I didn't have to think about it long or hard because everytime I work to stay on budget, or everytime I see money going into our retirement account I think about my "prize".
Want to know what they are?
First, we live frugally now so that we will have money saved AND be able to cash flow college for both of our boys. Our goal is to pay for their tuition to any college, in any state, that they would like to go (and, of course, where they are accepted). Scholarships would be nice and if they are fortunate enough to receive them, well...that would just mean we had more money to put towards our other prizes!
After the boys are in college, Prize #2 is to live part-time in Italy. Italy is one of our absolute favorite places...Tuscany to be more specific. We don't want the responsibility of international home ownership, so our plan is to find a place we love that we can rent for a few months at a time.
And then none of this would be possible without Prize #3 which is Financial Freedom. To have the kids out of college without student loans and to have our mortgage paid off would be the best prize ever. Because that would allow us to give our money away as freely as we want and to spend our time doing what we love most.
The year 2026 is our goal date to achieve this. Of course, I'm not sure if Mr. Steady will be ready to retire by then, but if not, it'll sure be fun knowing that the date will be just around the corner.
What about you? What are your prizes? Do you have a goal date for getting it?
7 comments:
Yay you want to come to Europe! I love your plans!
Wow! I LOVE YOUR PRIZES....A PERFECT BALANCE OF SENSIBLE AND FUN!
Tuscany is indeed one of the most beautiful places on earth.
I'm so glad you've got some great goals.
AND I LOVE YOUR INSPIRATION PICTURES TOO. ARE THEY GOING TO FEATURE PERMANENTLY ON YOUR BLOG?
HUGs SFT X
Oh and I meant to say, please leave more comments on my blog. I LOVE WHAT YOU HAVE TO SAY!
Sft x
Hmmmm....prizes?
Well, mine are very similar to yours except the Italy part, although I would love to visit some day.
I like that you have a date - 2026. Doesn't seem too too far away. Our retirement fund will let us know if indeed we can retire since neither my husband or I have retirement accounts.
My first prize will be to get a large emergency fund, then fully fund our retirement fund, then have cash to help with college for the last two kiddies.
Of course, financial freedom wouldn't be too bad either...
Now if I can think of a date....
Our prize is retiring in Hawaii. We have a goal of heading over there in 2014, after our oldest graduates from high school here. We've been working hard at paying off our debt and saving and have our "eyes on the prize" all the time. Having to buy a "new" car this month was a real setback, but we plan to have it paid off before we go.
We *seriously* thought about retiring in Italy, but finally decided it was just too much work for all of us.
Great goals! I like the idea of renting for months at a time, it can be affordable (long term is cheaper than by the week) plus like you say, it'll save the hassle of international stuff.
Your boys will really, really appreciate graduating debt free!
I need to work on my long term goals and set time lines. I like what I've been doing now, 1 big trip/year, but I would like something more concrete. You've given me some things to think about!
Ohh... Tuscany, nice!!! I could handle that! ;)
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