This year, I'm just crossing things off the list
What's at the top of yours?
Hi friend,
The idea came from my to-do list. Last January, I added a task that said: “new beneficiaries for investments/life insurance.” For my entire adult life, I have always put down the same two names on any financial document that required it, and given them a 50/50 split. But life has changed in countless ways, over the years—especially in the last two, since I moved to the UK. We all have different relationships and priorities now. I have a partner and a couple new kids in my life. If I died today, would I still want my money to go to the same two people as before? Or how might I like to divide it instead? I didn’t find the answers to these questions last year, so I didn’t make a decision—and didn’t make any changes. Instead, I moved that task from my to-do list every month for 12 months in a row.
Throughout the year, I added more and more tasks to this to-do list (often written in the form of the random thoughts that came to mind):
Pensions in the UK!?
How do I want to save for retirement here?
What about small savings goals/accounts?
UK will? Cancel Canada will?
Power of attorney, etc.
Self-employed mortgages?
Maybe a small car loan, to boost my new UK credit score?
Renew passport, figure out what to do with visa stamp inside
…and so on.
As the list grew, I could see that each of these tasks would require time and consideration. They could also be broken down further into smaller tasks—steps I could take toward completing each of the bigger tasks. Like: talk to the people I’m considering naming as beneficiaries, make a list of the accounts to add this/make changes to, gather all the paperwork, file it all, etc. So I started adding some of those smaller tasks to the list, then took a step back to look at the bigger picture… and came up with an idea.
First, it’s clear that I’m in a new stage in my life. One where I’m partnered, etc. yes, but also where I’ve made the decision that I hope to stay in the UK long-term. Ultimately, the UK government1 gets to make that decision in a few years… but that’s what I want. I didn’t know that when I first moved over. Living here was just something I wanted to try/experiment with. A new adventure. But it’s obvious now, when I look at the to-do list I’m piecing together. I want to stay here, and I want to get my finances organized accordingly.
My idea, then: what if try to cross just 1 of the big tasks off my list each month this year? With the hope that I get to the end of this year feeling as though my financial life in the UK (as well as in Canada) is sorted. This feels like a great SMART goal for 2024, and one that would help me feel more settled and grounded in my life here.
The to-do list is long, but some of these big tasks will take time—and that’s ok. They might require big decisions and/or big conversations. There’s also a learning curve! Of course, I have a base understanding of + interest in personal finance. But there’s a lot to learn about how financial products + any government systems/benefits work in the UK. I want to do my research and feel as though I truly understand the decisions I’m making. I’m excited to learn. I’m also excited to write about it.
I may not be one for new year’s resolutions or words of the year, but I’ve still been thinking a lot about what I want for myself in 2024. I’ve just been doing it in my own way: by writing more lists and seeing what sticks! Here is some of what’s on them, right now…
Travel: Tall Man and I have already started planning our 2024 adventures*. We are going up to Edinburgh for a weekend in March, we want to go on a road trip down to Wales in the summer, and we want to finally get on a plane together and go to Spain in October! I also want to go back to Canada at least once, and would love to get down to London to see friends.
Adventure: I only live an hour away from the Lake District and want to spend more time there this year. I’d love to double the number of wainwrights I did last year and cross at least 18 off the list. But I’d also just love to go often enough that it starts to feel more familiar to me. And, that I feel more comfortable navigating the outdoor trails over here, in general. (More on this another day.)
Health/fitness: No goals yet. The one idea I have, so far, is that I’d like to focus less on walking/getting steps in and focus more on doing workouts of other kinds: running, strength, pilates, etc. With running, in particular, I just want to start doing it more regularly. But in a few months, I’ll be curious to see how that’s feeling and think about whether I’d like to set any goals for myself then.
There are more lists! I have a list of creative ideas/goals for myself. I wrote a proper TBR list for the very first time (books I’d like to read this year). I’ve even started a to-buy list (starting with: new hiking boots, running shoes, and walking poles). Overall, I feel excited and hopeful for all this year might hold! And, almost everything I want to do requires some amount of money—and I need more of it.
I touched on this at the end of 2023, but I need my income to go up this year. It’s not a want or a hope. It’s a genuine need.
Since becoming self-employed in 2015, my income has fluctuated quite a bit. For the first six years, it always went up. And I had a few BIG years between 2019-2021. Thanks to the pandemic (a weird thing to say but true), I saved the majority of what I earned in 2020 + 2021, because I couldn’t go anywhere. (I had been nomadic/didn’t have a home, when COVID hit, so I stayed with my dad during that time—not for free, but certainly for less than I would’ve paid to travel or live on my own.) Most of that income came from book royalties for THE YEAR OF LESS + the book deal I got in 2019.
As you know, after ADVENTURES IN OPTING OUT was released, I was pretty quiet for a few years—dealing with trauma and complex-PTSD-related issues in therapy. I didn’t write much during that time, and my income took a huge hit. As a result, 2022 + 2023 were low income years for me. I made most of what I needed, then supplemented a bit with savings I had built up during the pandemic. I’ve managed to successfully live off cash and not go into further debt during the past two years, but I haven’t been able to get ahead or save for the future. I don’t want to just “get by” anymore. I want more for myself.
I noticed I felt hesitant to share this with you: the fact that the past two years have been fairly low income years. One story I was telling myself was that, because I’ve written about money for many years, that “should” (a word to always question) mean I earn a lot—or that you might expect me to earn a lot. A second story to go with that last point is that earning less might make me look like a failure. But I know neither of these things are true. First, I’ve never written about income or shared ways we can all earn a lot of money. That’s not the business I’m in! Second, I knew what was happening with my income and my spending every single year, and I made choices I felt were right for me. And, all the work I’ve done to change my relationship with money made it possible for me to manage during those lean years. I just don’t want (and can’t really afford) another lean year. I don’t want to keep having to say “no” to things, or continue to try to cut costs just so I can pay rent next month. I want more for myself.
So, while I have a long list of financial tasks to tick off this year, my main financial goal for this year is to increase my income. I have a SMART goal based on how much I need + 2 different stretch goals that would help me do more. Knowing my numbers already helped me calculate all three. While I don’t keep a budgeting spreadsheet anymore, I do know how much money I need to earn in order to live my current lifestyle. And, how much I need to earn if I want to save and invest for my future in a few different ways, which I can’t afford to do right now. But that won’t be true forever, friend. That’s just where I’ve been for now.
Many situations are just “for now,” until you can give them more time and attention. This is what I’ll be giving my time and attention to in 2024.
xx Cait
What’s one of your financial tasks/goals for this year, friend? Why does it feel important? What do you hope to feel by achieving it?
Another reason I want to earn more: so I’m paying a decent amount of tax and the UK government sees me as a contributing member of society, which will all be included in my visa renewal application in 2026!
My primary financial goal this year is to work out how to feel physically safe(r) with money. This doesn't have to do with a dollar amount, or an investment strategy, but with my feelings and thoughts around money.
Financial Goal for 2024: Work as a pediatrician for 6 months/year in Oklahoma so I can afford to live off-grid in frontier Alaska for the other 6 months.