We are far enough into the first of the New year, but it is always important to keep those money saving goals and challenges going through out the entire year. It’s March and how are you all doing on your financial goals for the year? Have they been put on hold, are you making any progress with paying off your debts? Staying with your goals of paying off your debt or whatever financial goal you have is not easy keep on top of at times. Things happen like the need to get new tires on your car because the mechanic says you should not be driving on these tires. Things like an trip to the emergency room with your little one. It’s going to happen when you have these great goals to get financially secure in your life. I wanted to provide you with some of my money saving tips & a challenge to help you keep on your goals for 2017.

My husband and I were able to go all the way through undergrad with no debt. It was seriously amazing and such a blessing. When my husband got into Veterinary school though that was a different story. We had to take out our very first loans ever as a married couple and single lives. We both started to cry inside. It was scary, but we have been smart about it. We lived dirt cheap while going to school. We continue to live within our means so that we can get that debt down, but things still come up. We have paid off some of our debts and gotten rid of things we don’t really need. Things like satellite TV and going out to eat so often. Both things we both love, but really can live without. We stream Netflix and other channels with our Roku. It saves us in the long run. Also I have started to enjoy cooking more for my family at home instead of eating out. It really is so much healthier and better for our family anyways.

With the money we are saving from getting rid of un-needed things and paying off some of our debt we have put that money towards our other debts we have.It has been a great system for us so far. This year we wanted to start saving up money more this year so that when those things come up we can still pay our mortgage down, our car payment and student loans down. Earnest has inspired me to provide my readers with their Money Saving Challenge for 2017 and also inform them about their site. They help you refinance your loans on terms that you want and have goals for. They also work with those with just personal loans as well, so you don’t have to have student debt to check them out. They have a very user friendly website so check them out at Earnest .

-For March My Financial challenge for myself & you is to set up a grocery budget, so that as a family we can save more money that way and build up our savings.

-For June My Financial challenge for myself & you is to build up an emergency fund. This will help with the paying for the surprise visits to the ER, or the new tires you need on your family car.

-For September My Financial challenge for myself & you is to pay off some of your debt. Maybe you have a loan that is so close to being paid off and you have some extra money saved up. Put that money towards that loan to get it done with. Trust me you will feel so good doing this!

-For December My Financial Challenge for myself & you is to spend less going out to eat and activities that spend a lot of money. In December this can be a challenge with all the holiday activities going on, but it can be done. You will thank yourself in the end after the holidays when you do.     I have a couple other resources to help you with your budgeting and keeping track of your finances that will hopefully help you keep on track with this challenge. I have my Monthly Family Budget printable and my new Monthly Budget printable. If you click on the links you can find and use these printables! What are some financial goals you have set the year 2017, and how are you meeting them? I would love to hear!