Accountability

One of the hallmarks of good goal-setting is a system of accountability. I hate that.

As a single woman, I do what I want with my money. This is one of the big upsides to being single, IMHO, but it also means I can run fiscally amok. I could, for instance, buy over $500 in out-of-print Signet Regency novels in PDF form. (Not that I would do that, or anything. Oh, damn.) I suspect that a financial partner-for-life would look at me and say, "WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU, WOMAN?"

How did I get sidetracked onto that embarrassing confession?

Back to accountability. It seems to me that one of the purposes of personal finance blogging, from the blogger's perspective, is to encourage accountability. You see, I don't need accountability in the flesh, nagging at me in the grocery store. I already nag at me in the grocery store. What I need (what many of us need) is a place to post the goals and then post the small steps to completion, or the setbacks. By publicly declaring that we will beat the debt, save the money, buy the house or ditch the shoe habit, we have started writing our own stories for an audience. And we, as authors, love happy endings.

(And I, as someone who has spent too many years telling stories and studying literature, am very hung up on the significance of narrative creation. So I think everyone frames life experiences into comprehensible plotlines. So sue me.)

Here's the deal, dear reader. I write down how I'm doing. You read. You occasionally add a comment, such as, "$500? You're smoking crack." Validated, I write down how I'm doing. Et cetera. Thank you for joining my therapy group.

Smart goals

Why "Smart Goals"? They sound better than Stupid Goals.

SMART is also an acronym for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Timely. I'm not a major fan of the cute acronym, but it is a good way to double-check goals for practicality.

For example:

I want to publish a novel.

Unfortunately, I don't run any presses, so this goal is not attainable without modification. Setting up a goal that depends on the money and goodwill of major publishing companies (or your spouse or your bank or the financial markets) is a big mistake. Good goals focus on personal actions, not desired results.

I want to finish my current novel.

Better, but still missing some basic points. When? What do I mean by finished? (You think there's one answer to this, try it sometime.)


How about this?

I want to work on revising and completing the rough draft of ECHO for at least 30 minutes every weekday. By June 15th, I want it copy-edited, formatted, printed, and mailed to my agent.

Now that's a goal. Specific, measureable (both in progress and completion), attainable, relevant, and timely.

This will keep me busy from a creative standpoint for some time.


On the financial side:

I want to pay off all debt except for my mortgage through accelerated payments or the "snowball" method by 2/28/2010. The total amount is approximately $15,800, and my current rate of payment is about $500 per month. In order to meet my goal, I need to pay an additional $160 per month.

There will be lots more on the subject of snowballing, budgeting, frugality and debt repayment, but this is a good start. If you can't wait for my words of wisdom, please head over to Paid Twice, one of my favorite M-Network bloggers.