I have had an on again off again relathionspip with my FIRE plan. I start the plan follow through for a while and then life seems to pull me away from the plan. I need some help getting back into the planing and following through. I think my problem is as I track the planit seems I am not seeing enough improvement towards my goal on a week to week basis.
Any suggestions? A book or article? other?
I suggest setting small, realizable short-term goals and seeing them through.
When I was 14, I was going on a school trip to Disneyland. Through fundraising and through my parents, the airfare and hotels were covered. But my parents told me I needed to use my weekly allowance to cover any spending $ I wanted. Beginning in September (the trip was in late March, IIRC) I took $3 from my $10 allowance each week and put it in a jar. To that I added the small sums my grandparents sent for Xmas. Each week I could measure the progress made, and I felt like I was "on track" to my goal. By the time of the trip, I had saved enough $$ for a few nicknacks at Disneyland.
While I was in college, I wanted a new Bike, It cost about $350ish. I could have put it on a credit card, but I didn't like paying interest to a company. I also enjoyed drinking beer in college. I would usually have 1 or 2 beers most nights while I studied (yes, I know . . .). That cost money. So to pay for the bike, I made two complimentary goals: (1) stop drinking beer and (2) start putting my beer money toward a new bike. Every day I didn't have a beer I'd put $2 in a box. That's probably what I previously spent on beer each day. Each day that I drank a beer, I
took $1 out of the box and put it in my wallet (where it disappeared into some abyss). I really wanted that bike. I also added in the miscellaneous Xmas and Bday checks I got from relatives. Every few days I counted the money -- I could see it growing regularly, and I could count down the days until I had my bike.
These days, my goals are a little larger, but I nonetheless have goals and regularly check them. I have long terms goals (retire early, maintain a fulfilling career, have a happy family, etc.). But those are not really quantifiable on a week to week basis, and as others have mentioned I suggest you avoid doing so. I also have shorter term goals -- cross the $50K mark in my Roth IRA, save $ to climb Kilimanjaro next year (yes, I'm setting aside $ each month for that, now in an account instead of a jar), etc. These are more quantifiable on a short term basis. These are the sorts of goals that you can realize and that will help feed further saving.
Sorry for the long post . ..