our 2017 family meeting!
Today was one of my favorite days of the entire year! We had our 2017 family meeting where we plan out family vacations and adventures, goals, big events, expenses, etc. for the next year. We usually go to a coffee shop for breakfast as we present new ideas, listen to each other with an open mind and make decisions together without any kids interrupting us! A lot of good ideas come out of it, and then we make an action plan to make sure we follow through on what we discussed.
We've found that two hours of intentional planning can make a world of difference in having a unified vision for our family in the coming year. If it sounds like something you'd like to do but don't know where to start, Eric put together a workbook called The Family Playbook that we've used for the past five years, which you can download here for $7.99 (you can reuse it year after year).
The workbook goes over:
- Reviewing the previous year (likes, dislikes, celebrations, changes you want to make)
- Goals
- Financial forecasting worksheet
- Major upcoming events/vacations worksheet
- Major upcoming purchases worksheet
- Family rules and traditions
- Growth and development
- Action checklist
This year, Rooney is starting kindergarten, so we discussed how our work schedules may change and costs that come along with going to school. We talked about our kids' birthday parties. We talked about vacations and adventures we want to have, and how we will be financially prepared for those things. The past two years have been TIGHT financially, so it was a relief to see the end of the tunnel hopefully coming in 2017.
Afterward, we went on a date to see Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. We loved it! J.K. Rowling is a genius.
Does anyone else do a sort of family meeting? I would love to hear about it!