Planning Tool

I finished my financial planning the other day.
It was hard to consider how to organize my mind into all that categories and over all those years.

I made a good tool to make it easier to see where the money goes and how to organize all the different categories.

Here is what I did---
Take a piece of notebook paper and turn it landscape.

• Across the top I wrote the years 10, 11, 12 and so forth. I did two rows so that I was able to see 2010-2040 on one page. (Peter was cracking up that I was planning for 30 yrs!)
  

• Then I used a line and a dot system to show when the savings in each category would start and stop.

• For example- In March 2010 we'll begin saving for our emergency fund. In August 2011, the emergency fund will be full. (just in time for us to come back to the US) The line stopped there and then I started another line and dot to allocate the money we were saving for the e fund into a different goal.
  

But I didn't want to put all our savings into just one category and only save for the e fund. So I put another line on the chart.

• I started another line for overpaying our mortgage by 10% each month. This will allow us to pay off our home by 2024. That is a longer line!!! If we can do this, the house will be paid off when Weston is beginning college and then we can allocate the money we would have been paying for our home to college for the next six years- another line and dot. After college in 2030, that money may possibly go into our retirement fund aggressively.
• I added two other categories with lines and dots one for education and one for regular bills and needs like Christmas gifts and insurance payments due once a year.
  

I continued adding line and dots until all our money was exhausted. (It didn't take that long.) I know that time and circumstance will change those lines and dots and of course I will be flexible, but at least there is a goal to aim at for now. :)

The reason I blog about it is because it was encouraging. Sometimes when deciding to make a savings goal it seems like it will take so long and then I give up. But seeing it as a line and dot on a 30 year chart really showed how fast it will be accomplished. It also showed how much even a little bit of savings really adds up to a large amount over time. It makes it easier for me to say no to something small and fleeting, say an orange dress! :), and say yes to longer term goals. :)