I’d really like to participate
These are fantastic and I’m really into the Target goal. My target is literally a 5 minute walk from my apartment so thats just bad news for me!
oh my gosh. that’s awful because it’s like… hey i’m gonna go get some exercise and give away half of my paycheck. hahaha. praying for you to stay strong, especially in the fall when it’s #basicseason. ;D
Target is such a jerk. I hate that I ALWAYS find something there that I definitely didn’t need. Our town doesn’t have a Target or Starbucks but a local city does. When I feel like I’m spending too much I ban myself from visiting that city for a month 🙂
oh target is so awful. i have one nearby, and plenty of starbucks to drive through. luckily i’ve given up on loving target clothes, so clothes aren’t ever really a problem. it’s mostly the little tiny knick knacks and stuff, which is probably worse because then it just takes up space!
i knew that something about this post looked different… then realized duh it’s the non-pink graphic! 🙂
i love how intentional you are about finances! and your posts always encourage me to be more intentional! speaking of, i am working on a post about my student loan payoff! you’ve inspired me.
ALSO i feel like you asked me about whole 30 once in a comment and i don’t remember replying. unfortunately it is a LOT of planning…but it is good to get in that habit!!! the first time i did it was crazy exhausting b/c of that… but the 2nd time i did it… i already had a groove of recipes so it was easier! then i got sick of eating the same things over and over again lol so i’m always on the lookout for new recipes!
HOORAY! i CANNOT wait to read your post about your loan payoff! i know how hard you guys work for that so i can’t wait to read more in depth about it! come link it up here, too!!
yeah i’m actually LOVING whole30, which is so weird. what i’ll love more is being off whole30 and being able to exist on a paleo diet, because there are paleo brownies and cookies and cakes and pancakes and all the things i just really want to eat. also creamer. coffee creamer. i miss it so much.
i love you lots, robyn <3