Vacation - Make it a Priority!

By Kerrie Beene, CFP®

As a financial planner, we are always working to help our clients meet their goals and be able to live the life the life of their dreams. One question we always ask is, “if money were not a barrier, what would you do?’ Often, the answer is, I would love to travel more. Traveling does so much for our soul. It allows us to get out of our comfort zone, experience new things, relax, grow as a person, change our perception, and the list goes on and on. There is so much to see in our world that I get excited thinking about all of the places we should go and experiences to be had.

So, why are we not doing this as often as we want? What is holding us back from living the life we want and traveling to the places in our dreams?

From personal experience and working with clients, often our travel goals are not being met because we are not making a spending plan and creating priorities. This is probably not the answer you want to hear, but for the most part, we are spending our money on other things.

I recently wrote an article about the 3 biggest money mistakes I have made, and one of them was purchasing automobiles and the drain it has on our financial plans. While, I do love the smell of a new car and get excited when I think about purchasing a new one, this is an example of not focusing on our priorities. When we get to the end of our lives and we are sitting around with our friends or significant other, we will not be talking about that one new car we had that was amazing, instead we will either be talking about all the experiences we either had or didn’t have. I know for myself, I would rather be talking about those experiences.

While creating a spending plan, otherwise known as that word we do not want to say, “budget,” sounds like going to the dentist to get a root canal, it is actually the key to meeting our goals and priorities. There are a ton of excuses on why we don’t create or stick to a spending plan. I can list a few for you: it is hard, it takes too much time and I am busier than everyone else, it is impossible with a family, I don’t know how, I don’t want to because I am watching this really good series on Netflix and prefer zoning out after work, etc. These are some of my personal excuses that I have used in the past. But honestly, I am sick of them and sick of not feeling like I can do the things I really want.

The truth is, life is hectic, and sometimes making a spending plan and sticking to it is hard but I can tell you this, it is worth it. Not only do you start meeting some of your goals, you feel a sense of control that is freeing. I know that when I walk in the grocery store or clothing store, there is a limit and I want a limit. This limit is allowing me to put money toward things that are more important to me than clothes and spending more on food than is necessary.

I wish there was a super secret answer to funding our goals like travel while also being careless with our spending, but the reality is that not only is our income important, what we do with it is just as important.

Helping clients create a spending plan is one of my favorite steps in our financial planning process. If this seems overwhelming to you or you do not know where to start, feel free to reach out to me at kerrie@rootedpg.com for our free 30 minute discovery session to discover how we can help you attain your goals.