This is a personal log entry for my 30-day budget challenge. You can also keep me honest by tracking my current activity page.
This past 30 days really flew by, and I have to admit that I'm questioning the wisdom of doing a 30-day challenge while I was out of town for 10 days. Life goes on, though, so here's the recap...
I pinned down some goals.
The main challenge of days 21-30 was to pick a priority (in terms of debts) and set some long-term goals, preferably something big. Honestly, I've been over that so many times in the past couple of years that the challenge didn't add much. My wife and I have been aggressive about our debts, and basically only owe money on our house. That is what it is - we have solid equity at low interest, and we're not about to pay it off in a year.
Our big goals are pretty clear, too, at least financially. With a 1-year-old, we're running out of space, and will probably look for a bigger house as things settle. A lot of that settling is the market, which is beyond our control, so we do our best to run the numbers and see where we stand. We also decide to be proactive about setting up a college fund, and that's been in swing for a few months.
So, what did I learn?
I think the toughest part of the challenge for me was actually the small stuff. We've let a few spending habits slip since we've gotten ahead and after our daughter was born. It's not a disaster, but some accountability was a good idea.
This was also the first 30-day challenge that wasn't really for me. I feel like I've learned these lessons, but I wanted to practice what I preached in the e-book. At this point, a lot of the challenge was old news for me - I'd been through it and there wasn't a lot to add.
I guess the positive takeaway is that the habits I've built over time have mostly stuck. I'm pretty good with money, and I hope I approach it more rationally and maturely than I did in my 20s.
If anyone stuck with me and wants to admit it, let me know what happened (good and bad). I'm pondering my next challenge and will announce it by the end of August.
