Beating Broke

Personal Finance from the Broke Perspective

Our Two Large Financial Goals for 2023

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Our Two Large Financial Goals for 2023

I’m a goal-setter. If I don’t set goals, I meander through life, often wasting time and money. Goal setting gives me direction and purpose. I have an objective to work toward, and since I dislike not achieving my goals, I work hard. My husband and I recently sat down to discuss our plans for next year, and we settled on two large financial goals for 2023.

We’re in a Good Financial Place Going Into 2023

Thankfully, we’re in a good financial place going into 2023. We have paid off all our debts in the last few years, except for my husband’s student loans and our house. We’re not paying anything on the student loans until the pandemic pause ends.

Since we’re not focused on getting out of debt, we can focus on enjoying life and strengthening our financial position.

Our Two Large Financial Goals for 2023

This year’s goals are ones we’ve never tackled throughout our 20-plus-year marriage.

Save/Plan for Domestic and International Travel

My husband and I love to travel, but we’ve struggled with low-paying jobs and raising kids while paying off debt for most of our marriage. Now, we’re more secure financially, the kids are older, and the debts paid off. So we’ve decided to prioritize travel while we’re still young enough to enjoy it.

Take a Trip to Maine

Two Large Financial Goals for 2023

I have wanted to go to Maine since I was a teenager. The closest I got was Vermont. However, since our recent move to New York, we’re only eight hours away. Our goal this year is to travel to Maine for a vacation.

Save for a Trip to a European Country

We would also like to travel internationally. I have had the privilege of traveling to Canada, Ireland, China, Japan, and Switzerland. However, we haven’t traveled internationally for 20 years! So, it’s time to get back at it.

While we do plan to save for travel, we also plan to research travel hacking so we can go sooner than if we relied on savings alone.

Buy a New Car for (Mostly) Cash

We bought our Toyota Sienna 18 years ago. We financed almost the entire thing and paid it off in 4.5 years. We’re still driving that car, though, as you can imagine, we should replace it soon. (It currently has 238,000 miles on it.)

We bought my husband’s 2013 Subaru Outback used and again financed almost the entire thing. We paid it off in five years. It currently has 113,000 miles on it.

For the last few years, we’ve been saving to pay cash for a replacement for the Toyota Sienna. We currently have $20,000 saved. The goal is to buy the car with cash and, if necessary, a loan for no more than $10,000. If we can achieve this, it will be a huge financial victory because we’ve never been able to mostly pay for our vehicle in cash. Now, we need to decide what car we want.

Final Thoughts

Having financial goals, especially large financial goals for 2023 motivates us to stay on track financially. We tend to want to fund the goals instead of wasting money on small, unimportant items.

What are your financial goals for 2023?

Read More

Why Buying a Toyota Sienna Was One of Our Best Decisions

Why We Have a Costco Card Even Though There Isn’t a Costco Nearby

Our Favorite Small Ways to Save Money

4 Alternative Spring Break Vacation Options

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Spring is right around the corner, and for many, that means spring break.  However, if you are a college student or you have a child who is one, know that spring break for many kids doesn’t mean traipsing off to a beach location to spend the week drinking and partying.  For many others, spring break can be a time to help others.

The best of both worlds is traveling to new locations AND helping others.  There are plenty of spring break options to let you do just that, and the opportunities aren’t just for college students.

While there are many reputable companies that you can choose from, these are a few to get you started.

International Spring Break Options

Alternative spring break vacation
Original img: Kristin Klein on Flickr

GoVoluntouring.  This company lets you choose your volunteer opportunity based on age, the amount you can spend, duration, and what attractions and countries interest you.  GoVoluntouring has projects in many, many different countries from Croatia to Fiji to Iceland, just to name a few, and has opportunities from teaching abroad to environmental programs to wildlife programs.

Earthwatch Institute.  Earthwatch Institute’s focus is on environmental trips including climate change, ocean health, and wildlife expeditions.  They have trips available in every continent.  Another nice feature of Earthwatch is that if you spread the news about the company via social media and other avenues, you can receive a discount on your own travel.  Just sign up to be an Earthwatch Ambassador to take advantage of this program.

National Spring Break Options

American Hiking Association.  If you’d like to volunteer without getting a passport, you might consider the American Hiking Association’s opportunities to travel within the U.S. and volunteer.  You can search by the state you’re interested in traveling to.  Then, you’ll see how difficult the volunteer opportunity is, ranging from Easy to Very Strenuous, with three additional grades in between.  A moderate project (one step up from easy) might be performing trail maintenance at Fort Pickens in Florida.  A very strenuous project might be one that requires 6 to 10 miles of hiking a day in addition to trail clearing and maintenance including removing dead trees and repairing or installing turnpikes on the trails.

If you want to serve here, be aware that each trip generally only has 6 to 13 participants, so space is limited.  They currently still have openings in their program.

The United Way.  The most cost-effective alternative spring break program is with the United Way.  For a cost of approximately $275 to $395, you’ll have the chance to volunteer for a week and work on projects such as building houses, maintaining gardens, and assisting youth.

Of course, you don’t have to go with one of these companies.  There are likely plenty of opportunities to volunteer in your own community or to take a trip to a foreign country to help others through your church.

If you’re going to spend money on a spring break getaway, why not also do good while you’re there?  You’ll likely experience the country and its people more than if you just sat on a beach as a tourist watching the sunset.

Have you ever taken a volunteer vacation?  If so, where did you go and what did you do?  If not, would you consider taking one?

Take an Off Season Fall Vacation and Save Big

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The summer is rapidly drawing to a close, and you may think that your summer vacation window is closing.  However, if you are looking to take a trip on the cheap, now is the perfect time to take a late summer vacation and save some serious money.

For many destinations, the summer is the top vacation season.  Families pack up and take road trips to a variety of locations.  Once school begins, tourism drops off significantly.  In fact, “The Travel Industry Association says that 38 percent of trips are taken during the summer; the number drops sharply to 23 percent in fall” (MSNBC.com).

You can take advantage of this drop off by scoring better rates and benefiting from thinning crowds.  Here are some trips you may want to consider:

Take a trip to the beach—in September.  This isn’t possible for everyone, but if you don’t yet have children or you home-school, September may be the perfect time to hit the beach.  It is still warm, but the crowds have left and you benefit from discounted rates.  Great destinations include beaches on the coast of North Carolina or even Key West, where the prime tourist season doesn’t ramp up until November and December.

Visit Mickey—Take a trip to Disneyland.  Disneyland can be very expensive, but if you plan a trip in the fall, you will benefit from reduced rates and shorter to no lines for rides.  The trade off is that the park closes earlier and that there may not be as many shows being performed.  However, I will take that trade off if it means I will save a few hundred dollars on accommodations and will save time not waiting in line!

family vacation camping

Take a trip to the big city—Cities also experience a drop in tourism after the crisp fall weather sets in.  While New York City, Chicago and Miami may be prohibitively expensive in the summer months, hotels often discount their rates in the fall, making a trip to the city a bit more affordable.  Most of the big city locales, regardless of location around the country, still have relatively comfortable weather.  In Chicago and New York City, you don’t generally have to worry about biting cold weather and snow at least until November, leaving you the entire fall to enjoy.

Go big guns and visit Europe—I made the mistake of traveling in Europe in August, and it was packed and expensive.  Unbeknownst to me, many Europeans have August off and vacation with their families in addition to all of the travelers who come from outside Europe.  Save yourself money and the need to fight the crowds by traveling to Europe in the fall.  The only drawback?  You may have to deal with some rain (or sometimes a lot of rain), especially if you are traveling to a Mediterranean country.  You can defeat this drawback in part by scheduling museum days and other indoor attractions for the rainy days.

While the dog days of summer may be past us, there is still plenty of warmth left.  Take advantage of the lovely fall weather to take an off season vacation and save some serious money.

img credit: librarygroover, on Flickr.