Pay Myself First

I'd read many years ago, when I started on my financially informed journey, that you pay yourself first from each paycheck. That means before you pay the bills or spend your money, you put money aside for important dreams. I like to think of it as buckets of money. If I want to save money for my daughter's college, I put x dollars in the college bucket. I'd do the same thing for retirement, a house or whatever else may be important to me. I've come to learn that if I don't want to feel like a martyr, I also need to put aside money for myself; for something not as noble as college or retirement. We could call it a dreams bucket. I've been doing this for at least a decade, possibly two. Now I want to look over my finances and get them in line with my dreams and values. When I wrote my wishes list there was an awful lot of traveling dreams that I wrote down. I'm thinking it is time to start a travel bucket. I will spend time looking where I can make some cuts to fund that important wish I have. ..No time like today.

Also remember to leave enough money to cover your bills and other fixed costs: food, gas etc.