2023 Financial Goals Check In
*This is a collaborative post on my financial goals check-in for 2023
I’m always setting goals, especially when it comes to finances. At the start of 2023, I set a few financial goals, and as we’re two-thirds of the way through the year I thought it was a good time to check in on them.
A lot has changed this year with the cost of everything going up. While our priorities haven’t necessarily changed, the amount of spare money hasn’t gone up too much (despite my job change).
But before I look back at the goals I had back in January I wanted to reflect on new goals that have been added to the list.
All the home savings
Something I hadn’t factored into our main 2023 financial goals was various home savings. We’re still not quite there with our savings for our garage renovation that we’ll be finishing this year. And there have been other things that have popped up along the way that we’ve wanted to put money aside for.
Window film is something we’re currently saving for to put on our front windows to give us a more private space while still allowing light through. And I’m really tempted by some of the stunning effect films to make it look like stained glass windows.
Another home saving we need to start very soon is for an electric fireplace. We currently have a gas fire that we’ve never used. This is mainly because it’s not safe with our cats around, and I don’t trust myself with it. And as we have solar it will be more economical to have it on if it’s electric. We plan on using this to heat the house more than our gas radiators.
2023 financial goals check-in
I had three types of goals for 2023; savings, investments and debt, and other goals.
Savings goals
Our first financial goal was to fully save for our wedding and not get into debt. And I’m so happy that this was a massive success. We had been saving money for over three years and had a really comprehensive budget thanks to my love for spreadsheets. So everything was paid for before the day which was a massive relief.
Then the next savings goal was to fully save for our honeymoon in early 2024. We’ve been keeping fully on track with this saving and while it won’t be finished until the very end of the year it will be one that we’ll hit. We do have to pay off the holiday a few months before we finish saving though. We’ll be borrowing the money from another sinking fund and paying it back. But we knew this would be the case.
The final one of my savings-related financial goals was to keep on track with our savings for our cruise in September 2024. Again we’re sticking to the monthly savings goals that we have for this year. We’ve made a good start to our overall goal, but there’s still a way to go. Next year is when the saving for this starts to ramp up as we’ll have paid for our honeymoon.
Investments and debt
My goal was to add at least £1,000 into my lifetime ISA over 2023 and this is one I am not currently on track to hit. As we’ve had the wedding, and two big holidays to save for this hasn’t been a priority. But there’s still time to put a little extra in each week and you never know.
In tandem with that, a goal we had was to set Luke up with some sort of pension investment as he currently doesn’t have anything. Again this is one that we’ve not started to tackle. With prices rising so much over the past year we’ve not had as much spare money to play with as we’d like. I do want to at least do the research this year as to the best thing for Luke, either a lifetime ISA or a pension even if we don’t start paying in.
Then the final one was paying off at least £3,000 from our solar panel loan. It’s been a slower start to the year but I’m hoping that we can amp up some of our payments to get at least close to this figure before the end of 2023.
Other 2023 financial goals
I had a goal of increasing my full-time salary by at least 10%, and thanks to changing jobs in April I achieved this. Moving to my new role increased my salary by just over 20% which I am so happy about. The role I’ve moved into was the career step I was ready for and I have been loving it over the past 4 and a half months.
My financial financial goal was to use cashback more often. I think this has been a mixed bag, as I have definitely used it more often than I had in previous years, but I could still use it more.
How are you getting on with your 2023 financial goals?
21 responses to “2023 Financial Goals Check In”
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Rhian Westbury
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I love the idea of financial check ins, it is brilliant! You inspired me to do mine, this weekend for sure. Thank you so much.
It’s always good to know if you’re on track or not x
It is always good to have a financial check in I did ours recently. I do like to sound of the window film
I need to do this for myself. I keep a fairly close eye on my finances but a routine assessment like this would be so helpful.
It’s always good to keep a check and make sure everything is on track x
I love this systematic approach to finances. That’s really the only way you can stay on top of them.
You’re doing really well compared to many. I wish I was as dedicated to this and liked spreadsheets! Well done for not getting into debt for your wedding.
Totally agree, I feel very lucky to be in the position we’re in x
You are amazing, I’ve been struggling with how to track my finances every month. Maybe that’s the reason why I’m over budget always.
Always great to keep track of your goals and check in on them from time to time. Also the window film is awesome! It can also help cut back on the A/C bill in the summer.
I’m hoping that once we install it in our living room (one of the only rooms with AC) this will help. But in the UK it’s way more about keeping the warmth inside during the winter x
Congratulations on your raise! Great tip about having a savings, investments, and debt financial goal. Looks like I have two out of three for the year.
Such an inspiring and encouraging read. So, so happy for you to have gotten the wedding you wanted without overspending. It’s really difficult nowadays between the rising costs of everything and honestly, just the pressures of having a big wedding. I think it was incredibly smart not to rush into it, but to take the time to save up so you had peace of mind and could enough the married life now <3 Thanks for sharing!
Totally agree, we definitely did everything we wanted for the wedding and realistically spent more than I would have initially wanted, but we had just over three years to save so it was all worth it in the end x
Setting and revisiting financial goals is so crucial, especially in these times of changing costs. It’s great to see you adapt and prioritize new goals like the home improvements you mentioned. Your thoughtful approach to both finances and home upgrades is inspiring
Thanks, you always need to re evaluate to ensure you’re going after the right goals for the time, and things change quickly x
Rhian, beautiful goals and their achievement! What a GRL and wise actions and plannning!
I think it’s smart in certain situations to borrow from one fund and pay it back. As long as it’s preplanned and carefully executed, why not? 🙂
It’s wonderful to see your detailed financial goals and your progress. Managing various savings for your home and upcoming events like the wedding and honeymoon is commendable. Your ability to adapt and your new job’s impact on your salary are inspiring. Keep up the great work!
This is helpful post. I need to also do this. Routine assessments will be really helpful
It’s helpful as you can pick up things that may not be on track x