Things change in life, that’s just a given. Over time we change, our values change and so do our financial priorities. One of the things my honey loves most about me is how unpredictable and ever-changing I am, he never knows what to expect.

Even in a matter of months, our priorities can shift dramatically. For example, early on last year, I wanted a house or cabin in the woods. A few months later, I realized I would much rather live in another country. Thankfully, we hadn’t gone out and bought our at-the-time dream house, or we really would be having a hard time.

Another example, which is necessary since it’s a focus point for this post, is Operation SUV. I’ve wanted a nice, new SUV for over ten years now, and I’d still love to have one…but it’s no longer a financial priority for us anymore. We’ve gone a little over 2 years now as a one car household, and it hasn’t killed me (surprisingly).

Of course it doesn’t inconvenience my husband at all—he always has the car. We’re actually saving money by not paying car insurance on a second car, saving on gas because I’m stuck at home all the time and we’re only paying car expenses on 1 car. Of course it sucks like crazy for me, but I’ve gotten by okay.

After realizing how long it’s been and that I’ve survived not having my own car, I’m shifting my financial priorities to accommodate this triumph. There are more important things we can do with our money than saving to buy me an SUV.

So, I am officially terminating Operation SUV and will be reallocating the money we managed to save towards it. We took a lot of money out of it last year, that itself should have clued me in that the passion was gone.

One of my financial goals for 2011 was to save $1,000 in each of our 4 accounts, I didn’t complete it, but I still made progress. The idea was that at the end of the year, we would keep $1,000 of it in our Emergency Fund.

Then the rest would be added to Operation SUV. At the end of 2011, between what was left in Operation SUV and the other 3 accounts, there was a total of $2,443.43. That is nowhere near enough to buy a new SUV, I’m kinda embarrassed at how crappy I did.

New Financial Priorities

Car Expenses- Since we only have 1 car and my husband needs that to get to work, I figured it would be wise to create a car expenses account. This will be to cover anything car related that comes up. I’d like to keep adding to this account here and there because you never really know what’s going to happen with cars.

Puppy Expenses- Pets are expensive. Having a fair amount put away for grooming, dog stuff, shots and vet visits won’t make the burden seem as large. We don’t have pet insurance or anything, so this will help.

I’d also like to keep adding to this too because the older Roxy gets, the more things that can go wrong. I’d hate to not be able to take care of her later because we couldn’t afford it or something.

Health & Dental- We don’t really have medical or dental insurance. I know that it’s really important to have and I’d love to have it, but we can’t afford it. Even if we quit smoking, we couldn’t afford it (had to throw that in because I felt comments brewing).

The Evil Credit Card was actually a result of not having any dental insurance. I’d prefer to not have to do something like that again, so creating a health and dental account is a great start.

Financial Blogger Conference- Last year was the first annual Financial Blogger Conference (FinCon11), but I wasn’t able to go. I really missed out on a ton of great information and meeting fellow PF bloggers. I don’t want to miss out again, so I’m setting aside some money to go this year (FinCon12).

It’s going to be in Denver Colorado, so I’ll need to take a plane (scary), hotel, food, conference fee and whatever else. I’m not sure how much this will cost, but at least I’ll have a head start. This is also one of my goals for 2012.

What are your financial priorities? Do they ever change?

Image Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/eifa/3011456326/