4/18/2012

Priorities

They change.

Sometimes they don't change very often, sometimes they do.  Sometimes events happen in our life that have us call into question the path that we're on and require some thought about the fork in the road.

It has been ten weeks since my father passed away.

My priorities have changed.



Jordan and I have had some pretty big plans in finishing our house, including a garage, fence, landscaping, deck, basement development ect. - all really big things.  While I still want those things, I no longer feel the need to have them done right this minute - at the cost of our debt load and financial and personal well being.

What I want now, is to spend as much time as possible with my family.  With Jordan's family.

What Jordan and I both want is some calm, some steady peace in our financial house.  We want to be able to go on a trip with friends for a weekend, go camping with family and not worry that we can't because we've got this garage we're building (or whatever 'big project').  We also want to enjoy our house and our space with said family/friends.

So, we've adjusted our priorities.

If you've been following along in our growth over the last few years, you've seen that typically we save for a number of different things at one time.  Sometimes, as many as six or more.  This puts some pretty long sights on all of our goals and means that we don't have to prioritize them if we focus on all of them at the same time.

There's a few things that happen every year: Christmas and Camping - so, doesn't it make sense to save for those right away in the beginning of the year?  We've moved some cash from our 'house fund' into those funds so that they are done.  We've met two goals already and that feels great.

We also know that we want at least $1,500 in our emergency fund (about one month on EI if anything were to happen) - so, we moved some cash from our 'house fund' into our emergency fund and that's a third goal that we've met.

A weight has been lifted.

I then moved $500 to add to the debt pay off for this month and kept $1,000 in the house fund for some short term items around the house that we want.  Now that we've reached three goals and have the ability to get some things done around the house with out the weight of a garage weighing over us, we don't have to keep contributing to these small goals - so i'll be cancelling those auto-debits and adjusting the budget.  That also means that we can pay off our debt sooner.  Much sooner - but more on that tomorrow.

8 comments:

  1. I completely understand the desire to get everything done on your house right away. I've been struggling with that as well. Good work on moving closer to paying off your debt sooner - that's great news.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks! We felt like it was the right decision. Those damn credit cards haunt us. Everytime we get them paid off, it feels like we're only debt free for a month or do before the balance starts rising again. We're really hopeful that our new plan will actually work and this scenario won't happen again.

      Delete
  2. This was a really wonderful reflective post. It's always good to sit and reflect on life and see if your priorities have changed.

    Time is the one thing you could never get back and the people you spend it with are important. That is one of the main reasons I try to keep my finances under control, so I can have more freedom. More freedom to spend time how I want and with who I want. Although money can bring you a lot, it can also be a weight sometimes, even when you are saving and not going into debt.

    I like where your priorities are heading, the garage and the fence will come at some point but you already have a house that you can share with Jordan and your family. Don't let the excess be a burden.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Rafkiki - it was a hard one to write. Jordan had said too that he actually enjoyed reading it.

      I really think you're right- time is something you can't get back, and won't regret where stuff you may.

      'don't let the excess be a burden' - that really resonates with me.

      thank you.

      Delete
  3. Great post and so true. You may regret a type of paint or style of fence but you will never regret the time you spend with your family.

    And I love how you adjusted your most important goals. Priorities change and change is always a good thing

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks so much for weighing in - this was a weird realization that happened when I wasn't (and am still not) in a very good place. So, a good thing coming of it is positive.

      Delete
  4. I have been reading your blog on & off so I must have missed where you posted about your father passing away. I'm so sorry to hear that, such a huge loss for you. I'm sure your father would be very happy to hear that you're spending more time with your family. That is time well "spent". Again, so sorry to hear about your dad.

    ReplyDelete

Hi! Thank you for stopping by and leaving a message.

Links ♥

Followers