2011 Goal Update

I believe that it's important to set goals in life. Something to give you focus and something positive for you work towards. They don't have to be on a monthly or yearly basis, just when it feels right for you. I also believe in writing your goals down. By doing this, you hold yourself accountable for trying to achieve them. When goals are written in black and white, they become "real". I honestly believe that if I hadn't started this blog and put the things I wanted to change out there into the universe for all to see, I wouldn't have come this far.

In that regard, I'm going to provide an update on my 2011 goals. Here goes...

Financial

Stick to our budget : We're starting to get the hang of paying in cash and zero based balancing, but there were some slip ups along the way. I really want to continue to make progress this year by better budgeting for expenses I didn't think about last year. UPDATE : WE ARE ROCKING THIS GOAL!

Replenish our emergency savings account : We were lucky enough to fund our emergency savings in 2010 but unfortunately, we depleted it. One of our big goals this year will be to replenish this back up to $1000 minimum. UPDATE : WE ARE LIVING ON THE EDGE OF OUR SEATS AND HAVE PUT ALL OF OUR SAVINGS TOWARDS OUR DEBT. (WE ARE PAID 4 TIMES PER MONTH AND IN THE EVENT OF AN EMERGENCY WE DECIDED WE COULD PULL FROM ONE OF OUR PAYCHECKS TO COVER THE EVENT.)

Pay $20K towards debt : This is really aggressive and probably only possible if my niece doesn't need as much help with college this year, but we're going to try! If we are successful, that will reduce our debt by 1/3... I really hope we are successful. UPDATE : WE DID IT!

Continue to find creative ways to lower our budget / increase our income : We've looked at getting a new (read - cheaper!) apartment, closer to our jobs, but haven't been successful... yet! The search for one will continue in the new year. I was able to lower or eliminate a few bills in 2010 and I hope to do more in 2011. I also keep toying with the idea of a side job to increase our income, but haven't quite come up with what will work yet. I hope to make progress on that as well this year. UPDATE : WE DOWNSIZED, CUT BILLS & BOTH GOT NEW JOBS WHICH INCREASED OUR INCOME.

Personal

Read more books : Since we've cut our cable and internet, I definitely have more time on my hands to read. I hope to read at least one book per quarter. Starting with finishing that book from early last year that I started! First, I need to find where I put it, then wipe the dust off... UPDATE : DIDN'T READ AS MUCH AS I'D LIKE TO.

Scrapbook : I've started a great scrapbook but have yet to finish it. I really enjoy being creative and want to spend time this year doing this. UPDATE : FAIL :(

Speak my mind more : At times I back away from confrontation and let things fester. My goal is to work on speaking my mind more before things become a bigger issue. UPDATE: DOING WELL!

Learn to forgive more and really let things go : Overall, I am a pretty easygoing and forgiving person, but I have a couple of things that I have been holding onto. I know that if I can find a way to forgive and let these feelings go that I will be a better person for it. UPDATE : PARTIAL SUCCESS.

Start a family : My husband and I have decided to start trying for children :) It's taken me a while to get here mentally (since I do enjoy our carefree lifestyle) but we both agree, that we'd like to have a family. As much as I'd like to be in a better situation financially before having a new addition, I am not getting any younger and more complications can arise with each year that we wait. UPDATE : PLANS HAVE CHANGED...

Professional

Continue to advance in my career : As I'm the breadwinner, I need to continuously think of my career and ways to advance. I hope I can continue to grow here with my current company, but if not, I'm prepared to move along to someplace I can grow with. UPDATE: WORK IN PROGRESS.

So, as you can see, I didn't meet each goal but I made some great progress overall. It looks like I did good in the financial area and not so great in my personal goals. My hubby has noticed this as well and is pushing me to focus more on doing what makes me happy. Being someone who focuses on others a lot, this is a bit of a challenge for me, but one that I'm very happy to accept! 2012 goals will be shared soon.

Question : Do you give yourself goals to focus your efforts on or do you naturally just do what you "should" without having to write it down and make much of a conscious effort?

Extra Cash!

TGIF! I got some sweet news today. I'm now paid semi-monthly so today I received my first check of the new year and it was higher than I anticipated. How much higher, you ask?!? $58.92 per pay period! I had used the pay calculator online through ADP and they must have estimated the amount of social security they planned to withhold incorrectly because today my check was $58.92 over what I had planned on.

That's $1,414.08 extra in take-home pay for 2011! Today is a good day. Hope you have a wonderful weekend.

Happy New Year & My Weekly Money Check-Up

Happy New Year! Boy oh boy, am I off to a bad start with blogging already this year?!? I'll be honest with you, it's due to my new position. Since August, I haven't been able to blog as regularly as I like to. Forget about actually even having time to get on here and check out what you have all been up to. I'm missing it big time! I'm hoping I can get into a lunch time routine but often times, I tend to get pulled back into work and am unable to get online. I've got to figure something out.

Anyway, I hope this finds you all doing well and that you stayed on course over the holidays. We did quite well! Hubby and I had a $300 allowance for each other and came in pretty darn close to that. Also, as an update, I met my friend in Vegas, as planned in early December. That trip went well and I'm happy to say I did not go horribly off plan. (READ: I spent a little more than anticipated, but it all worked out in the end.)

Okay, here's my first Weekly Money Check-Up of 2012 - courtesy of My Pretty Pennies:

1. The most I’ve spent this last week was on a payment to our credit card... $1,915! We are so kickin' butt.

2. Today I am thankful for my wonderful husband. He is so supportive and on board with the goals I want to accomplish in life. It really makes me smile :)

3. Money can’t buy happiness. One free thing I did last week that made me happy was daydreamed a bit with the hubby about our future. We have some exciting EARLY RETIREMENT plans I look forward to sharing here in the near future! (Whaaaat?!?)

4. I will consider this week a success if I get some exercise in. Another new development that I'll share more about soon!

5. If I could change one thing about my home it would be to actually OWN our own home. We are renting while we pay off our debt and save up for a down payment and I can't wait to get into our own place that we can really personalize and call our own.

Have a great week!

2012 Taxes!

So, I don't want to jump the gun or anything.... but I may not owe on my taxes next year! I received an email today that Turbo Tax opened up their 2012 tax forms online. I had already calculated out what my W-2 "should" look like by the end of the year, so I had the basic numbers all set to input. Imagine my surprise when the top right corner, where a possible refund could be, actually had green numbers up there!

I have been dreading, planning, and anticipating seeing the evil RED numbers showing how much I would owe. We have it budgeted to set aside around $4K for taxes next spring. Holy crap, we may not need to do that! I would honestly be happy to break even and just not owe, that would mean we are doing it right. I was so nervous because of the fiasco we had earlier this year where we ended up owing for the first time ever - $7K in taxes! Because I had to play with my deductions so I could come up with the money to pay those taxes, I was sure I screwed myself into having to owe again. It looks like that may not be the case.

I won't count my chickens before they are hatched though, my quick calculations didn't include the hubby's income from this year. I'll have to play around with what he made at each job (3 of them) and enter that in too. That could be a game changer if it bumps us up to a higher tax bracket. We'll see though. For today, I have a smile on my face, thinking of other things we could do with that $4k instead!

Hubby is an "official employee" now!

The hubby has had quite a year of transitions with his career. He's finally in a full-time job that he truly enjoys! I am so happy for him. The company converted him from a temp to perm hire yesterday. That's wonderful news in our world. We can breathe a sigh of relief, knowing he's "official" and will soon be eligible for the benefits that many of us take for granted.

Way to go!

So far, so good!

I did a little holiday shopping over the last week or so. The other night my best friend asked where I got her boxwood tree for Christmas a few years back. She was thinking of ordering one. Well, since I hadn't come up with her gift for this year yet, I decided to call and order her another small tree. She received it today and was pleasantly surprised by her gift which should - hopefully - last through the holidays.

Today I went to the mall at lunch and had a 25% off coupon for Macy's. My mom mentioned last week how she lost one of her old leather gloves, so I purchased a nice new pair for her. I got them at a deal for only $38, fully lined and all.

Then I stopped at Victoria's Secret and got my niece a gift set with yoga pants and a tank top for $49. I think she'll love it but if she doesn't, she can return it for something she'll enjoy more.

Just chatted with my Mom and she recommends cash for my Sister and Dad. My Dad fell recently and broke his eyeglasses so he could use some cash towards a new pair and my Sister is disabled and can always use some extra money. I'd rather send her a present and I asked if she needs anything but she said "no".

That only leaves my hubby and maybe a token of appreciation for my employee at work. The hubby's Christmas money will come out of my paycheck on 12/15, so I'm not worried about that yet and I'm sure I can find something perfect for my employee at the right price.

So far, so good with staying on track with my holiday spending. Now, let's hope this girl's weekend in Vegas goes just as well!

My Weekly Money Check-Up : 12/5/11

Here's my Weekly Money Check-Up, courtesy of My Pretty Pennies :)

1. The most I’ve spent this last week was on a keyboard for my hubby. He recently decided that he wants to learn to play the piano. We went to Costco for ham and ended up leaving with a keyboard for about $100. I asked if he wanted it to be a gift from Santa, but he declined. He decided he wanted to use his "fun money" over the next 3 weeks to pay for it. I'm proud of him! In the past, he wouldn't give a second thought to where the money came from and now he has it all thought out.

2. Today I am thankful for friends. Although I don't have a ton of them, the handful of people that I would truly call "my friends" bring me such happiness.

3. Money can’t buy happiness. One free thing I did last week that made me happy was decorated our Christmas tree! I just love doing that each year. After we bought our tree, we made a quick stop for a peppermint hot-cocoa (a necessity for me when decorating the tree) and home we went for hours of Christmas music and tree decorating... what fun!

4. I will consider this week a success if I stay on target with my budget for Vegas. Because I splurge so infrequently, sometimes things get a little out of control when I do. I'm hoping I keep a level head and do other fun stuff with my girlfriend, other than blow all the money we bring with us. Vegas is a blast for sight seeing and people watching - two of my favorite free things to do!

5. My favorite Christmas gift as a child was my dollhouse. I had hours of fun decorating and rearranging the items in the house.

Hope you all have a wonderful week!