Plans change all the time, and financial plans are no exception. You might have planned your financial goals for the year, but as time goes on you might realize that reaching some of your goals might be harder than you thought, that you might have a better opportunity to achieve other goals, or something life-changing might happen, like a pandemic sweeping across the globe and upending everyone’s lives.

When circumstances change, it’s easy to get frustrated. You had everything planned out, and for what? Why should you even bother planning again when your plans were upended the last time?

The truth is that everyone has had to reassess their financial plans from time to time, and the experience doesn’t have to be frustrating. Once you know what to do, you’ll be able to reassess your financial plans and stay on course to achieve your financial goals.

Step 1: Reassess Your Goals

The first step in any of this is to look at your goals. Are they still important to you, or have other goals eclipsed them in importance?

One of the biggest factors in reconsidering your goals will be how your personal financial situation has changed. Can you still dedicate the same amount of money toward your goals? Have other new expenses popped up, or have you gotten some money you weren’t expecting?

If you find that you haven’t made any progress toward your financial goals—or worse yet, moved further away from them—take some time to figure out why. Has it been due to outside circumstances, or do you need some additional help building up your savings and managing your budget?

Step 2: Examine Your Current Situation

Once you have some goals set in mind, take some time to examine your situation. How much money are you bringing in? How much money do you spend each month? If you don’t have a budget in place already, now is a good time to create one.

On the other hand, if you already have a budget in place, take some time to review it. Make sure it’s up to date and accurately shows your expenses. You’ll also need to figure out if you have extra money to dedicate toward your financial goals, or if you’ll need to trim other areas of your budget to find the money.

Step 3: Make a Plan

Once you know your financial goals, you’ll want to start planning how to meet them. Think about the steps you’ll have to take, as well as the smaller tasks into which you can divide your goals.

One good rule of thumb is to make sure your goals are SMART. In other words, they should be:

• Specific
• Measurable
• Achievable
• Realistic
• Time-bound

If you want to buy a new car, for instance, you’ll want to figure out the specific kind of car you’d like (or the price range you’re looking for), the dollar amount you’ll want saved, whether or not you’ll be able to save up the money for the car in question, and the time frame in which you want to reach your goal. If your goal isn’t meeting one or more of these components, you’ll need to adjust it or put the idea aside for the time being.

Need some help setting up your financial goals? Download the First Alliance S.M.A.R.T. goals worksheet!

Step 4: Set Concrete Objectives

After you have your goals set out and know the SMART aspects, list some measurable objectives for each goal you can track to make sure you’re making progress. Write down these objectives somewhere, either in a notebook, a Word document, a spreadsheet or an online notebook like Evernote or OneNote.

After you’ve met one goal, cross it off and move on to the next. Eventually, you will have achieved your goal.

Step 5: Repeat as Necessary

Congratulations! You’ve reassessed your financial plans, and as a result you have a clear path before you to achieve your financial goals. Take some time to celebrate and do something nice for yourself.

However, just because you reassessed your financial plans doesn’t mean these new goals are set in stone. You’ll want to review your financial plan regularly to make sure you’re on track to meeting them and revise your goals if you’ve gotten off track. You’ll want to do this at least every three months.

Meet Your Financial Goals With First Alliance Credit Union

Reassessing your financial plans can sound daunting, especially if your current plans have already been upended. If you follow these simple steps, though, you’ll be able to get yourself back on the path to achieving your financial goals.

You can also boost your chances to achieving your financial goals by becoming a member of First Alliance Credit Union today. A club account will prevent you from spending the money you keep in it until a date specified by you, while a certificate of deposit (CD) will keep your money earning a higher rate of interest between 6 and 60 months. You can also open a WINcentive savings account for the chance to win money while you’re padding your savings.