Ever since I was a little kid I knew how to work hard and save for what I wanted.  I can explicitly remember cleaning family members houses  to earn money for a new Barbie doll.  In elementary school they encouraged us to open a savings account and we could add our money to it each week by bringing it to our teacher.  It was fun to see that money add up over time and the more it grew the more I wanted to contribute to it.  It was a great feeling of accomplishment for a small child.

When I was in high school I got my first job and I made $6.50 an hour.  It was a great job just starting out and there was opportunity to earn more through incentives.  I worked hard and earned over $12 an hour.  I gave my tithes out of each paycheck and the rest of that money went into a savings account.  I didn’t spend even a penny on anything for myself.  After I graduated I bought a laptop with the money I had saved and the rest of that money went toward my tuition.

Fast forward a few years and now I’m married and a mom to a beautiful little girl.  My husband has a good job that has allowed me to stay at home.  We’re so grateful for his job!  For several years now I’ve been blogging and that has helped bring in an extra income while staying at home and caring for my family.  It’s a win-win!  It’s something I love doing and it feels great to be able to contribute to the family’s finances a bit.

A few years after we were married we went through Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University together and we absolutely loved it.  It has transformed the way we think about money and it has enabled us to make wise financial decisions together.  We not only want to have our needs provided for in the here and now but we also want to plan for our future.

A new research study, MassMutual’s State of the American Mom, found that many moms have strong hopes and convictions about providing financially for their families, but given the multiple demands of the life of a mom, many also find it hard to achieve.  I think we can all relate to that, right?  College savings, saving for retirement, managing day-to-day expenses and educating yourself and children all rank as top priorities, yet some moms shared that they may feel overwhelmed about ways to start thinking about all of them.

My husband and I are doing our best to plan for our future.  We’ve agreed to cut back on certain budget areas like clothing, vacations, and entertainment until we get to the financial state we want to be.  We have been putting money into retirement regularly now for a good number of years.  We have life insurance policies set up for each of us just in case.  We don’t have a college savings plan for our kid(s) yet but we’re waiting a while to start that until we get to where we want to be financially.

As busy parents it’s easy to focus on the immediate and put off thinking about the future until it’s too late.  It’s far better to be prepared than to be hurting later.  MassMutual has created a handy new quiz to help moms start thinking about their financial future and gives them tips on how they can take small steps to plan for their financial futures.

I took the quiz and it labeled me as a “successful planner,” and I think that’s a fair assessment.  I feel fairly optimistic about our financial situation but it’s always a good idea to revisit our plans every year.

Where are you at financially?  What steps are you taking to ensure a financially secure future?

If you are seeking guidance concerning your financial state, MassMutual has a family finances page with some helpful resources for financial planning, ideas for teaching your kids about money, and even how to find a financial professional in your area.  You can also like MassMutual on Facebook and follow MassMutual on Twitter.

I wrote this post as participation in in a blog tour for Mom Central on behalf of MassMutual and received compensation in the form of an Amazon gift code to thank me for taking the time to participate.