I remember feeling very strange when I turned 30 in 2019. It felt like my youth was officially gone, and I would now be expected to be a full-on, fully fledged, never-make-a-mistake adult. 30 sounded old, mature. It didn’t feel like the faux grown up I felt like.
Now that I am a whopping 31, I still feel pretty much the same. I feel like I should be a more adult-y adult than I am. I mean, I’m a MOM, I’m a wife, I own a home and have a career. I’m a grown up, but I feel like a fake! Why do I still have to call my mom when I’m trying to cook something? Why don’t I have all sorts of investments and other things that sound like a foreign language to me? Why do I have debt, and student loans, and why are we still in what I consider our starter home? Why a million times over, basically.
I would like to start feeling more like an adult, and less like a phony. I want to be more responsible and wise, and to set goals and chase them. Since your 30s are (supposedly) a time when you start feeling settled in life, there are a lot of things I’d like us to accomplish while I’m still in my 30s. In 2029, I will turn 40 (!), so it would be amazing if we accomplished all of the below before then. I initially wanted to make a list of 30 things, but I just couldn’t come up with that many. I guess that means I’m doing better than I thought, huh?
Here are all the major things I’d like to see happen before I leave my 30s and turn 40 in 2029:
Pay off all debt except for the mortgage
Debt freedom has long been a dream of mine, but we haven’t always been the most responsible buyers, and we have some unnecessary debt including credit cards, cars, student loans, and a personal loan. The ultimate dream that would enable us to pursue all of our OTHER dreams would be to pay off all of our debt. By the time I turn 40, I’d like our mortgage to be the only debt that remains!
Pay off student loans
I know this one goes along with the first one, but my student loans are so massive and overwhelming, that it honestly deserves its own category. Because I am a public librarian, I am enrolled in the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, which waives your remaining balance after paying on your loans for 10 years under the Income Based Repayment Plan. This means that we should be done with them in late 2026, which is SO exciting. However, I am a bit wary because I’ve heard of many people getting denied their PSLF forgiveness. I re-certify my plan every year and should be on track, but I’m still nervous. Fingers crossed!
Have a large emergency fund of at least $10,000
Our emergency fund (aka general savings) is never very high. I really want us to have enough money in there to cover pretty much any emergency. I think $10,000 is a great amount and would take care of pretty much any unexpected expense that may come our way.
Sell our first home
There are a lot of things I love about our house, but if you know me, you know that my big dream is to sell it and move out to the country. We live in a very large suburb with a somewhat bad school district (it was much better when my parents went there and I went there), and our house is too small with zero storage. As you can see, there are several big reasons why I want to move. Since this is our first house, we have never gone through the process of having to sell, so it’s going to be a stressful and wild ride when the time comes, but I am also excited about it.
Buy a forever home, out in the country
My biggest goal for our next house is that it will be in a much more rural area than we’re in right now. I also want our forever home to be larger and more up to date. Plus, we need a nice yard and lots of land, which we’re lacking now.
Lose over 100 pounds… again… and keep it off
You already know that before I had my kids, I lost over 100 pounds. Now, I need to lose it again, and keep it off for good this time. I am looking forward to having weight loss surgery this year, and am getting closer and closer to the actual surgery. I just feel so unhealthy and out of shape for my age. I want to be more active with my kids, and I want to feel better about myself and my appearance.
Take our first vacation with the kids
The kids have never been on vacation. We just haven’t had the funds OR the strength and bravery to try and fly or travel with children yet. In this decade, I want us to put on my big girl pants and finally take our first vacation with the kids. I think Disney, a cruise, or a Disney cruise would be ideal. I hope that COVID goes away soon so that it’ll be safe to travel once again.
Take another couple’s vacation
Jerry and I have only ever been on two vacations as a couple: our honeymoon cruise in 2013, and another cruise in 2016 when my mom kept Caleb for a week for us. We’ve also done a couple of overnight trips, but they weren’t major. I really, really want to take another couple’s vacation sometime soon-ish, as long as we save up enough money, and my mom is willing to watch BOTH kids for a week. Hahaha, we will see. Our 10 year wedding anniversary is coming up in 2023, so maybe then? We both consider an Alaskan cruise to be a our major bucket list cruise, so maybe we’ll do that?! Who knows!
Finalize our will
A couple of years ago, I found a DIY will online and filled it in, but we never got it notarized or printed it out. We really need to notarize it or make it legal, then print it out and put it somewhere safe that my family knows about. This is really important because if something were to happen to us, we want our wishes about our children’s future to be granted without any struggles or questions.
As you can see, most of my goals are ultimately financial ones. Once we get our finances in better shape, a lot of our other goals will just kind of fall into place. Won’t that be nice? I know I said I really don’t feel like much of an adult, but I still have a lot of “adult” accomplishments that I can be proud of: I got my MLS in 2013, we bought a home in 2014, we had our beautiful sons in 2015 and 2018, we have great health insurance and retirement plans in place (pensions), and we even have life insurance through work. So yes, we’ve accomplished a lot already and I can’t wait to see what we do next!
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