In 4 short weeks, the new year will have arrived. Hooray! Happy, happy, joy, joy! Kiss kiss to everyone!
I don’t know about you but I don’t believe in new year’s resolutions. If I think changes to my life are going to make it better, then I’m going to implement those changes as soon as possible instead of delaying them to some arbitrary day in the future.
That said, I do set financial goals each year. These goals help me to prioritize my sinking funds. Even though I might want all the things, my wallet only stretches so far so I can only get some of the things. Retirement is very, very important to me so I’ve got money set aside to fund my TFSA. And the plan is to start saving for 2023’s TFSA contribution with my very first paycheque of the new year. After all, next holiday season is hardly the time to start looking for $6500 – fingers crossed! – to contribute in January of 2023. Am I right?
Pre-pandemic, another huge financial goal of mine was paying for travel before going on any trips. I was very fortunate as I’d been able to take atleast one great trip every year before COVID-19 arrived. I’m fervently wishing that vaccination rates increase quickly around the globe so that I can get back into the routine of traveling.
Then there are the minor details of running a household and being a grown-up. You know, things like property taxes and insurance premiums. While not sexy, I do take pains to pay for these expenses in annual lump sums every year. I really hate automatic withdrawals, so I work hard to avoid them. My practice is to look at last year’s amount for these bills and then increase them by 10%. If I’m lucky, I’ll have saved a little bit over the prior year’s amount.
Don’t think I forget about fun! Not a chance! Pre-pandemic, it was easier to budget for my contributions to the arts. I love going to the theater. I’ve had a subscription to Broadway Across Canada for years. These past two seasons, I’ve sorely missed seeing my scheduled productions. I cannot stress this enough – vaccinations are the key to me being able to fully enjoy this aspect of my life.
Making my home a little cozier will take money. I plan to age in place, so I want make changes to my home that I’ll enjoy for a long time. The goal next year is to pay cash for new blinds in several rooms of my home. I might also have the frames around my windows replaced. Who knows? This might even be the year that I get my home repainted. I’ve never been a fan of the current wall colour, but I’ve also been so busy gallivanting that I haven’t had extra money to hire a painter. See what I did there? Travel was a bigger priority than paint colours, so the money went to travel and my walls stayed meh.
Now that I’m keeping travel on hiatus, money can go towards goals that used to be a bit lower on the priority list.
Is there any way that you would consider planning out your money on an annual basis? Obviously, your priorities are going to be very different than mine. In my very humble opinion, the very best way for you to maximize the odds of you achieving your priorities is to structure your money to pay for them. Maybe you want to adopt a pet? Start a business? Take some courses? Move to another city or country? Upgrade your Christmas tree decorations?
Okay… so maybe we do share that last goal. While decorating my Christmas tree this year, I decided that I’d like a few more blue ornaments. I’ve already started checking out the sale prices on ornaments at various stores. Since I’m a huge fan of buying Christmas decorations after the holidays, I’ve tucked away a little bit of money to do so. I’ve found what I want. It’s already 33% off. Now, I just have to decide if I want to gamble on the price dropping considerably more before the ornaments I want are all sold out.
The fact is that 52 weeks goes by very, very quickly. And there will be multiple opportunities for you to spend money that you might not have intended to spend. Having a plan in place, along with the automatic transfers and sinking funds, means that your most important priorities are funded first. Then you can spend the rest however you wish.
Maybe you’re the sort who needs to write down their goals? That’s okay. Today, I learned about the YearCompass. I’m going to try their system and see if it helps me to finesse my current process. One of the reasons I decided to try YearPass is that it helps people create goals in all areas of their life. This would be good for me. Check it out. Maybe it’s a tool that you would also find useful. Maybe, it’s not. You won’t know until you give it a look-see.
Again, there’s no need to wait until January 1 to craft your financial goals for 2022. I know that most of us want to visit with family and friends. Many of us lost the opportunity to do so last year, so we feel a need to make up for lost time. I’m urging you to take a few minutes to figure out what you want in the new year, and to think about how you’ll fund your goals. After all, the best use of your money is to spend it in ways to create the life that you truly want.
Start today!