Getting Back On Track

by Tasha in Pre-trip, Budgeting

There's a common anecdote about target fixation. A pilot in a fighter jet becomes so focused on his target that he either crashes into it, or misses it completely. It's one of the many pitfalls of the long road vs the quick fix. You have so much extra time to stare at your target, that it either seems unattainable or so attainable you don't even need to try.

Yes, as the sleuthy among you may have realised, this is all a clever metaphorical example that conveniently relates to my situation without me having to admit I screwed up. However, last time we were all together we talked about fear - fear of failure, fear of humiliation. So therefore, here for your scrutiny and judgement, I do declare: I, Tasha Pemberton, got so off track that I forgot what I was fighting for in the first place.

It's not that we stopped saving, or forgot how wonderful the beaches are in Phuket. More like I got so caught up in the little silly annoyances of day to day life that I lost sight of the bigger picture.

Here it is - the bigger picture

In a form of absolution and to banish the slight travel blues on the horizon, I am going to share with you our budget progress so far - to replace all the lingering negativity with some healthy positivity. So here without further ado is...

Our current progress and Tasha's Plan for Getting Back on Track:

Since late February, when we began to track our savings, I have been keeping two almost-identical spreadsheets to compile these figures. The first with a budget of $500 a week (the basic minimum amount to achieve our hopes and dreams), and the second with a budget of $600 a week (our ideal savings amount).

Firstly, I track our weekly savings in a chart that looks a little something like this:

Budget A - $500


Budget B - $600

You can clearly see, our savings are not as linear as you might think. Between my job that pays weekly and Alex's that pays fortnightly, there are often gaps of no savings one week - then a mega amount the week after. This system works for us, because it allows for ups and downs of actual life - a car payment or birthday one week, and perhaps a double shift or some extra cash the week after.

The second chart I keep is our accumulative savings, that is, everything we have saved so far:

Budget A - $500

Budget B - $600

You can see we are clearly above our minimum budget, but not quite at our preferred budget. This is a good place to be. We have something specific to work for, yet also enough momentum to actually reach it.

The number one pro I get from tracking our savings is you can definitely see that even if you get into a slump - even if you've had a bad month (or months) - you can see that the figures can even themselves out. You can come back from it. After all, nothing's over 'til the fat lady sings.

And perhaps not even then

and...what about Tasha's Plan for Getting Back on Track?

Okay, so it is obvious that, although we may hate them, setting goals works for us. Public accountability works. Our budgets are beautifully on track - so maybe applying the same logic to other facets of this learning and travelling experience is not the worst idea.

There are a few areas where this could be uber-beneficial. Namely - getting the last of our gear, paperwork, and leaving-prep in order as the clock counts down to our November 2013 D-Day. But first I want to focus on our extremely lacking fortitude in keeping our online posting dates. Therefore I am setting a goal to upload one article per week for the next six weeks.

Not because blogging should neccesarily be a weekly excercise, but so both Alex and I know that this schedule is achievable. And once you have posted once a week for almost two months, a biweekly post seems almost too easy.

Or at least it would be... if not for those MEDDLING KIDS!!!!

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