Financial Goal Setting for Students

Goal: Purchase coastal land in Washington

It's tax time again, and soon $1500 will be put into my coffers  I would like to take this chance to go over my financial goals and talk about financial goal setting for a student with loan debt who may want to make a large purchase one day.

• Toward the boat/land I have saved up over $1400.  Not bad, not bad. 
• Towards the summer '13 trip I have about $1200 saved up with the goal being $2250.  With my current legal job I am on track to have the full amount saved.
• I will be putting the tax money toward future rent, with plans of relocating to the west coast in mid December.  
• Summer work income will be put towards moving costs and living costs.
• Income from the business will be reinvested into the business.
• Other income from writings will go towards the boat/land.

A sailboat from our trip to Puerto Rico.  This would be so nice, wouldn't it?

I have recently been looking at west coast land.  I am considering a budget of $60,000-$75,000 for the land.  My goals are at least 10 acres of land within a short distance of the Pacific Ocean.  I am looking for land that is forested and is somewhat remote.

As far as the boat, I would like to keep it in San Francisco and am budgeting about $15,000 for the purchase.  I figure that both of these goals are easily obtainable as our outgoing expenses are very low, we will be on IBR, and my spouse and I will be both working without the expense of raising children.

Everyone has critics in life.  Don't listen to them.  For example, my critics vehemently deny that I can obtain such goals.  However, I have been proving "critics" wrong all my life.  When I said I would move to San Fransisco, my critics said it was too expensive.  Yet, I lived in San Francisco and was able to travel to Europe on two occasions, travel all around the United States, Canada, spend a summer in Thailand and South East Asia, as well as make three two week trips to the Yucatan.  We made at least 5 trips to Washington State while living in California, as well as multiple trips to Lake Tahoe, Los Angeles, San Deigo, and even a Christmas trip to Las Vegas.  And we never brought in more than $35,000 in one year.

Second, my critics stated that I would never be able to make a cross country move to New York.  "New York is too expensive" people said.  Well, I did that. 

Some of my critics at one time said I would never go to college.  However, I was not only the first in my family to finish college, but I also went on to law school.  My wife is also the first in her family to go to college.

Even if my wife and I both made $25,000 (low end), our yearly income would be $50,000.  We have proven that we can easily live off of $30,000, which means that the remainder, $20,000 would go to IBR and towards savings.  If I could only get doc review and make $35-40,000, the extra earned would provide a much greater rate of savings.  Keep in mind that business income on the side would continue to go towards the savings, and the business is showing no signs of slowing down.  In fact, I am getting a lot of orders coming in for multiple products lately.

I believe strongly in goal setting.  I have been using goal setting for many years now in order to obtain my dreams.  I highly recommend that if you want to do something big in life, break it down into small parts and work daily towards it.  Reminding yourself of your goals, not letting others hold you back, and sometimes going without so you can obtain a future goal are all ways in which you can accomplish your dreams.