Real World Finance$

It’s that time of year when we set our goals for the coming year.  I had given a preview of our financial goals in my post a few weeks back.  Here’s a review of those goals and where we stand as our starting point:

• Credit Cards - We are now at $38,641 on our credit cards/line of credit balance.  The goal here is to get that down to $30,000 by the end of the year.  If you look at my Net Worth IQ, you will currently see a higher figure of R54,000 plus.  This currently also includes the $16,000 loan for the AC.  That will be rolled into a HELOC in a few months and out of the credit card category.
• Net Worth - Our net worth currently stand at -$19,025.  Our goal this year is to get up to $0.  While this is a bit of a stretch goal, I know we can easily get way inside the -$10,000 just by making minimum payments, and continuing my 401(k) contributions (my employer will start matching in April).  The retirement account alone could get us half way with just an average year in the market, so the other half is us getting debt paid off and increasing our savings.  I’m not the only one trying to get back to zero, check out I Paid for This Twice Already.
• Retirement - Our balance here is currently $5,848 thanks to a couple of poor months in the market.  I want to increase this to $15,000 by year end.  With mine and my employer’s matching contributions this year, I should add close to $9,000 this year.  So, some average returns and maybe some extra stocked away into my IRA account should do the trick.
• Cash - We currently have $3,368 in cash between our checking and savings accounts.  Because I am an hourly contractor, I need some more money set aside should I find myself out of work (though my contract is already extended through year end).  I’d like to have our cash accounts up to $10,000 by year end.  This is a big stretch to meet this while meeting all the other goals, but I think with my second job we can do this.  The trick is going to be avoiding spending it on home improvements during the year.

Some lofty goals to be sure, but it will be a huge step for us to meet this year. 

Of course, those aren’t the only goals I’m reaching for this year.  I have 2 others that are personal goals as well.

• Garage - I want to be able to park our car in the garage by the end of the year.  While our garage is functional and not packed full of junk, the garage door is falling apart, we don’t have a key to the door and there is no electric service to run the opener.  I’ve got some work to do in order to clean out the basement and make way for some electric updates to the house at the same time I have someone out to put in the electric in the garage.  With a new car, I’d like to no be parking on the street all the time.
• Fitness - This past year I had a goal of being 12 pounds lighter than I started the year.  I was very specific on that number as 1 pound a month.  Though not much, with a family history of high blood pressure and diabetes, I need to keep my health in control before those things take over.  As of yesterday, I had lost 16 pounds from the prior year.  I’m now down to 160 lbs.  To continue that trend, this year I want to decrease my percent body fat.  We used the remaining amount on a gift card to Bed, Bath & Beyond yesterday to buy a new bathroom scale that measure your body fat as well.  Currently, I’m at 19.0%.  My goal this year is to get it down to 15.0%.  The weight bench we bought me for Christmas will help me get to that goal.  I’ll also have to work on a few diet changes along the way. 

Do take notice about my goals this year, they are all SPECIFIC.  I don’t set goals that are to do better at something without defining what that better is.  By being specific, I know when I’ve reached my goal.  Also, my goals aren’t about reaching them sometime during the year, it’s about what I want to be at the beginning of next year.  That keeps me on pace to the goal all year rather than slacking off after I reach it.