Anniversary and Goal Setting

For the first few years of our marriage when it was our anniversary we would go out to eat and in the middle of dinner we would discuss some financial goals.  We have not done this in years.  On November 29th we will be celebrating our 29th wedding anniversary.  Kind of weird - married 29 years on the 29th.   We will be celebrating this day with our two sons and daughter in law and we will all go out to eat.  Right now I would settle for a hamburger at a fast food restaurant but we have set aside some money for a meal at an actual restaurant - probably Applebees.  (We rarely eat out.)  It is hard talking about food since today is Thanksgiving and I am stuffed from eating a wonderful turkey dinner. 

This year I am reinstituting the financial goal setting discussion for the following year.  I have a hard time setting goals and then following through on my own.  I am getting better at this.   Talking money is hard.  Facing financial failure by not having a financial plan and avoiding financial discussions is disastrous.  So when we get back from dinner or perhaps the next day we will set aside some time to go over some financial goals for next year.

I know of one challenge already.  My husband's employer is passing on an increase in insurance to the employees.  The extra expense will be $31.00 every two weeks beginning in January.  We have no expectation of a raise this year.  He didn't receive one last year and frankly we are so happy that he has a job.  In fact his salary decreased this year and with my job loss, we have had a significant reduction in income.

So our monthly income just decreased by $62.00.  What are we going to do to make up for this loss of income so that we don't sacrifice the amount of money that we are using to pay down bills or put in savings?  This is the type of discussion that we will have.

I know - romantic isn't it?  We can have the discussion by candlight I suppose.  This discussion represents that we are a team.  We live together as husband and wife and we are responsible to each other for the decisions that we make.  Talking about goals and what we face brings peace of mind to me.  It means we have a plan and that makes me feel secure and loved.