It’s hard to believe that we’ve entered Quarter 4 of 2024, but the calendar doesn’t lie. I thought today would be a great time to share how we fared in Quarters 2 and 3, since I missed the last update, and then share a bit about what our goals and intentions are for Quarter 4. So if you’d like a bit of an insiders look into my life, then that’s what this bonus episode is for. Grab a cup of coffee or lace up those walking shoes and let’s get to it.
Links for This Episode
- Check out these DIY Resources and Templates
- Download your FREE Family Budget Worksheet
- Join the Financial Fix Up Membership
Podcast Episode Recommendations
- #24: How to Stay Healthy Without Spending More Money
- #19: Medical Bills Got You Down? Consider This Strategy Now
- #2: So You’ve Hit Rock Bottom, Now What?
- #1: The Truth About What Financial Freedom Actually Means to Me
What My Quarter 2 + 3 Results Actually Were (Plus Q4 Intentions)
Well hey there and welcome to the Financial Fix Up Podcast. I’m your host, Sarah Brumley, and today I’m sharing another special bonus episode to give you a little insight into what’s happening in my life, with my family, how we managed with financial goals in quarters two and three, and then kinda dig a little into what we have planned for our family and for our finances as we move through quarter four. And I don’t know about you, but it is baffling to me that we are already closer to 2025 than we are to 2023. Isn’t that crazy?
Now I do want to remind you that this is my journey that I’m sharing. Please do not compare yourself or your situation to me, okay? I believe that this type of honesty, of transparency is valuable as encouragement and even at times, inspiration, but it’s not meant to make you feel bad or discouraged about whatever situation you currently find yourself in. It takes work and what you see of me and my family situation now isn’t perfect, but it’s been years in the making to get here. So, I hope you’ll be able to find that as encouragement today.
No comparison, just encouragement. And with that, let’s jump into it.
Family Update
So, starting with our family update, I’ll just say that we are incredibly blessed to be where we are today.
I mentioned in my last family update that we have a daughter in a mental health facility out of state due to some severe mental health needs and that’s still the case today. One of the biggest blessings over these past six months, though, is that we’ve only had one big medical bill that came out of the blue and that we’ve only had to fight insurance for coverage once. So, all in all that’s been a huge answer to prayer and quite honestly, a relief not to have to fight for the financial coverage and care that she needs. So, we’re continuing to pray that that will be the case going forward.
At home, Justin just started his 18th year of teaching, so that’s exciting. He’s loving it and we’re loving that he brings home a paycheck each month. So, definitely a bonus.
Our oldest just entered her senior year of high school and is going to be eighteen in just a few short months. She’s been working the same job for about six months now and at this time plans to pursue cosmetology school after high school. So, that’s all good news there.
Our youngest is three and is completely obsessed with anything related to air conditioners, vacuums and heaters. In fact, he went to a play date for a few hours at another friends home and spent the entire time investigating and hanging out with their vacuum cleaner so…who knows, maybe we have a career path for him already laid out? Hehe. But seriously. He’s such a fun kid to have around and we’re blessed to see him grow and thrive.
My own focus has shifted slightly over the past few months as Justin and I have discussed what our long-term plans look like with our youngest’s education and child care needs. Because of those discussions, I’ve made the decisions to back off significantly from designing websites and am now only taking a few select clients each month. That’s allowed me to focus more on keeping up with the family and things around the house which has been really helpful for all of us. I’ve also been able to spend a little more time on some writing projects I put on the back burner a few years ago and it feels good to see some progress made with those.
So, that’s my family update. A little insight into what we’re currently up to, just to give you a little context as we talk about goals.
Quarters 2 and 3 Goal Recap
Now our quarter 2 and 3 goals were kinda successful once again.
Goal #1: Debt Payoff
The first goal that Justin and I chose together at the beginning of the year was to pay off two debts that we have – our truck loan and our camper loan. And this was a goal that we had for 2024 as a whole, with the idea that we would pay off the truck loan by the end of June and the camper loan by the end of December. And I am happy to report that we made our final truck payment at the beginning of September. So that’s a huge win and I can’t tell you how excited we were to receive the title in the mail last week!
Now that our truck is paid off we will redirect those funds to other areas of our budget that need them and I think that’s a huge win all around.
Goal #2: Bulk Purchases on Credit
The second goal – and one we made for quarter 2 was to responsibly use our credit card for large purposes for purpose of getting the cash back on those. I had toyed with it a bit in quarter 1 and thought it was worth trying, but I’m going to be honest, we just can’t be trusted. So, after a month of putting a little extra on the card, we have decided that this is not a goal or a practice that we will continue going forward.
I wouldn’t call it a complete failure, because we learned what doesn’t work, but in reality it was a failure and one we won’t repeat hopefully.
Goal #3: Fund the Summer Vacation
The third goal we had for quarter 2 was to fully fund our summer vacation which was a complete success. We had the funds to be able to go enjoy time with my entire family in South Dakota and I’m so grateful for the experience.
We’ve all been to the area before, but it was so much fun to see some of the sights we haven’t seen in decades. We were able to go to Mt. Rushmore, spend a day at Evan’s Plunge, which – if you’re ever in Hot Springs, South Dakota you should definitely check out – and we even got to go to the Mammoth Site which was really neat, and I don’t love that kind of thing normally, but the kids had so much fun. So, highly recommend if you are in the area.
But, setting that goal in January meant that money wasn’t tight in July and for that I’m thankful and counting it as a complete win.
So, those were my goals for quarter 2 and 3, among other things. And mostly they were a success, so that’s great.
My Personal and Financial Goals for Quarter 4
For quarter 4, Justin and I have discussed our financial and personal goals and have decided to prioritize a few things this quarter.
Goal #1: Use Extra Income to Fund Emergency Savings
The first goal we have is to use any extra income to fund our emergency savings. Like I mentioned, we had a big medical expense that wiped out a good portion of our savings so over these next couple of months our plan is to use any extra income to help get our savings account back to where we want it.
The good news is that in October and November my husband normally gets a slightly bigger paycheck due to some extra hours he works, so we intend to put anything that is above his base pay back into the savings account.
So, that’s goal number 1.
Goal #2: Create and Stick to Our Holiday Budget
The second goal we have is to create and then stick to our holiday budget. And we’ve been pretty good about this over the past few years, but I want to make sure that we are really attentive to it this year, especially when it feels like we’ve made such great progress with our finances, I really want to make sure we end the year strong. It would be so easy to get off track now and end the year worse off than we started if we aren’t careful. I’m sure you can understand.
So, we will be sitting down to discuss our holiday plans and finances sometime over the next few weeks and then carefully adhering to that budget.
I have a whole series of holiday podcast episodes planned that will be coming out in the next few weeks so you’ll get a little insight into how we create that holiday budget, the things that we say to family and friends when it comes to gatherings and gift giving and that kind of thing, so definitely make sure you’re subscribed so you don’t miss those!
Anyways, goal number 2, create and stick to our holiday budget.
Goal #3: Mini-Photo Books
The third goal we have for this last quarter of 2024 seems a little silly, but I really want to get all of our photos from the past few years into those mini-photo books so that we can keep up with it going forward.
And I used to spend the week between Christmas and New Years printing off all of the photos from the previous year and then sticking them into photo albums, which I think is great, but there are so many ways to do it without actually having to print each photo and I’m in love with idea of having those little photo books sitting around so that my kids can look at them and see the happy times we have together. I really haven’t done any of this since my littlest was born over three years ago, so I think that’s a good time frame to get caught up on.
So, there you have it – our family goals for quarter 4.
Additional Goals
Of course, we have additional goals. Personally, I have a health goal that I want to meet and have started a challenge just this week with some friends to help meet that goal. I’m also still focused on compartmentalizing my work time and my personal and family time so I can be present where and when I need to be. Additionally, I have some ongoing goals related to friends and those within my networks that I want to continue to create genuine relationships with.
So, there are other goals there, too. And that’s a great reminder that you can have as few OR as many goals depending on your current situation.
Goals for 2024: Potential Roadblocks
As always, I think it’s important to recognize and anticipate any roadblocks that might come up along the way. These goals will be challenging, right? And obviously you saw that Quarter 2 and 3 weren’t perfect, right? So, there will be roadblocks to success and it’s always better to plan for them as best you can. The following are just a few that I came up with for the upcoming quarter:
- Like I said at the beginning, one of our daughters is currently in a residential treatment facility for mental illness. At the time I’m sharing this, she is still covered as medically necessary by insurance. We understand that it’s very likely that she won’t be covered long enough to complete the entire program, so that’s something we may have to deal with financial when or if the time comes. Unfortunately, we can’t know for sure when or even if that will happen, so we will cross that bridge when we get to it.
- As always, unexpected medical or housing expenses could also derail our financial goals, however, we do our best to fully fund our savings accounts for those categories to prevent catastrophe.
- Overspending on daily living expenses or unplanned eating out could also eat into our budget AND could make it hard for me maintain my health goals. To counteract that, we are putting in the work ahead of time with our meal planning and grocery shopping and this will also help us when it comes to placing those larger amounts on our credit card for purpose of getting cash back because when we’ve made those plans ahead, we will be less likely to forget the step of paying off that balance immediately.
Of course there are likely other potential roadblocks, but for now, those are the ones we can anticipate and work toward acknowledging and (hopefully!!!) avoiding.
What are your Quarter 4 Goals?
So, there you have it – my Quarter 4 goals. And, I want to remind you that if you don’t already have goals in place that you’re working toward this year, it’s never too late to start. You don’t have to wait until January 2025. In fact, wouldn’t it be great if you could get to that date and see all the progress you’ve already made? The only way to do so is to get started.
If one of your goals requires to you set up a budget or revamp the one you have, then I’d like to offer you my FREE Family Budget Worksheet. It’ll walk you through the necessary steps to get that budget up and running so that you can begin achieving your biggest financial goals. You can find it at lemonblessings.com/family-budget or by clicking the link in the show notes.
Whatever you decide, just know that I’m cheering you on! You’ve got this! Have an amazing day and I’ll chat with you again next time!
