Happy Friday #SMCmoneytribe. I am coming to you on week two of the She Makes Cents Money Challenge to talk about the subject of motivation. I imagine most people join this challenge for one major reason; they want their future financial situation to be better than their current circumstances. This can be with respect to a very specific goal, such as saving for vacation or it could simply be the catalyst to fostering better saving habits like starting an emergency fund. Either way, you accepted the challenge and are in it to win it, so I ask you…what keeps you motivated?
How I Stay Motivated
It’s very strange to say, but I am just as motivated by not disappointing readers like you as I am to clear my now $18,025.00 balance on my student loans. This goes back to the idea of the #SMCmoneytribe and the village of supportive accountability partners who know my goal and know my progress. Should I miss a week, which has happened before…hey, I am human, I think about all the people whom I’m sharing this experience with and I do whatever it takes to catch up. I tell people all the time, if you get off track, either catch up or start over but don’t give up.
Watching my balance go down is also a very gratifying feeling. I know where I started, I know where I want to be, and I know that timeline I have given myself to accomplish my ultimate goal to be completely debt free, not including my mortgage, within the next 3 years.
When I had credit card debt, I would allocate the weekly deposits from this challenge along with a monthly set payment of $300.00 to pay off my balance quickly. Once I eliminated that debt, I set aside that $300.00 + the weekly deposits from this challenge to make quarterly lump sum payments towards my student loan principal. This, my friends is what you call snowballing your debt. I know how I excited I get to see my balance on the student loans go down at the slow pace it is currently moving since so much of the payment goes towards interest and not the principal. The idea that my balance is about to make a major decrease by attacking the principal head on is the fuel I need to keep me motivated toward my larger goal of debt-free living.
Week 2 Update | She Makes Cents Money Challenge
For week two, I decided to cross off $25.00 on my bingo money card. Since the Mr. and I are joining forces this year, that gives us a joint year-to-date (YTD) total of $145.00.
What’s Your Motivation To Save? Please share below
I pose this question every year and 2017 is no different. What one word reflects your vision for 2017? So many of you submitted thoughtful responses via the 
Four years ago was my year of BALANCE, 2014 was my year of FOCUS, 2015 was my year of PASSION, 2016 was my year of BRAVERY, and I welcome my year of INTENTION. I am working very hard to make sure that my words and actions are in line with the following criteria: Is it kind? Is it necessary? Is it truthful? As each year passes, I take a moment and reflect on why I chose my earlier words, where I was in my personal development for that to be a necessary focus, and how I incorporated the meaning of those words in my life. 
Today’s Monday Motivation comes from Simone Biles. Below is a picture Simone put on Twitter with that caption: “out dream yourself”. When you were a child, I’m confident that you believed that you could be anything you wanted to be. I dreamed of being the first ballerina firefighter. Even though people laughed when I said it, I never stopped believing I could actually do it. My parents supported that goal and I have a picture somewhere of me with a plastic firefighter hat on while wearing a pink tulle tutu. I didn’t become the first ballerina firefighter only because I outgrew that dream.
shemakescents 