With the new year in full swing, many people are thinking about getting their financial house in order. Those who struggle with substance use disorders (SUDs), may also struggle with financial instability. This can be due to having spent much of their income on acquiring different substances. It could also be due to losing their job due to their substance use or simply being unable to work consistently and to the best of their ability. In recovery, they have the chance to get their finances back in order.

No matter where you’re at in your recovery journey, it never hurts to work toward establishing reasonable financial goals. Now that the new year is here, it is an excellent opportunity to consider what financial goals you’d like to work toward this year.

Understanding Why It Is Important to Set Financial Goals

Having and working toward financial goals is not only practical but can be good for your mental health. It provides you with a direction and a purpose to focus on. Being able to track your progress along the way can help to motivate you and encourage you to keep moving forward. Finally, the gratification you get when you do accomplish your financial goals can fill you with a sense of achievement and satisfaction. It can even boost your self-esteem to achieve the goals that you set for yourself.

Working toward financial goals can also help to increase your financial stability. In life, things can happen that are unexpected. For example, an injury requiring you to take time off work, unplanned medical bills, car repairs, or broken appliances around the house. Unplanned expenses can really lead to a lot of stress, worry, and anxiety. There’s not much you can do to prevent unexpected expenses, but there are steps that you can take to make sure that you are prepared for them financially.

One of the best things you can work toward financially is having a safety net for unexpected expenses. This is something that you can deposit even a small amount of money into each month and over time, it will grow exponentially. These are funds that you don’t touch unless an emergency occurs. This way, you can be mentally at ease, knowing that if something does happen, you’ll be prepared. In the long run, this can save a lot of time, energy, and hassle.

Setting Practical Financial Goals

When making any kind of future goal, it is prudent to follow the SMART method. This stands for specific, measurable, actionable/achievable, realistic, and timely.

Specific: Determine precisely what your goal is as concisely as possible.

Measurable: Your goal should be something you can track over time.

Actionable/Achievable: There should be specific steps that you can take to accomplish this goal.

Realistic: The goal should be something that is not only possible to achieve but relevant.

Timely: You should have a specific time frame in which you want to accomplish this goal, and the time frame should be practical.

Following this method can help to give you better success in achieving your goals and ensures that you are going about it the right way. It is good to have big goals, but when they are unrealistic or if you don’t have a good plan for achieving them, your chances for success will not be as high.

As a result, as you continue to devote your time and energy to trying to accomplish this goal, and yet you’re still not seeing the type of progress you are hoping for, it can become very frustrating and discouraging. You may experience burnout and a loss of motivation and may be tempted to give up. This can even take a toll on your overall mental health and self-esteem. By following the SMART method, you can avoid this problem.

Considering Both Short-Term and Long-Term Goals

When it comes to establishing financial goals, it is helpful to divide them into short-term and long-term goals. This can help ensure that they are achievable. You can then give yourself a specific time frame to accomplish them. You can also create short-term goals that can help to work toward these more important goals.

For example, maybe one long-term goal you have for yourself is to pay off your car or mortgage. For most people, this isn’t something that is just accomplished overnight. However, there are things that you can do on a monthly or even weekly basis to achieve eventually. For example, maybe it is as simple as saving up $100 a month to use toward this purpose. It might not seem like it will make a huge difference, but over time, this adds up. You may be surprised by how much progress you make in only a short period of time.

Many people who are starting their recovery journey may not be in the best place financially due to past substance misuse. However, by establishing financial goals, it is possible to reach financial stability in good time. When creating financial goals it is good to use the SMART method. This can help ensure that your goals are specific, measurable, actionable/achievable, realistic, and timely. This can help you not only have greater success but ensure that you’re not getting burned out by working toward things that are unrealistic. If you are struggling with a substance use disorder, our team at The Kimberly Center can help. Call (855) 452-3683 today and we’ll be happy to answer any questions.