New Year New Resolutions Setting Family Financial Goals
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New Year New Resolutions

New Year New Resolutions

It’s that time of year. The presents have all been opened, the food has been eaten, and it is time to welcome a new year. A new year of fresh possibility. That’s right; it is time to put together a fresh plan. It is time for our annual New Year’s Resolutions. We hope that you enjoy our New Year New Resolutions post.

I like to approach my new year’s resolutions in two parts; professional and personal. Now professionally I have tons of goals and resolutions. It’s something that I think about all the time and for me at least the new year represents an opportunity for me to put all of those thoughts to paper in an organized fashion.

When writing my professional resolutions, I like to first pull out my previous years list of goals. I then typically spend a little time reflecting on how well I did in meeting my goals. I ask myself what worked, and I ask what did not. To me, this looking back process is the first step to looking forward. I figure if I don’t know where I’ve been, I can’t possibly know where I’m headed. Once I’ve done that I pull out my pen and begin writing my new goals.

What I end up with becomes a road map that I revisit often throughout the year. Now I don’t expect to meet every resolution written down. But that’s ok. I feel like if I can at least knock some of those resolutions out, I have made progress. To me that’s what this whole life thing is about; you don’t have to be perfect, but you should be working towards a goal. You should make some progress.

Now my personal list I generally approach in the same way. I look at where I have been, and I ask myself where I want to go.

For me this year my focus is on personal fitness and financial stability. I spent a good part of the past year losing a ton of weight, which was good. It was progress. But now that the weight is off I want to become fit. That means I am committing to lifting weights, running miles, and just generally pushing myself physically. It means hitting the gym and training. My goal is to be able to run at half marathon by the next new year.

In terms of financial stability, a big one for me this year is planning and saving more for my kids education. Now I don’t know what those kids are going to become when they grow up, but I do know that I have to give more thought to how we as a family will make their dreams a reality. I have two kids now that are officially teens, and there is a third kid that isn’t all that far behind. In another eight years, I could potentially have three kids in college. Pulling that off is going to take a plan.

My wife and I did start saving early for our children. I knew that was the big key to attacking the cost of college. If you start saving when the kids are babies, even if it’s just a little every month, by the time they are ready to go you will have a nice chunk of cash to help offset costs.

Even though we have been doing this, I still want to revisit the problem for the new year.  Education costs have risen dramatically over the years, and it I NEED to know that we will be ready for the costs of college when the time comes.

Having a second set of eyes to take a look at a problem is sometimes a great solution and one that we can definitely get behind as a family. Taking simple steps with COUNTRY Financial means that their experts can help you come up with a plan that will work for you. We hope that you enjoyed our New Year New Resolutions post.

This New Year New Resolutions post is sponsored by COUNTRY Financial but thoughts are opinions are my own.

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38 Comments Leave a Comment »

  1. I don’t make my resolutions official but generally have the same ones every year build my brand and get healthier. I have to feel good about last year too by losing those stubborn five pounds this year my buiness has to grow.

  2. I’m pretty low key when it comes to resolutions. I do feel the need to take part in something like resolutions to keep me focused, both personally and professionally.

  3. robin rue

    I don’t make resolutions, but I made some goals. So far, so good!

  4. It seems like a lot of people are focusing on fitness and budgets this year. I don’t blame them. I am focusing on my health overall along with fitness.

  5. I like the idea of starting to save for college as soon as early as possible. Better to plan way ahead than to struggle for payments when the time comes.

  6. Pam

    You can never start saving money too early for your child’s education. College is really expensive these days.

  7. I am happy to say that my goals are so far so good. Learning new things is my big one.

  8. I know a lot of folks who are actually having a great start to their year. I am proud to be one of them!

  9. I a working away at the goals I have for this year! I love seeing progress

  10. Rosey

    Education costs really are through the roof. It is important to prepare way ahead of time so our kids can be ready. I need to know they are too, so I can relate.

  11. It is such a great idea to save for college early. This is really a great reminder!

  12. I don’t really make resolutions anymore. Resolutions always fail. The only resolution I make these days is to continue forward progress in the new year.

  13. I welcome a second set of eyes on my finances whole heartedly. I’m pretty on top of them, but I can always use more help.

  14. Kiwi

    I think a LIFE resolution should be financial responsibility and improvement. I want a professional to help me soon!

  15. I am a big time planner. Not so much with resolutions as I feel that is something we need to do all year long and adjust them as needed as we go, or add to them! Saving for kids future is something I wish I had started earlier for sure!

  16. Jenn

    My resolution was to eat healthy. I started the Keto lifestyle in November and have only had 1 or two cheat days since then! I have kept it up well into the new year. I was hoping to add exercise into my routine, but recent injuries keep throwing a wrench in that!

  17. I’m slowly working on my resolutions…LOL! Slow progress is still progress though!

  18. It’s really important that you save as much as you can to prepare for your child’s future and I think it’s nice that you’re focusing more on that this year. Definitely something that all parents should take note of.

  19. I am terrible at keeping resolutions so I stopped making them! I really need to try harder and you have inspired me for sure.

  20. Annemarie LeBlanc

    Me and my husband bought college assurance plans for all our kids. It was a struggle at first, keeping up with the payments but eventually it paid off. We only have one more child in college and hopefully, it will be his last semester in school this year. Saving for a future need is always a good move.

  21. Our Family World

    January was not a good month for my family. My mom got seriously ill, my husband suffered from cardiac dysrrhytmia, our health insurance bummed us out, which means we had to pay more out of pocket that what they covered. We are going to do some serious financial/budget cuts to build up our savings again. That will be our New Year’s Resolution.

  22. I like the idea of starting to save for college as early as early as possible. We didn’t start early enough, I wish we did! Better to plan way ahead! 

  23. I am not a New Years resolution kinda person. I think they’re lame and most people never follow through. I tend to make decisions to do things throughout the year and try to keep them up.

  24. Every year I make unrealistic resolutions and I never keep them. This year, I was more reasonable and I’m totally killing it!

  25. We don’t really make individual resolutions here. More like family ones and things we hope to do or accomplish that year!

  26. Great advice. My daughter and her husband have already started a college (or future fund if he decides against college) for my young grandson. I know that what I had put aside for her was so helpful in keeping the costs of university down so it’s a great thing to do.

  27. Whether you call them resolutions or goals, making a plan is important in both our personal and business lives. But, of course, that won’t do any good unless we follow through.

  28. Kids grow so fast, it’s always good to start early. Before you know it, they’re talking about college and we’re filling out FAFSA forms and everything else. Any savings is so important!

  29. I’m not big on resolutions, in the sense of the word. I do make goals and come up with a plan. It keeps me more focused and an eye on the prize.

  30. Having good financial stability and savings goals and a clear path towards achieving them is great! I set some of my own goals and I’ve been doing pretty well!

  31. I have a hard time sticking to resolutions so I do not make them anymore. I call them goals. LOL We have 6 kids and we try to save here and there for our kids future but my husband worked while in college and I do not find anything wrong with that either.

  32. Kathy

    I always think it’s a wonderful idea to start saving up money. My husband and I opened up bank accounts for our daughters when they were born. They both have money from us in there as well as from other family members. We give them change sometimes so they get to learn about saving money.

  33. I just recently out together a solid budget and my goal is to improve upon it and be able to save more. It’s amazing how clearer things are when you make a plan.

  34. It sounds like you have some great resolutions for this year! I’ve been working on getting my finances in order as well.

  35. Cat

    Resolutions at the start of the year are okay, but I prefer to just go for it when the moment is right. I don’t like waiting for the new year to aspire to reach new goals. I applaud these resolutions and wish you the best in achieving your goals!

  36. These are some fabulous resolutions! I think it’s amazing to set attainable goals and go with them. I make sure that I make goals as they come. It’s so much fun.

  37. I’m all about new years resolutions. My personal goals are fitness and finance related too! It’s hard to narrow down what the most important goals are every year!

  38. Pingback: New Year Health Tips Wellness Resolutions

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