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This post was sponsored, and paid for, by SunTrust. All opinions are my own.
This post was sponsored, and paid for, by SunTrust. All opinions are my own.
The New Year is approaching, and many of us are thinking about finances. I know that talking about money can be stressful, but today I’ve teamed up with SunTrust for this sponsored post because they want to continue to change the conversation about money. They are doing this with The onUp Challenge. Confidence starts here. It’s time to worry less about money.
It was in the past few years that Mickey and I really worked hard on our finances. We knew that sending four kids to college, plus saving money for retirement would be hard, so we wanted to start preparing now.
It’s important to find your goals. Our goal isn’t to have a lot of expensive things or to travel to extravagant places. We just want to spend time with our family and save our money so we don’t have to worry or stress.
In taking SunTrust’s onUp Challenge, you really learn how well you are doing with your finances, so you can build up your financial confidence.
It’s a challenge to help you aim high and conquer your fears. It’s a challenge to help you seize the day. When you put your energy into the things that you really want (traveling, owning a house, starting a family, saving for retirement) you can have it because you use your time and spend your money wisely to get to that point.
The onUp Challenge helps you to define what you value in your life and what matters most.
Worry less about money. Move over stress, confidence starts here. It’s your turn to shine.
How do you start?
Take the challenge: The Values Challenge is the first step. Here, you’ll define what you value in your life and what matters most.
Take the challenge. All of my answers must have been about family because my values challenge results told me that Family & Friends was important to me. It went on to give me some data about it (That I found to be quite shocking):
“Family and Friends: The average modern family spends just 38 minutes together each weekday. (SWNS Digital).
Kids. Pets. Friends. Loved ones come first [for you], regardless how big, small … or furry. Date nights with your partner jogs with your fur baby and time spent relaxing at home beat the latest “smart” gadget any day of the week.”
I couldn’t agree more- my favorite thing to do is spend time with family. When I went onto the quiz, my answers all revolved around the same things: being with family.
Next, you will explore 7 Magical Lands that are filled with advice, tools, challenges, and inspiration.
One of my favorite tips was found in the Land 6 about Managing your Home Expenses: “Do not spend more than 30 percent of your gross monthly income on housing (if you have 70 percent or more leftover, you’re more likely to have enough money for your other expenses). ”
Mickey and I never wanted to live above our means. We decided this when we were engaged and we stuck with it. We never bought a house that cost more than we could afford to manage comfortably.
It goes on to say that “In fact, more than 11 million renter households spent more than half of their incomes on housing in 2015.1 Not only does that mean having less money for necessities like food and healthcare, it also makes it more difficult to achieve financial confidence and save for other goals. Spending too much on living expenses can disrupt how much money you dedicate to what truly matters to you. ”
My other favorite Land was Happiness Heights. They have a section in there about diversifying your income. This has been heavy on my mind lately. I never want all of our income to come from one place, so I have been thinking of ways to branch out and expand my energy so I can take advantage of the many opportunities out there.
I really love this Challenge because it comes with Printables (like the Mind Map, giving you places to set short & long term goals), tips, quizzes and action plans. If you are thinking about really taking your money into your control, it’s time to start the challenge.
Find your idea of financial confidence here:
