Here’s the steps we’ve already covered:

• Step 1: Brainstorming
• Step 2: Assigning Numerical Values
• Step 3: Calculating Total Cost
• Step 4: Reflecting on Priorities and Values
• Step 5: Fit Your Goals To Your Budget

Step 6: Track Your Progress

Create a tracking chart. One of the best ways to make sure that you are making progress on your new dollar plan is to hold yourself accountable.

Calculate planned values. Copy the grid that you set up previously but add a new line for each goal. One line will be planned, the other actual. Replace your current columns with columns for each year of the plan and fill in the planned total at the end of each year.

Enter actuals each year. A year from now, fill in your totals and make sure you are on track. I like to use graphs to track my changes over time.

Revisit and refine your goals. Periodically you’ll want to update your goals as they change over time. I usually like to update ours every year or every other year.

My Example

Here’s what my new grid would look like in the example. I skipped right from year 6 to the final year in the example; you’ll have as many columns as you have years in your plan.

That’s it! Now it’s just a matter of saving the money for your goals! Enjoy the process of saving and you’ll have fun working toward your goals.

For those of you that created plans, I’d love to hear about them!

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Previous Steps:

• Step 1: Brainstorming
• Step 2: Assigning Numerical Values
• Step 3: Calculating Total Cost

Step 4: Reflecting on priorities and values.

Reflect. Once you have calculated the monthly savings needed for each goal, take some time to reflect on each one. In my example, I realized that I would be saving more for a vacation home than I would for a new car. To me, that doesn’t align with where I want to spend my money. Especially since the priority was higher on the car.

Adjust values. Start with the goals that have the lowest priority. Either increase the amount of time to achieve the goal, or decrease the total amount needed. Both of these will lower your monthly savings needed.

At this point, you are not trying to close the gap with your budget, but you are aligning your priorities. We will fit the plan to your other monthly obligations in the next step.

Calculate new monthly savings. Use the savings calculators from Dinkytown and Bankrate mentioned in Step 3 to recalculate the new monthly savings needed.

Repeat. Keep working on the goals until you are happy that the monthly savings, priorities, years, and total cost align with your values.

My Example

I extended the time for the vacation home. In doing so, the monthly savings dropped by $134. Now, it is more closely aligned with my priorities and has a lower monthly savings than the car.

It may seem like we are circling back to the priorities, and you are probably asking yourself why we didn’t start with them? If we had, the last step would take forever. It’s much easier to state your ideal time and money and then adjust it, than it is to calculate one goal based on the other.

Stay tuned for step 5 next week!

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Step 3: Calculating Total Cost

This step will probably take the longest of all the steps. Give yourself some extra time to work on the calculations.

Add to the grid. Add 3 more columns to your worksheet. The new column headers are years, total cost, and monthly savings. In addition, add a row at the bottom for total.

Here’s what the new worksheet will look like:

Assign number of years. Begin by assigning the ideal number of years from now that you would like to meet your goal.

Calculate total cost. To project the total cost there are a variety of financial calculators I have used in the past to get you started. In addition dinkytown has many more. Don’t forget to account for inflation if the goal is long term.

Some of the goals may take some time to figure out. For example, determining how much you need in retirement. Take time to work through these carefully. The more time you spend on this step, the more accurate your dollar plan will be.

Calculate monthly savings. Find the monthly savings needed for each goal. Use a savings calculator that gives you the monthly amount or a savings calculator where you enter the monthly amount and adjust it until the total costs match.

For the interest rate, assign a number that corresponds to the length of time you will save, the type of savings and your risk tolerance. For example, if you are saving for a car, you would probably use a savings account which has a lower interest rate than stocks. You might use stocks to save for retirement. In the past I used 2 or 3% for savings and 8% for investments in stocks.

My Example

Here’s an example of what my chart might look like. I made up numbers for the illustration. The total costs for both houses are down payments only.

I’m going to give you an extra week to work on this step since it’s a more involved one. I’ll be back in two weeks with Step 4! Feel free to ask questions if you need help with this step.

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Step 2: Assigning Numerical Values

This isn’t necessarily a priority order, but rather an order to work on the goals as you fit them together in your dollar plan. Consider it the map or to-do list in putting together your dollar plan.

Create a grid. The grid will need five columns (I use excel). List all your goals down the left column and label the remaining columns with: Time frame, Cost, Priority, and Total.

It should look like this:

Assign values to each. You will assign a value (1, 3, or 9) to each goal. Complete an entire column before moving onto the next one.

Here’s how to assign the values in each column:

• Time: 1= short term, 3= medium term, 9= long term
• Cost: 1= low cost, 3= medium cost, 9= high cost
• Priority: 1= low priority, 3= medium priority, 9= high priority

Total the rows. Add each row across and put the total in the final column.

Your total is now your working order. We will begin with the highest number and work down to the lowest number. If you don’t agree with how the numbers came out, don’t worry, it’s not necessarily importance, but a working plan. It will give us somewhere to start in the next step.

Spousal Consideration. If you are working on the plan with a partner, you can each assign values, then average the totals to come up with one list that represents your combined values.

My Example

This is how some of my goals lined up in this exercise when I did it a couple years ago:

Next up? Step 3.

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Introduction

Where are you heading in life? If you could look back on your life 10, 20, or 50 years down the road, what would you want to have accomplished?

Many of us set goals, but have you gone to the next step to align your financial life with your goals?

By the end of the series, you’ll have a roadmap that takes you from where you are now to where you want to get to… financially. And we’ll put some checkpoints in too. Let’s get started!

Step 1: Brainstorming

All good plans begin with a brainstorming session. You probably have a handful of goals in your head, but have you devoted time to really generating a bunch of ideas that you want to pursue?

Create the environment. What situation do your creative juices flow best in? Is it with a big empty posterboard sized paper? How about sticky notes? A plain piece of notebook paper? Get the supplies and get comfortable.

Block out some time. An hour should be good to get started. Make sure you won’t have any interruptions. The last thing you want is to get going on a roll and have the phone ring.

Start writing. Write down your goals in life. These can be short-term, long-term, or anywhere in between. The goals do not have to be financial. Anything goes here. Write for an hour and include any thoughts that pop into your head. This isn’t the time to restrict yourself. If you want it, write it down.

Walk away. This is a critical piece in brainstorming. Too often after we jotted down all our ideas, we try to classify them immediately. Give the brainstorming some time for reflection. By letting the ideas just sit for a day or two, you’ll find yourself thinking about them, adding to them, and building some excitement.

Group your ideas. Once you’ve given the ideas time to develop, it’s time to group similar items. You may find your ideas fall into some general categories: family, career, retirement, etc. You’ll be able to focus on a category of plans together since they are likely intertwined.

Another consideration:

Get your spouse involved. You can do a joint brainstorming session, or you can brainstorm separately and work to combine your ideas later.

My Examples

Some of my goals that I’ve shared previously:

• Two year plan so I can choose to Stay Home or Go Back to Work without financial consequences.
• Our ultimate goal: Become financially independent by 2017.
• Financial Goals for 2008 includes many of our short-term goals for the year.

What are your goals?

Next up? Step 2.

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