Motivation to continue our journey

You know when you have been working towards something for years and years it is easy to get distracted and lose your momentum.  So how do you stay motivated to complete long term goals?

I personally have several tricks that I have used over the years. Reading frugal blogs (I have a pinterest board dedicated to my favorite blogs if you would like to have a look), taking advantage of frugal forums such as www.llnoe.com and frugal village to hear about tips and tricks other use, and issuing myself monthly challenges.

Those are all well and good...but do you know what motivates me the most? Hearing stories of hardworking families who are struggling financially. Honestly it scares to the crap out of me and motivates me like nothing else. Hearing about families losing their houses, going into bankruptcy, needing assistance to provide food....it just seems to be everywhere these days.  All I can think is "There but for the grace of God go I". 

We have a solid plan in place for the rest of the year which would max out our savings and put us in a more secure financial situation.  I however have been playing around with the idea of taking some of our tax return and using it for some "fun", you know something totally frivolous and just because we want it. I can't bring myself to do it though. In the end my panic of not being able to provide for my children out weighs my need for more "fun" stuff.

I do however think that it is important to live our lives and find enjoyment within our budget through out the year. So I am going to try and find some new budget friendly fun options for our family this year.