Like a lot of families, we planned a long time ago to get up to date with bills and start planning financially for our future. Unfortunately, a series of events hit, which meant our financial plans went out of the window.
In pretty quick succession, we had a baby, I experienced mental health issues. Upon returning to work, there was a two-year global pandemic. At the same time, my workplace was applying unnecessary pressure and I ended up experiencing a mental breakdown. This resulted in having four months off work. I was then made redundant soon after this. And it would take a further six months to fully recover.
Essentially we have been in survival mode ever since when it comes to finances. If you follow this blog, you will know I now prioritise happiness over finances. I do this because I’ve learned the hard way, that there are so many circumstances outside of our control in life. The one thing we can control and will remember is the fond memories with our loved ones. Whatever my financial circumstances are, I want time to be my main currency. It’s all about striking a balance. Because I am also conscious we need money to live.
That said, it would also be lovely to achieve some of the financial goals we planned. However, with the cost of living crisis in the UK only set to get worse, we face unstable times. Why not check out my post on side hustles you can use to supplement your income?
I want to put my list out there, to manifest this for myself. And to give anyone else out there hope that things will improve. And hopefully soon, a day will come when you can start financial planning. However small your steps are, you can start to achieve these goals.
Pay into a pension
It is a requirement in the UK that all employers have a mandatory workplace pension, and they match contributions for workers. However, this isn’t going to sustain us in retirement. With me working fewer hours, in order to prioritise family life, I am also not paying as much into a pension.
The plan was to take out a joint private pension plan or separate ones, which we pay into, regardless of where we work. In order to achieve this, we need to talk to a pensions adviser and start putting a plan in place.
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Mortgage
We are renting at the moment and the goal is to eventually have a family home. This will take some disciplined savings, but it will be worth it in the end.
I constantly look at house prices and what we could afford in the area.
Savings
I would love to have a backup of savings. Unfortunately, any savings we did have was spent on trying to navigate the circumstances I described above. Whilst I sometimes look back and wish we had that money, allowing me to fully recover mentally was money well spent. It annoys me life had to happen that way, but my focus is now on the future.
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A holiday home
The ultimate dream would be to have a holiday home. Something like a caravan in a great, relaxing location. I did think about investing in this to rent it out and make money, but it might be something we do much further down the line. This blog is all about our travels and making memories as a family. With the amount we all spend on caravan holidays each year, it would be great to have somewhere of our own to go.
In order to significantly reduce costs, I have recently been looking at tents and how much it would cost us to go on these holidays. There is a huge saving to be made. Whilst it isn’t my personal preference to go camping, it would be fun for the whole family.
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Travel
You may have seen my recent travel bucket list. As a family, we do love a good trip somewhere and the odd holiday abroad. But there are some destinations I really want to visit. Hopefully, we can eventually plan this into our lifestyle.
Until next time
Do you have financial goals?
Have you managed to put plans into place to achieve any of them?
I would love to hear from you in the comments below.
I made a savings account to save for my wedding in a couple of years. It’s difficult when the prices of things go up but your wages aren’t ?
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It’s so difficult right now. I hope that putting a small amount away, will add up over time.
A wonderful post! It’s great to have financial goals as it makes saving more meaningful! I hope you’re able to meet all of these goals.
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You need to have a reason why, then you are more inclined to stick to the goal. I hope so too.
Having savings is really good and this is something I’m looking to achieve and working on it now. Thank you for sharing these tips!
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It’s difficult to save right now, but I find even putting little bits into different accounts can help.
I’m definitely on a n financial health journey right now and making it more of a focus in my life so reading this was really interesting — it was a great reminder to keep going with it all! Thanks for sharing!
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I am happy this post was a welcome reminder for you.
My financial goal is to pay off our car and be able to travel more. It’s great to set goals like that, but set action steps to attain them. Thanks for the tips!
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We will hopefully pay off our car soon. And traveling more sounds amazing.
Great advice. I would urge everyone to invest in a pension – and not just for when they officially retire. Over the years, I have paid into around six pensions. One of them, which was started in the late 1980s, I only ever paid into for around 10 months. My investment at the time was about £350. I opted out because I was young and retirement seemed forever away. Guess what? Twenty years later, the pension fund administrators contacted me and said my small investment had grown to over £21,000! They wanted to know if I’d like to keep it where it was or move it. I decided to switch it to a cash pot to take at 55 as I had another five pensions to drawn on from 67. I had visions of a few cruises and a bit of Botox. Sadly, it wasn’t used for any of that. A few months before I turned 55, I was diagnosed with stage 3 cancer. What that money did was allow me to stop work, have 18 months of treatment without any worries and enjoy a few treats when it was all over. I feel really sorry for cancer patients who have to carry on working, especially through chemo, because they can’t afford to take time time out. I hope you realise all your goals – you have certainly thought them through.
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I am so sorry to hear about your experience. But I am really glad you had that money there to support you.
You have inspired me to start looking into other pension plans sooner rather than later.
My recent circumstances prove we never know what is around the corner.
Good tips! Happiness is definitely more important than having lots of money, but saving is essential!
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It’s all about striking a balance. And I think /hope we are getting there.
Thank you for sharing this especially now that we should have the good financial literacy to prepare us for budgeting and saving.
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Hopefully, I can manage my budget well from now on.
These are all amazing things to look towards to better manage your finances. We have a mortgage, and have saved to have our garden done which is happening as I type. After that, we have nothing else we want to save for other than retirement (I’m only 30!). But having something clear to focus on helps!
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This sounds great – you’ve set a goal and achieved the garden one already. It gives me hope that we can finally sort things out.
Retirement is a big one we all need to save for!
Sorry you had to go through this, but glad you could recover.
Personally I’m still recovering financially. I incurred more debts so my focus is to clear them.
Financial discipline is my main goal, spend less than I earn. It’s amazing how the poorer you are, the more financial institutions take from you…
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I definitely agree with this. I hope you manage to improve your financial situation.
My goal is to live a debt free life. I don’t like owing the bank or anyone else. my husband and I have managed to do this with the exception of our mortgages, but it took a long time to figure it out. Homesteading is one of the avenues that we use to not only save money on food costs, but to get closer to our goal of taking care of the environment while we take care of our family.
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Well done on the financial progress. I hope to be there over the next few years. I love following your homesteading journey.
I have just started my digital marketing business sory to hear about your troubles Hope you will be doing good soon
Have a great day
Todd
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Thank you. And good luck with your business.