The End is Just the Beginning

I’ve recently blogged about how we’ve done so far in Project Money and what we’ve done to get there and how we’ve done it. Up until now we have put all our additional money in savings. This month our coach Jenna has us shifting gears and start paying off debt. I just put an extra $100 on our consolidation loan we took out to pay off our credit card and dental bills. It’s a start but we have a long way to go.

So far I feel we have been rather short sighted in our goals and budgeting. I haven’t done a whole lot of thinking about the next couple years, just about getting to the end of Project Money and hopefully winning. We’ve freed up about $500 a month by our very tight budgeting. Again, it’s a start but not where I want to be. We need to pay off several loans with high monthly payments before we have enough breathing room to loosen the budget enough to include more money for enjoyment, not just necessity. Paying off those loans will take several years.

Sheila and I need to sit down and talk about long range budget and how we will stick to it once Project Money is over. One of our goals is to go back to Mexico where we were married for our 10th anniversary. We haven’t started saving for that and it is only about 2 years away. I keep reminding myself that I just have to be patient and stick to what Jenna has been teaching us. She is coaching us not only for the contest but for life long goals.

Admittedly, I will be disappointed if we don’t win Project Money. We’ve sacrificed a lot and I already have a list of things I want to do with the money. However, if we don’t win we have already bettered our financial situation and given us a vision and tools to achieve it.