Bucket List on a Budget: Start Small, Dream Big

Instead of the usual 10 point list of all the things you want to accomplish in the New Year (which, don’t get me wrong, is very well and good), let’s take a bit of a different approach. Let’s discuss our bucket lists. 

You know, that insane list we mentally create in our minds to accomplish before we “kick the bucket”? They might seem impossible to imagine right now, but step by step, you can finish whatever you set your mind to – big or small.

Maybe you’ve always wanted to:

• Write a book
• Travel to Europe
• Swim with dolphins
• Meet a famous celebrity

Though it might cost a bit more of the green stuff than we usually have, it’s still doable. Because we’re budgeters, and there’s nothing budgeter’s can’t buy. For real.

Checking items off your bucket list while staying on a budget is really quite simple: You save up for it. –> Click to Tweet

That’s it!

Pick one item off your list, create a new column in your budget spreadsheet, and set aside at least $3 – $5 a week toward it. Just $5 per week could buy you a night at a hotel you’ve dreamed of staying at, or pay for a couple tickets to a Broadway show.

You can even use this as a gift idea. Ask family members if they’d like to contribute to your bucket list fund to help you reach your goal faster.

A peek at my personal bucket list

Want to know what I’d like to do in the future? If you look closely, you may see a trend!

1. Take a trip to Europe – to experience everything I’d like to see, I’m estimating at least 2 or 3 trips.
2. See Phantom of the Opera on Broadway DONE 6/2012
3. Hike Mount Marcy
4. Visit Australia and hold a Koala bear
5. Take a Caribbean cruise
6. Own a house in Florida
7. See the Grand Canyon
8. Scuba dive – would love to combine this with the Australia trip and scuba dive in the Great Barrier Reef.
9. Swim with dolphins - not in an enclosed pen, but actually in the wild.
10. Visit the Florida Keys DONE 8/2009
11. Go on a whale watch DONE 9/2010
12. Visit the New England states DONE 9/2010
13. Hike the White Mountains of New Hampshire
14. See the Rocky Mountains
15. Make it to Prince Edward Island
16. Run a 5k DONE 7/2011
17. Write a traditionally published book
18. Travel to Hawaii
19. Mush a sled dog team
20. Take surfing lessons

Some of the list may seem silly to you, but that’s the beauty of a bucket list. They’re for dreamers, and as you can see, I’ve crossed a decent amount off already, and I’m only 25. That in itself should show you how doable a bucket list really is.

You have to be patient, but when you actually get to cross an item off, it will be so worth the wait.

As I work my way through this list, I’ll be sure to share with you my adventures down the road, but now I want to hear about your dreams.

What’s one item on your bucket list?

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Make sure you come back tomorrow to download your very own Bucket List Printable!

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