2023 outs

• Musk/Twitter drama, 
• Fast fashion hauls
• Spending without budgets 

2023 ins 

• Wearing SPF 
• Everything White Lotus
• Setting SMART financial goals. 

The New Year is the perfect time to start fresh and look ahead at what you want to achieve - in particular when it comes to your finances.

You might choose to build your first emergency fund, save for a car, pay off your credit card bill, or up your super. But to achieve any of these goals, you also need a way of measuring the outcome and knowing the steps to get there. 

That’s where SMART goals come in.

SMART is an acronym that means: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-bound.

Have a crack yourself, by using the table above and the example to write out a couple of your own SMART goals. And don’t worry, you don’t need too many - it’s quality over quantity.

Setting Mini-Targets:

Once you’ve got your SMART goal, the next step is setting mini-targets to achieve that goal. 

For example: I want to save $3,000 for my emergency fund in 6 months (24 weeks) so that means I need to save $125 per week. 

‍Putting it into action:

Setting the goals and targets is the less scary part, now we put it all into action!

For example, in order for me to save $125 a week, I might choose to: 

• Set up an auto-transfer of 10% of my take-home income into a savings account
• Meal prep for work 3x per week rather than just once 
• Rent or buy second-hand clothes for special events like weddings 

You can then estimate how much you can save from each action and keep track as you go. 

It’s about the journey AND the destination:

Financial goals are a lot like fitness goals and career goals, they’re a long game. You work on them overtime, building bit by bit. The goals are super important in setting up direction, but it’s the actions that help you actually achieve the goals.